20 / EDUCATION / PRODUCT CONCEPT

Research Companion

A guided research-learning product that helped students in grades 9–12 move from a question to a credible first paper.

MY SCOPEPRODUCT STRATEGY, RESEARCH + EXPERIENCE DESIGNTEAMSTUDENTS, EDUCATORS, PROQUEST PRODUCT, CONTENT + ENGINEERINGTIMEFRAME2013—2014

RECOVERED PRODUCTION ARCHIVE

From lesson plan to learning module.

The folder preserves the production system behind the product: instructional intent became scripts and storyboards, then artwork, animation, narration, and finished exports. That chain is part of the design story—not background material.

1,460ARCHIVE ITEMS

Folders and files in the recovered production archive

521ILLUSTRATOR FILES

Visual development and lesson artwork

10AFTER EFFECTS PROJECTS

Animation builds organized by learning module

106AUDIO FILES

Narration and production sound

FINAL HDEXPORTS

Finished learning-module video outputs

01 / THE PROBLEM

Students often know they need to write a research paper before they know how to choose a topic, evaluate sources, or turn scattered material into an argument. The challenge was to make research practices teachable without reducing the work to a sequence of empty clicks.

02 / THE EVIDENCE

Student and teacher research surfaced the roles, handoffs, and moments of uncertainty around a substantial school research project. Early user maps, a story map, and a content strategy connected those findings to the wider product experience.

03 / THE DECISION

Build a guided curriculum of short videos, assessments, and source-use activities, connected to the broader research workflow. Each module could make the next useful move visible while leaving judgment and authorship with the learner.

04 / THE COLLABORATION

The work connected research with curriculum and content strategy, visual production, product, and engineering. The recovered archive shows scripts and storyboards becoming Illustrator art, After Effects projects, narration, and final learning-module exports.

05 / THE OUTCOME

The product direction became a coherent learning system: a multi-module experience that helped young researchers find, evaluate, organize, and use sources while completing a first paper. The production archive preserves how that system moved from instructional intent to finished media.

06 / THE REFLECTION

Teaching research is not the same as automating it. The product should provide structure, language, and momentum while preserving the learner’s responsibility to interpret evidence and make a claim.

PROJECT EVIDENCE

ProQuest Research Companion across devices — 01 / The product connected learning modules, research tools, saved material, citation, and account work across devices.

Initial users mapped for Research Companion: reporter, writer, and young researcher — 02 / Early role mapping distinguished the information needs of a reporter, writer, and young researcher.

Research Companion content strategy connecting learning modules, research tools, citations, and account services — 03 / Content strategy connected instructional modules to the tools and services students would need to complete a paper.

Students discussing a school research project — 04 / Student sessions kept the product grounded in the real work and language of school research.

Students working with ProQuest products on a school research project — 05 / The research looked beyond search behavior to how students structured, discussed, and completed their work.

Story map for Research Companion learning modules and research tasks — 06 / The story map connected learning modules, research tools, saved materials, citations, and account tasks into one journey.