Synthesising across multiple texts
Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably, combining information without plagiarising
What a learner can do afterwards
- Combine information from three sources into a coherent paragraph using own words
- Create a fact sheet that synthesises key information from multiple texts on one topic
- Present information orally that draws on multiple sources while crediting the sources
1 · Read
When you synthesise, you read several texts about the same topic and pull their ideas together. You write about all of them at once, in your own words, instead of describing one text and then moving to the next.
Three texts talk about bees: one about what they eat, one about their waggle dance, and one about jobs in the hive. Instead of writing three separate paragraphs, pick one key fact from each and combine them: 'Bees collect nectar for food, communicate through a waggle dance, and take on different jobs like guarding or nursing in the hive.' That is synthesis, written in your own words.
Change the words into your own, and say where big facts came from, like 'one article explained...' or 'another source noted...' That way you avoid copying and give credit to each text.
Crediting means saying which text a fact came from. Short phrases like 'one article explained' or 'another source noted' do the job. Your own words matter just as much: they show you understood the ideas, and they are fair to the writers whose texts you used.
Synthesising means gathering ideas from several texts and weaving them into your own words, not copying one source at a time.
2 · Watch
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Where this leads
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.