Teaching Information Literacy: Resources for Faculty: Assignment Design for Information Literacy

Research Skills: Searching, Analysis, Evaluating Sources
Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Anatomy of a Term Paper

Break down the research process for a term paper: Students submit a clearly defined topic, thesis statement, a proposed outline, and an annotated bibliography.
Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Annotated Bibliography

• Students properly cite sources (specify how many and what types of sources are permitted) they plan to use for a paper, and provide descriptive or evaluative annotations.
• Students will research a specific topic and collect sources to create an annotated bibliography for the subject.  Specify whether all sources need to be peer-reviewed or if popular sources are acceptable.  The student will then cited and annotate their choices including how the content was obtained, why the content is appropriate, and be able to support their choices. (Smith College Libraries)

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Biography

Choose a person relevant to the course. Students use a variety of source types (biographical dictionaries, magazines, newspapers, scholarly sources, books) and deliver a presentation or write a biography of the person.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Debate

• Student gather credible evidence to support either side of an argument.
• Hold an in-class debate assigning pro and con research to the class.  Students should prepare for the debate by gathering, reading, understanding and referencing sources to support their side of the issue. (UMUC Library)

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Follow-up

Students are given an article and are asked to find sources that support or refute the article.
Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Literature Review

Investigate the "state of the art" on a particular topic by doing a literature review and summary of the most important research. (DuBois)

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Literature Review Analysis

Find 2 literature reviews on a topic. Explain the purpose of literature reviews. Students analyze the two literature reviews, comparing their similarities and differences.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources

Literature Review Update

Students are given a literature review on a topic that is a few years old. Ask students to find sources published since the literature review was published and to update the literature review with new sources.
Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

 Impact Evaluation

 Determine the impact on the field of specific articles or books from the course readings.  How many people have cited the work? Get the articles. Write a review of these articles explaining how the citing scholar used the original work. (DuBois)
Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Research diary/log

Students keep a record of library research completed, including sources used, the searches and keywords tried, databases used, and reflect on challenges and successes through the research process.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Source Evaluation

Students work in small groups and examine a few sources on the same topic, and have students work together to come up with indicators of quality. Students consider how their sources demonstrate quality, when certain indicators matter and when they might not, and report their findings to the class.
Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Evaluate Sources

Types of Resources

Divide students into groups and assign a topic to each group.  The students will identify at least three kinds of resources useful for research on the topic (books, newspaper articles, popular magazine articles, scholarly journal articles, popular (or scholarly) web pages, government documents, etc.) The groups will research and provide one example of each format they have identified. (Smith College Libraries)

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources

Textbook Citation Chaining

Students start with an issue, debate, fact or definition discussed in the course textbook. They use citation chaining to find the first instance where an issue was first discussed. Students then trace the research forward to see how the research conversation developed over time until consensus was built among scholars.
Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Critical Reading Skills

Article Analysis

Students identify the assumptions, thesis and research methods in a single paper.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Journal Article Comparison

Students compare 2 scholarly journal articles with different points of view on the same topic.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Media Analysis: Controversial issue

Students compare coverage of a controversial issue in several different types of sources (newspapers, magazines, academic journals, books, professional association website). Students determine what perspectives are present or absent, and assess sources for bias.
Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources

Reference Analysis

• Option 1: Students are given one source with references and are asked to analyze how each source is used to support the author's argument.
•  Option 2: Find a scholarly article on a chosen topic.  Students will examine the references, locate a selection of the cited sources, and analyze how the scholars used their sources in the original work.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Review Analysis

• Option 1: Students compare 2 reviews of a major academic book from the time it was published to understand how new ideas may be supported or criticized within the scholarly community. Have students find modern articles that cite the reviewed source to see how current authors are building on the ideas of others.   
• Option 2:  Student compare 2 films/TV shows/streaming show and demonstrate how the media illustrates a particular theme (e.g. social issue). Students find sources both scholarly and popular to provide a context.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Communication & Presentation Skills

Paper Slam

Students present their papers for 60-90 seconds using 1 slide to highlight their key ideas and findings
Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources.

Poster

Students present their research in a poster. Have a poster walk, and have students fill out peer-evaluation forms.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Wikipedia Entry

Edit or create a Wikipedia entry on a topic related to the course. Review the history of the entry and who has already made edits. Or, create a course wiki, and have students create entries individually or in groups.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Understanding the Scholarly Conversation in a Discipline

Citation Tracking

Students trace an important paper through citations. Students consider why authors may be cited, the importance of a scholar to be cited, and what it means to be cited. This assignment introduces students to how ideas disseminate and are refined through the scholarly conversation.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Course Packs

Students imagine they are creating a course pack and compile readings using specific criteria (scholarly, current, significance to the discipline). For each reading, they cite the article and provide an annotation explaining why they chose the particular reading and how it pertains to the course.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

The Evolving Research Conversation

Select a topic, and provide students with literature that discuss the topic from 2 different time periods. Have students discuss how the treatment of the topic has changed over time.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation,  Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Access

Internet vs Databases: Search a selected topic using both the Internet and databases.  Compare the differences in search strategy and results.  Select sources from both the Internet and the databases and compare the depth, language, and other features of the sources as well as the usefulness for the topic.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Locate Sources, Evaluate Sources, Cite Sources

Research through the information lifecycle

Have students read a magazine or news article that discusses the findings of a peer-reviewed research articles. Have students compare the magazine's summary to the findings in the research article, and compare the sources for content, intended audience, format, etc.

Learning Objectives: Join Conversation, Evaluate Sources

Trace a Scholar's Career

Choose a scholar and explore biography, publications, conference presentations and other contributions to a field