Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing

Submitted by Pascal Martinolli on November 8th, 2019
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Short Description: 

An open access MOOC in French to bonify the information literacy skills of university students (with Moodle).

Learning Outcomes: 

Students will know how to identify references in a bibliography, how to define their research subjects (synonyms & thesaurus), how to combine their keywords, which service to use (catalog, database, Google,...), how to assess the credibility of their sources, how to cite and respect copyrights, how to produce a bibliography with Zotero, how to adopt good practices for publishing (publishing process, open access, predators), how to set up alerts on topics, and what are bibliometry and literature review.

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

Integrated completely or partially into undergraduate and graduate courses. Also used as support to upgrade a specific information literacy skill of a student after a reference interview.

Assessment or Criteria for Success
Assessment Short Description: 
Each module is assessed by a 10 questions test.
Suggested Citation: 
Martinolli, Pascal. "MOOC BoniCI ." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/mooc-bonici.
Submitted by Rachel Wen-Paloutzian on September 12th, 2019
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Short Description: 

Many academic and public libraries display their unique archives and special collections materials in exhibition spaces. With an array of primary sources and visuals, special collections exhibitions offer a wonderful venue for experiential learning of constructed narratives and perspectives. This Exhibition Explorer Card Deck is designed to guide students to experience close viewing of special collections materials through explicit steps for thinking rhetorically and critically in an exhibit space. The Exhibition Explorer Deck consists of eight cards, including one card with basic instruction on how to use the deck, five cards asking students to answer specific questions about the exhibit, and two cards with short activities to promote mindfulness as students move through the exhibit space. Each card is double-sided with an activity title on one side and questions/activities on reverse. This exhibition exercise can take place complementary to or independent of hands-on instruction sessions in departments of archives and special collections. Also, it is adaptable to use in various kinds of exhibitions in libraries, museums, and other learning spaces.

In-class Visit Lesson plan with Exhibition Explorer Card Deck:

Working in pairs or small teams, students visit the Archives and Special Collections exhibition. First, students shuffle the Exhibition Explorer Card Deck, then they work through each activity card in a random order. The shuffling of cards encourages serendipitous discovery of the exhibition, in which each student group conducts the exhibition activities following different orders of cards in the exhibit space. (15-20 minutes)

After students complete all the activity cards, the course instructor and/or special collections librarian facilitate a group discussion in the exhibition gallery. Students are asked to share observations from the exhibit exercise. Each group selects the activity card they find most engaging or confusing and share their responses to that card. Students are also asked to reflect on the connections between the exhibit exercise and applications for rhetorical thinking. (15-20 minutes)

Learning Outcomes: 

- Students practice explicit steps for thinking rhetorically about their experiences in exhibition spaces.
- Students analyze the context of the exhibition and investigate materials on display to become critical viewers.
- Students gain an understanding that an exhibition is curated with specific perspectives.

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

Through extensive collaboration, Rhetorical Arts Instructor Laura Poladian and Special Collections Instruction Librarian Rachel Wen-Paloutzian have created and incorporated this Exhibition Explorer Card Deck into instruction sessions for Rhetorical Arts students in the William H. Hannon Library’s Department of Archives and Special Collections at Loyola Marymount University.

In Rhetorical Arts, a foundational course on speaking, writing, and thinking for social justice, students use reflective and affective strategies that connect critical thinking with self-awareness. Both Rhetorical Arts and the Department of Archives and Special Collections bring together scholarly and social works through imagination and inquiry.

The focus of the Exhibition Explorer Card Deck is to foster the kind of thinking (noticing, describing, inquiring) that promotes rhetorical awareness. Also, students meet information literacy learning outcomes for recognizing and evaluating various kinds of information and building analytical skills to evaluate information presented in exhibits.

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 

Alternate Application:
The Exhibition Explorer Card Deck can be used as a stand-alone student assignment that is conducted outside of class time. Students can visit a special collections or library exhibition and complete the card activities on their own. In this case, the exhibition exercise is self-guided by students. Instructors may set additional guidelines for the assignment.

After students complete this exhibit exercise on their own, the course instructor may facilitate a follow-up discussion with students about the exhibit exercise and their experiences. Additionally, students can write a short reflective paper responding to the card activities and their experiences with the exhibit.

Card Modification:
The Exhibition Explorer Cards can be edited to use for exhibitions in various learning spaces other than archives and special collections. Also, the activities can be modified to meet specific learning needs in the local contexts.

Card Production:
The Exhibition Explorer Cards are easy to make. They are set to print double-sided on cardstock or regular paper, then cut the cards out, and they are ready for use!

Attachments:
The Exhibition Explorer Card Deck is available for download and edited as PDF and Word files.
Also, attachments include sample pictures of a printed Card Deck with both front and corresponding back sides, as well as visual examples of students conducting the exhibition exercise in the LMU Library’s Archives and Special Collections Gallery in Spring 2019.

Please feel free to send any questions to Rachel Wen-Paloutzian and Laura Poladian.

Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Wen-Paloutzian, Rachel. "Exhibition Explorer Card Deck: Experiential Learning for Rhetorical and Critical Thinking." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/exhibition-explorer-card-deck-experiential-learning-rhetorical-and-critical-thinking.
Submitted by Elizabeth Salmon on August 13th, 2019
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Short Description: 

This lesson is intended to increase students’ awareness of content types and how various source types are created in order to 1) assist them in accurate citation practices and 2) help them to effectively select and evaluate sources using basic indicators such as purpose, audience, authorship, and additional factors that shape the creation of the source.

Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to …
1) evaluate sources using basic indicators e.g. authorship, publication type, purpose.
2) articulate the capabilities and constraints of information developed through various creation processes.
3) recognize that authoritative content may be packaged formally or informally and may include sources of all types.

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

In collaboration with writing instructors, librarians developed a series of activities for instructors to use in support of first-year student information literacy outcomes related to source evaluation. While course instructors facilitated this activity in their classrooms, librarians also used it in other first-year courses with a research focus. In librarian-facilitated classes, the librarian puts students in small groups to work together on one worksheet comparing a scholarly article to another source type.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Students will look up the sample publication sources to learn about them but may need encouragement to open the shortened URLs to compare the sample articles from the sources. It may also be helpful to show the debrief questions as students are working on their comparison worksheets so they have a deeper purpose when exploring and comparing the sources, lending to a richer class discussion.

Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Salmon, Elizabeth. "Exploring Source Formats & Purpose." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/exploring-source-formats-purpose.
Submitted by Carolyn Caffrey on June 13th, 2019
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Short Description: 

This lesson is designed for lower-division composition undergraduate students to learn frameworks for evaluating the audience and purpose of various information sources. After analyzing an array of sources for audience and purpose students can dig in to a source in more detail looking for markers of authority and discussing strategies for verifying claims.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Audience and purpose concept mapdisplayed 1720 times82.87 KB
Evaluating a Source Worksheetdisplayed 1246 times8.94 KB
Slides for Studentsdisplayed 2275 times432.21 KB
Lesson plan outline and pictures of research stationsdisplayed 1394 times564.85 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to:
1) Articulate different markers of authority in a variety of information contexts
2) Identify the purpose and audience of different information formats

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

This lesson plan was designed for 60 minutes and delivered to 42 classes in 6 days as part of a summer early start composition program. We needed something that was fun, interactive, could be delivered by many different instructors back to back, and supported the overall course goals of reading rhetorically.

Prior to teaching the lesson we assembled six self contained "research stations." These were boxes (but could also be dedicated spaces) filled with information sources with various audiences/purposes, worksheets to be completed in small groups, stickers to make the worksheets faster, and writing utensils.

The librarian begins the lesson with a warm-up question on everyday research, this is followed by a group map and discussion on the audience and purpose of information sources, finally the session concludes with an in-depth dive evaluating one popular source.

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 

Pictures of our research stations are included in the PDF lesson plan. We used the following sources in our boxes:
• #1 Multimodal news piece: https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/poor-millennials/
• #2 an opposing viewpoints opinion piece from a Marijuana policy institute [proxied link removed – sub in your own opinion piece here]
• #3 a news article: https://ktla.com/2019/05/29/contractors-like-uber-lyft-drivers-would-get...
• #4 a video: https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion...
• # 5 a government report from a website: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml
• # 6 a scholarly journal article [proxied link removed – sub in your own short article here]
• #7 an encyclopedia article from Gale Virtual Reference
• #8 an edited scholarly monograph on a variety of topics pulled from our stacks

Assessment or Criteria for Success
Assessment Short Description: 
We used a short evaluation form designed for this session. The questions included: 1) Which part of today's session did you learn the most from? {checkbox of all the activities and components] 2) What was one aha! moment that you had today about understanding and evaluating sources? 3) If you could change or improve one thing about this session to better help you learn, what would it be? We also consulted with faculty teaching the course regarding their student work.
Suggested Citation: 
Caffrey, Carolyn . "Mapping Audience & Purpose: Evaluating Sources." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/mapping-audience-purpose-evaluating-sources.
Submitted by Chelsea Heinbach on May 16th, 2019
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Short Description: 

This low-stakes, in-class assignment is designed to help first-year seminar students learn about important library resources and present their findings to their fellow students. In teams, students complete a series of authentic research tasks (called challenges) such as selecting and citing images from our digital collection and using our discovery tool to find books on the library shelves. Each team is also assigned a unique challenge to learn more about the library. Students spend the last twenty-five minutes of class designing a quick presentation in Canva and using it to teach each other about what they learned through their unique challenges.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Lesson Plandisplayed 925 times17.1 KB
Activity Challengesdisplayed 880 times109.77 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will identify uses for library technologies and resources in order to teach their classmates. Students will examine metadata from an image found via the UNLV digital collections in order to write an accurate image citation. Students will design a slide in Canva that showcases library resources and technologies.

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

We used this lesson plan to provide library instruction for a first-year seminar for liberal arts students. The course was loosely themed around the idea of “a domain of one’s own,” i.e., equipping students to become thoughtful creators of digital content. The session was not tied to a particular research assignment, but the course instructor thought it was important to provide students with a general introduction to the library. The course instructor gave Mark few parameters for developing the lesson, instead asking Mark “to just tell them about the library.” Mark decided to collaborate with Brittany and Chelsea to transform the generic “welcome to the library” session that the instructor had asked for into something more vibrant.

Assessment or Criteria for Success
Assessment Short Description: 
Student groups checked in with us as they completed the succession of challenges in order to move on to the next stage. We also reviewed students’ presentations and Canva slides for evidence that students fulfilled our learning outcomes.
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Although the goal of this lesson plan is to provide a casual, low-stakes learning experience for the students, the constraints of time and logistics require the instructors to undertake careful planning in advance. The clearer you can make your directions for each challenge, the more time students can devote to discovering library resources and sharing what they learned. You will probably want a second instructor to help students with logistical questions. If you cannot get an additional librarian colleague, an experienced student worker or even the course instructor could fill this role, but make sure that they understand the plan in advance. Try to avoid extending the lesson plan by shifting the presentation to an additional class session, as it will likely cause students to overthink what is meant to be a low-stakes and engaging activity.

Suggested Citation: 
Heinbach, Chelsea. "A Peer-to-Peer Introduction to the University Library." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/peer-peer-introduction-university-library.
Submitted by Tessa Withorn on April 15th, 2019
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Short Description: 

The goal of this activity is to explore spaces, services, and information literacy (IL) concepts through problem-based scenarios, guided discovery, and peer teaching. Ideal for orientations for K-12, undergraduate, transfer, or graduate students, but can also be used for instruction requests with no clear research assignment or at the start of a research project. Students work in groups to find solutions to a scenario using guided directions and tools, and then teach the rest of the class based on their findings. The activity takes approximately 30-45 minutes, including student presentations, depending on class size and complexity of scenarios.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Problem-based Scenarios for Library Instruction Lesson Plan.docxdisplayed 1789 times23.76 KB
AttachmentSize
Problem Based Scenario Worksheet Template.docxdisplayed 1017 times26.62 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

After this activity, students will be able to:
● Describe study spaces and services within the library
● Navigate the library’s website
● Describe how the library provides resources necessary for academic success

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

Scenarios in the lesson plan have been used for a first-year English Composition course with about 15 students and no research assignment, but the instructor wanted a broad overview of the library, and a new student orientation for 30 transfer students.

Assessment or Criteria for Success
Assessment Short Description: 
Ask students to write down 1 thing they learned and 1 question or thing they are still unsure about. Answer any remaining questions.
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Timing: Works best when scenarios take approximately the same amount of time for each group to explore and answer the So What? question. Or, have a back-up activity or task for students to work on if their group finishes early.

Complexity and discovery: In crafting your scenario and guided instructions, think about what students might already know and how they can use that knowledge to think about libraries and information literacy in new ways. The goal of the scenario should be more than just completing a simple information retrieval task or learning how an information system works. Focus on getting students started by suggesting tools and strategies they may be unfamiliar with, but encourage students to explore, discover, and reflect on the scenarios in relationship to their own processes and experiences.

Suggested Citation: 
Withorn, Tessa. "Problem-based Scenarios for Library Instruction." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/problem-based-scenarios-library-instruction.
Submitted by Anaya Jones on March 19th, 2019
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Short Description: 

This is a participatory, variable lesson frame ready for you to modify to suit your instruction needs. This lesson and it's variations focuses on encouraging students to see themselves as information creators and part of the scholarly conversation and can also variously include conversations about about the scholarly information cycle and/or authority depending on instruction constraints and configuration.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
StudentScholarLessonPlanTermCourse.pdfdisplayed 1568 times745.53 KB
StudentScholarLessonPlanTermCourse.docxdisplayed 970 times22.84 KB
StudentScholarLessonPlanSingleSessionScholarlyProcessFocus.pdfdisplayed 1268 times440.62 KB
StudentScholarLessonPlanSingleSessionScholarlyProcessFocus.docxdisplayed 984 times20.46 KB
StudentScholarLessonPlanSingleSessionAuthorityFocus.pdfdisplayed 1092 times437.39 KB
StudentScholarLessonPlanSingleSessionAuthorityFocus.docxdisplayed 969 times20.03 KB
Student Scholar Lesson Plan Start Heredisplayed 1243 times572.13 KB
AttachmentSize
Sample Artifact.pdfdisplayed 1289 times149.96 KB
StudentScholarAssignmentInstructions.pdfdisplayed 2204 times782.72 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will consider the value and authority of various sources and analyze the strengths of different types of information on their topic.
Students will be able to summarize the scholarly information process and see themselves as actual and potential information creators.
-More possible, see documentation.

Individual or Group:

Suggested Citation: 
Jones, Anaya. "Cast Your Students as Scholars." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/cast-your-students-scholars.
Submitted by Beth Hoppe on February 18th, 2019
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Short Description: 

This activity provides an interactive, student-centered, fun opportunity to explore skills of critical thinking and evaluation of resources. By allowing students to connect those things that they already know (even if they don’t know they know it) to larger concepts, we encourage them to trust themselves and to begin to develop their intuition as scholars, moving away from checklists and formulas for resource evaluation and toward a thoughtful critique of sources based on individual need and use.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Sphere of Discourse: What, how-to, why, etc.displayed 2043 times16.97 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Describe different sources of information
Articulate benefits/drawbacks of information sources
Consider information as influence
Investigate role of various media in different forms of "conversation" (scholarly, popular, etc)
Define library spaces/terminology/sources

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

The Sphere of Discourse works well in courses that may traditionally get an orientation to the library. It can be modified to work for specific disciplines or contexts.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

This activity requires space!

Suggested Citation: 
Hoppe, Beth. "Sphere of Discourse." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/sphere-discourse.

Teaching Resource

Reading an academic text in a paper format can be challenging, and reading it online adds complexity to the task.

Submitted by Pascal Martinolli on July 24th, 2018
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Short Description: 

A scholarly character sheet for self-assessment about information literacy skills - gamification around quantified self, badging and young researcher identity.

Une feuille d'autoévaluation pour suivre les apprentissages en compétences informationnelles acquises sur le moyen ou le long terme. Elle est ludifiée avec des éléments de mesure de soi, de badge et d'identité de jeune chercheur.

Learning Outcomes: 

Self-assessment, measurement of progress & end of course wrap-up.

Individual or Group:

Suggested Citation: 
Martinolli, Pascal. "Scholarly character sheet / Feuille de personnage du jeune chercheur." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/scholarly-character-sheet-feuille-de-personnage-du-jeune-chercheur.

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