Authority is Constructed / Contextual (Frame 1)

Submitted by Elizabeth Dobbins on May 15th, 2020
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Short Description: 

How can we facilitate first-year student engagement with critical Framework concepts, especially in a one-shot class? This active learning activity is designed to teach source evaluation in a 50-minute class. The activity, which incorporates elements of problem-based learning and uses a flipped classroom approach, was added to our institution’s first-year experience course. Prompting students to consider a local issue, the activity requires students to evaluate sources represented as “source cards,” choose sources they would use in the context of the assignment, and justify their decisions. Motivated by the challenge and relevance of the activity, students work cooperatively to consider questions at the heart of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy. 

Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to:

  • Distinguish between various types of sources for a research assignment (book, blog post,
  • newspaper, journal article, etc.)
  • Evaluate the academic value of various types of sources by considering its currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose.
Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Individual or Group:

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

At our institution, this lesson plan is integrated into the First-Year Experience course. Students complete pre-work before class, watching three instructional videos and responding to short-answer questions. This prepares them to participate fully in the in-class activity. 

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

If interested in more background information on this activity, view the slides from a recent presentation on the lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1uOFVP2NAYzOc9eyRj6EzPv8WUx55F-nTpY_tppNqkko/edit?usp=sharing

Assessment or Criteria for Success
Assessment Short Description: 
Students watch three instructional videos (available at http://guides.lib.campbell.edu/cufs100) and answer short-answer questions before class. Instructors and/or librarians can review these for student comprehension. Instructors/librarians can gain informal assessment during the in-class activity through the debriefing discussion and group "presentation."
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
  • This activity may work best in smaller classes sizes (approx. 20 students), as it is easy to break into groups of 2-3 students. This also allows for more discussion after the activity.
  • This activity requires minimal 'maintenance' by instructional librarians. The source cards should be updated periodically to remain relevant. 
Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Dobbins, Elizabeth. "Evaluating Sources through Problem-Based Learning." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2020. https://projectcora.org/assignment/evaluating-sources-through-problem-based-learning.
Submitted by Aisha Conner-Gaten on March 4th, 2020
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Short Description: 

Using three example excerpts on citation practice and the experiences of specific scholars, attendees will interrogate and discuss how whiteness and other oppressions impact citation practice using a series of questions. 

AttachmentSize
Example Excerpt 1 on Misogynoirdisplayed 1050 times63.08 KB
Example Excerpt 2 on Peer Review for Indigenous Scholarsdisplayed 1016 times63.16 KB
Example Excerpt 3 on Citing Problematic Scholarsdisplayed 866 times63.25 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

By Example Number
Example 1:

  • Attendees will identify definitions of erasure and punitive and opportunistic plagiarism 
  • Attendees will reflect on oppression as perpetrated through traditional, textual citation practice

Example 2:

  • Attendees will examine the ways in which indigenous scholars navigate peer review
  • Attendees will reflect on oppression as perpetrated through traditional, textual citation practice

Example 3:

  • Attendees will examine the pros and cons of citing problematic scholars
  • Attendees will develop a strategy for citing problematic scholars bolstered by their personal ethics
  • Attendees will reflect on oppression as perpetrated through traditional, textual citaiton practice

Individual or Group:

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

This activity was done during a citation panel event: https://cal.lmu.edu/event/citations2020#.XmA4O5NKhTY. This was 25 minutes (15 minutes to read and discuss in pairs and 10 minutes to share with the larger group). Discussion was facilitated.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

When facilitating larger discussion, provide summary of each reading as some groups may need context. Review each questions so attendees can share notes taken. Save last question of each example for a shared discussion (each example has same last question).

Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Conner-Gaten, Aisha. "Politics of Citation Discussion Activity." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2020. https://projectcora.org/assignment/politics-citation-discussion-activity.
Submitted by Aisha Conner-Gaten on January 22nd, 2020
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Short Description: 

This workshop introduces zines to a First Year Women's and Gender Studies class including what they are, general history and culture in the United States, and the process of making zines. This workshop supported a class assignment where students make zines featuring class readings and a reflective essay including original creative works. In the sessions, students recieve "handout" zines for note-taking and reflective work, a short lecture on zines, and work with databases to find pieces for their zine topics or ideas. The instructor can find example zines for the interactive exercise on Internet Archive and other collections.

Learning Outcomes: 
  • Students will know the basics of zines as cultural and reflective documents in order to determine social value
  • Students will analyze zines for cultural and social impact and themes in order to recreate zines with their topics
  • Students will employ database searches in order to find and evaluate pieces for zine assignment
Discipline: 
Women's Studies

Individual or Group:

Tags:

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

The course assignment for this workshop focused on the creation of the zine specifically incorporating previous course readings, essays, creative works, and organizational research. In support of this, the library workshop on zines introduced to idea of zines, showed examples with partner question work, and research time to explore subject databases for relevant articles and images.

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

Time! Consider shortening zine handout to provide more time to create or work on individual zines. Perhaps even make a blank version with minimal illustration.

Suggested Citation: 
Conner-Gaten, Aisha. "Zine Workshop." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2020. https://projectcora.org/assignment/zine-workshop.
Submitted by Duke University Libraries RIS Team on December 4th, 2019
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Short Description: 

This lesson on journal prestige could be taught by itself, as part of a series on scholarly communication, or as a small part of a larger lesson on information prestige.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Citations for Info Privilege Lessons Mediadisplayed 918 times10.84 KB
Lesson Plandisplayed 1065 times377.57 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will recognize the practices of scholarly publishers

Students will evaluate whether citation count is a good indicator of authority

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Individual or Group:

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

This topic could fit well into instruction sessions that include significant treatment of source evaluation and is one potential approach as you move beyond simple categorization of sources as scholarly/non-scholarly or primary/secondary. It stops short of a critical examination of construction of authority but could be used to hint at greater subtlety and complexity. This topic has particular relevance for upper level undergraduates engaged in research, who may be starting to think about publication from an author’s perspective.

Suggested Citation: 
RIS Team, Duke University Libraries. "Journal Prestige." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/journal-prestige.
Submitted by Duke University Libraries RIS Team on November 26th, 2019
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Short Description: 

This is an activity to get students to think critically about the sources and information presented in a Wikipedia article. Students are asked to look up an article on their own topic, or a topic related to the course, and examine the content and the “Talk” page to see what issues the article has related to Wikipedia’s 3 guiding principles for content: point of view (objectivity/bias), verifiability (quality of sources cited), and evidence of original researchNOTE: This activity works best for topics (people, events) that are current public debates and/or controversial.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Directions for Instructordisplayed 949 times13.54 KB
Evaluating a Controversial Topic Activitydisplayed 1025 times1.01 MB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will define Wikipedia’s guiding content principles

Students will evaluate a topic by investigating Wikipedia talk pages related to it

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 
Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
Suggested Citation: 
RIS Team, Duke University Libraries. "Researching a Controversy." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/researching-controversy.
Submitted by Duke University Libraries RIS Team on November 20th, 2019
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Short Description: 

This lesson on the nature and cost of scholarly publishing could be taught by
itself, or as part of a series on scholarly communication, or as a small part of a larger lesson on
information privilege.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Lesson Plandisplayed 866 times269.69 KB
Citations for Info Privilege Lessons Mediadisplayed 946 times10.84 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will recognize the practices of scholarly publishers

Students will understand the cost of accessing scholarly research

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Individual or Group:

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Introducing this topic could be as simple as indicating the impressive number of scholarly articles published each year or size of library collections budgets or be part of a lengthier lesson on how academic publishing works. It could be included in searching or source evaluation exercises and may set the stage for understanding the fundamentals of scholarly communication.

Suggested Citation: 
RIS Team, Duke University Libraries. "Scale of Scholarly Publishing." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/scale-scholarly-publishing.
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 Jeffrey Dowdy on November 5th, 2019
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Short Description: 

Through the course of researching a topic, students will learn about differences in types of information and how to use research to gather relevant terms to narrow a topic. 

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Worksheet with research activities, featuring the BEAM method. displayed 868 times20.61 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to sort information by type. 

Students will possess the necessary skills to direct their search towards certain types of information. 

Students will understand how to alter and select terms to broaden or narrow their search. 

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 
Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Strike a balance of giving enough information for the students to complete the activities while allowing students to "learn as they do." Discussion should be included after each activity. 

Suggested Citation: 
Dowdy, Jeffrey. "Topic Types Terms." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/topic-types-terms.
Submitted by Duke University Libraries RIS Team on October 23rd, 2019
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Short Description: 

This is an activity that helps students develop an interdisciplinary search strategy in stages. Students define their topic, brainstorm questions related to their topic area, and connect these questions to the disciplines and experts where they might find more research and information. Students learn how to identify search tools & information sources based on their questions using the library’s website.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Directions for Instructordisplayed 913 times13.8 KB
Blank Template for Use by Students or Instructordisplayed 1071 times324.05 KB
Completed Exampledisplayed 1055 times494.5 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Breakdown topic by brainstorming relevant ideas and questions

Analyze these ideas to identify subject areas, this will help inform later searches on topic (ie what databases to consult)

Identifies key concepts and terms that describe the information need

Recognizes that knowledge can be organized into disciplines that influence the way information is accessed

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Individual or Group:

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

·         Students don’t necessarily know a lot about different academic ‘disciplines’ and may need some help making meaningful connections between their topics and particular disciplines.

·         Students may need help and/or to do some background research to think about interesting questions/issues related to their topics.

Suggested Citation: 
RIS Team, Duke University Libraries. "Developing an Interdisciplinary Search Strategy." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/developing-interdisciplinary-search-strategy.
Submitted by Janelle Bitter on October 9th, 2019
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Short Description: 

This think-pair-share activity in which students compare a popular and scholarly source will help them progress from answering observable questions (type of language and format) to analytical questions (intended audience). As a class, students will discuss their answers and talk about whether the popular source accurately represented the scholarly source.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Step-by-step instructions on using this activitydisplayed 934 times19.2 KB
The worksheet to be used in this activitydisplayed 931 times14.17 KB
PowerPoint presentation given at a conference about this activitydisplayed 1037 times1020.35 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will describe the information creation process for popular and scholarly sources, compare and contrast the type of information disseminated by each, and explain the ways in which authority and accuracy are contingent upon information need. Therefore, students will evaluate the accuracy and authority of a source based on discipline and information need and recognize and select appropriate resources for academic research.

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 
Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Using technology can unnecessarily complicate this activity, so printing articles and using the Post-it Note option would be better for a low-tech option.

Suggested Citation: 
Bitter, Janelle. "Scientific research in popular sources classroom activity." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/scientific-research-popular-sources-classroom-activity.

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