Information Creation as Process (Frame 2)

Submitted by Cristy Moran on January 19th, 2017
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

Students will be exposed to various entry points of a sustainability topic in various formats. They will take notes as they experience those expressions on the Elements of Thought evidenced throughout. This in-class, two-part lesson includes an independent guided activity and a Think-Pair-Share activity for further reflection on source/ claimant evaluation.

Prior to this lesson, instructor will have chosen a topic relevant to their subject area or course content – Possible examples: food deserts, clean water in US, bee colony collapse.

Instructor will also have selected (commenting on this topic directly):
• One short-form video product (I.e. TED Talk, video essay, documentary clip, recorded speech, or other topical video informational product)
• One published essay, opinion editorial, or commentary
• One informative (unbiased) article or reference entry.
The duration of the in-class activities for this lesson is approximately 60-75 minutes. Length and difficulty of content should be considered when selecting the examples.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
EXAMPLE QEP and IL Lesson - ENC1102.docxdisplayed 927 times15.04 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

• Students will closely listen and/or read information in order to recognize elements of thought
• Students will identify key components of written/ oral arguments for point of view, purpose, question at issue, information, interpretation and inference, concepts, assumptions, and implications and consequences
• Students will determine their information need (next steps for research) based on notes

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Individual or Group:

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

This lesson was created as a possible proposal for embedding in a freshman level composition course with a thematic focus on sustainability as a part of the college's QEP (theme: critical thinking). The theme for this lesson is highly adaptable, as are the individual sources. The Elements of Thought referred to throughout the activity are from www.criticalthinking.org and the Paul-Elder Model for Critical Thinking.

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

Find additional resources on the Paul-Elder Critical Thinking models on https://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
Suggested Citation: 
Moran, Cristy. "Critical Thinking in Action: Sustainability ." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/critical-thinking-action-sustainability.
Submitted by Ryer Banta on November 2nd, 2016
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

This lesson introduces undergraduates to personal digital archiving (PDA) as an instructional bridge to research data management.

PDA is the study of how people organize, maintain, use and share personal digital information in their daily lives. PDA skills closely parallel research data management skills, with the added benefit of being directly relevant to undergraduate students, most of whom manage complex personal digital content on a daily basis.

By teaching PDA, librarians encourage authentic learning experiences that immediately resonate with students' day-to-day activities. Teaching PDA builds a foundation of knowledge that not only helps students manage their personal digital materials, but can be translated into research data management skills that will enhance students' academic and professional careers.

This lesson was developed by Sara Mannheimer and Ryer Banta and is licensed CC-BY 4.0.

Learning Outcomes: 

Students will apply file naming conventions, folder structure and other data management standards to their own digital files.
Students will explain the significance and impact of data management, and lack thereof, for personal, school and work digital files.

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

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

Initially this was developed for face to face course, but has also been used for online classes.

Suggested Citation: 
Banta, Ryer. "Everyday Data Management." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/everyday-data-management.
Submitted by William (Bill) Badke on August 25th, 2016
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

A two-credit online graduate information literacy course.

Learning Outcomes: 

The student will: A. show an understanding of the complex current world of information resources; B. demonstrate the ability to formulate a strategy for research; C. show skill in identifying a research problem, acquiring a variety of informational resources to address that problem, evaluating those resources, and putting them to effective use; D. demonstrate an appreciation for planned research from topic to completed project.

Individual or Group:

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

This is a required graduate level course for Associated Canadian Theological Schools of Trinity Western University. The course was implemented in 1987 and the online version has been operating without interruption since late 1999.

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

Textbook: William Badke, Research Strategies: Finding your Way through the Information Fog (iUniverse.com). Other activities located in the assignments on the course website.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Online information literacy instruction requires intense involvement with students: Ready availability by e-mail, maximum 24 hour turnaround for queries and assignment grading, and extensive comments on student assignments following a formative rather than summative assessment pattern.

Suggested Citation: 
Badke, William (Bill). "RES 502 - Research Strategies." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/res-502-research-strategies.
Submitted by Lani Smith on February 17th, 2016
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

Students create an entry in the Fremont Wiki - http://localwiki.net/fremont. Students incorporate information literacy concepts, have hands-on experience conducting research, and create actual content on the Internet [while also learning how easy it is for anyone to change that content]. It could also be a great chance to get students into local museums and archives.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
create a fremont wiki entry.docdisplayed 1006 times537.5 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

coming soon

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

This would be greatly strengthened taught in a learning community. Could work well with English, History, Journalism, LGBT History, and more.

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

If there isn't one in your town, a LocalWiki is easy to set up. You can also contact the folks who run it who graciously supply their wonderful support. https://localwiki.org One of the exciting things this does is to get some of this history out of the archives into to a wider audience. See Oakland Wiki http://oaklandwiki.org/ for an incredibly dynamic example.

Suggested Citation: 
Smith, Lani. "Create an entry in a LocalWiki." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/create-entry-localwiki.
Submitted by William (Bill) Badke on January 6th, 2016
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

Syllabus and five assignments within a two-credit live course at undergraduate level. See "Relevant Links" section for access to all assignments. Assignments include a rubric.

Learning Outcomes: 

The student will: 1. Gain an understanding of the characteristics of information and its dissemination in the information age. 2. Develop an appreciation for topic analysis and research focused around a question or hypothesis. 3. Learn to strategize research procedures using a wide variety of tools and information sources, based on an understanding of information systems and their manner of operation. 4. Acquire a deeper ability to use critical thinking to interact with diverse concepts, evaluate truth claims, synthesize data and make conclusions. 5. Show an appreciation for the ethical requirements of research and writing.

Individual or Group:

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

The course was taught over five evenings. The course material worked through the research process from topic identification to preparation for final writing. Course assignments provided opportunity for students to integrate instructional content with practice built around topics of their choice.

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

Textbook: William Badke, Research Strategies: Finding Your Way through the Information Fog, 6th ed. (Bloomington, IN: iUniverse.com, 2017). Links to further resources: http://libguides.twu.ca/UNIV110/Presentations Rubrics provided in each assignment.

Suggested Citation: 
Badke, William (Bill). "UNIV 110 - Scholarly Inquiry and Research Methods." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/univ-110-scholarly-inquiry-and-research-methods.
Submitted by Lane Wilkinson on January 6th, 2016
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

This activity proceeds via Socratic questioning. The goal is to have students explain the common stumbling blocks they encounter as they look for information and as they write papers (if they have). The role of the librarian is to facilitate the discussion by providing a contextual framework for student experiences. By showing students that their research process follows a common pattern, they can make better choices about how, when, and where to look for information (e.g., not jumping straight to peer-reviewed articles when they can barely define their topic)

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
1-11 Information Needs, Types, Qualities.docxdisplayed 4015 times53.49 KB
AttachmentSize
Optional worksheet displayed 4388 times250.83 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to articulate the type of information they need to complete a given task. Students will be able to identify the appropriate uses for various information formats. Students will be able to explain the criteria by which we identify the credibility of an information source. Students will be able to identify which attributes of a given information source should be included in an annotated bibliography.

Individual or Group:

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

This is a frequent activity I developed for our second-semester composition program. The common assignment is an annotated bibliography of 8-12 sources. Analyzing student bibliographies showed that they were having a tough time understanding how format can affect the usefulness of an information source, within context. The most frequent problem involved students jumping straight to peer-reviewed scholarship when they could barely articulate their research question. Likewise, students often do not approach research strategically and with an eye towards collecting a range of sources that will help address many common research needs. Since this activity is coupled to an annotated bibliography, a secondary pay-off is in helping students write their annotations. Once able to articulate the information need a source satisfies, they can better conceptualize how to incorporate the information into their paper.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

This is a Socratic activity, so the librarian has to take the traditional "sage on the stage" approach and has to be comfortable keeping the conversation on track, no matter where it might go. The attached instructions are only a loose framework to help guide discussion.

Suggested Citation: 
Wilkinson, Lane. "Information Needs, Types, and Qualities." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/information-needs-types-and-qualities.
Submitted by Jennifer Masunaga on July 14th, 2015
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

This assignment is meant to illustrate the differences between scholarly and popular information sources by presenting students with information on the topic of "fracking" from four different resources: a scholarly article, a magazine, a newspaper and a website. It introduces the idea that information can be presented in different formats depending on the context and information need.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Source_Evaluation.docxdisplayed 2198 times20.32 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

At the end of this activity, students should… • Be able to compare and contrast four different types of information sources • Recognize differences between scholarly and non-scholarly articles. • Recognize the importance of authorship

Individual or Group:

Suggested Citation: 
Masunaga, Jennifer. "Scholarly vs. Popular ." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2015. https://projectcora.org/assignment/scholarly-vs-popular.

Pages