Short Description
This activity introduces students to a variety of databases in their discipline by asking them to quickly review and prepare an “elevator speech” on the database’s best features and content. Students then do three rounds of “speed dating” to share with other students what they’ve discovered.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to identify and use appropriate databases to form an effective research strategy.
Students will be able to differentiate databases based on functionality and content scope.
Discipline
Participation Type
Ability Level
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips
This activity works best if all students are in the same discipline, although it can be scaled to include general research databases or multiple disciplines. Part C asks students to quickly identify a research topic and evaluate their databases by searching for that topic. This will work if students already have a research topic in mind for an assignment. If not, you may wish to offer one or more examples for them to use, or skip it entirely.
Collaborators
Suggested Citation
Christian, Elizabeth. "Database "Speed Dating"." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments). 2018. https://projectcora.org/lesson/database-speed-dating
Attachments
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