active learning

Submitted by Alexandria Chisholm on December 6th, 2018
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Short Description: 

This workshop delivers an action-oriented introduction to personal data privacy designed for new college students. The session is designed to reveal the systems in place to collect and analyze online behavioral data, and to unveil the real-world consequences of online profiling in contexts like sentiment shaping, consumer preferences, employment, healthcare, personal finance, and law enforcement. In lieu of a prescriptive approach, students analyze case studies to observe how online behaviors impact real-world opportunities and reflect on the benefits and risks of technology use to develop purposeful online behaviors and habits that align with their individual values. Developing knowledge practices regarding privacy and the commodification of personal information and embodying the core library values of privacy and intellectual freedom, the workshop promotes a proactive rather than reactive approach and presents a spectrum of privacy preferences across a range of contexts in order to respect students’ autonomy and agency in personal technology use.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
PersonalDataPlan_PennStateBerks.pdfdisplayed 1191 times622.24 KB
PrivacyWorkshopLessonPlan_Chisholm_Hartman-Caverly.pdfdisplayed 724 times189.3 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to: 1. recognize how their personal data and metadata are collected, along with the potential implications of such data collection 2. assess how their data is shared and make informed, intentional choices to safeguard their privacy 3. identify privacy issues facing our society 4. describe the positive case for privacy as a human right fundamental to individual well-being

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Chisholm, Alexandria. "Privacy Workshop." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/privacy-workshop.
Submitted by Amanda M. on July 19th, 2018
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Short Description: 

Art and design students are almost always asked to write about their work, in the form of an artists’ statement, at some point in their academic career. This is a skill that is crucial as they move from student to professional or practicing artist because it gives them the opportunity to reflect on their work, share concepts and develop their authority in their field, and, very importantly, discuss how their work builds on the work of others who share similar themes and/or processes. These descriptive texts provide additional context, insight, evidence, and background details that are otherwise difficult for viewers to identify or understand. This lesson describes the process linking the creative process to the research process for visual and fine art disciplines in order to articulate sources of inspiration, identify themes, and provide context for an intended audience. Pop culture is an accessible topic that most students will have some familiarity with, and so the lesson focuses on contemporary and pop artists who draw from several sources to create their bodies of work.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Artist Statements (1).pdfdisplayed 1384 times96.33 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will collaboratively research and mind map the work of one artist to identify the ways in which this artist is influenced by other art, disciplines outside of art, and contemporary issues, and culture. Students will consider and articulate who their work is in conversation with (other artists, theorists, etc.) and how they are building on the contributions others have made. Students will generate a mind map of themes, artists, and influences that pertain to their body of work in order to begin researching each one more thoroughly. Students will use further research to contextualize their body of work within cultural, social, artistic, and discipline-specific histories and contemporary practices/movements.

Discipline: 
Art

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

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

I've used this with upper level/graduate photography and printmaking students, but could be applied to many disciplines.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Consider the artists you use as your example. I use Beyonce and Janelle Monae because most of my students are familiar with them on some level. If they were not familiar this lesson may be less effective and students would be less engaged.

Suggested Citation: 
M., Amanda. "Artist Statements: Context, Content & Conversations." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/artist-statements-context-content-conversations.
Submitted by Jennifer Smith on July 11th, 2018
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Short Description: 

This short lesson introduces identifying search terms with a Koosh ball. The 10 minute activity can be used in one-shot instruction sessions or built in to credit bearing information literacy courses.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Activity instructionsdisplayed 3048 times250.75 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Identify relevant search terms for a given topic.

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Individual or Group:

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

This activity was originally designed for a patent searching session for an upper level engineering course. I used it to prepare groups for brainstorming keywords for their group invention. I have found that it easily translates to other multidisciplinary courses and can be used with groups or individuals.

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
Suggested Citation: 
Smith, Jennifer. "What is this thing? Koosh balls and search terms." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/what-thing-koosh-balls-and-search-terms.
Submitted by Gail Gradowski on June 14th, 2018
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Short Description: 

This exercise was designed for 1st year writing students with several different goals in mind: • encourage deeper, closer reading; • introduce the concept that information sources have perspective; • develop vocabulary around describing information and perspective; • acquaint students with the many values/uses of subject encyclopedias; • practice topic narrowing using these types of encyclopedia articles.

Learning Outcomes: 

• Distinguish/discern differences in treatment of the same subject in different texts. • Differentiate/recognize different types of information sources in lists of references. • Assess/compare/contrast author credentials. • Assess/compare/contrast authority, audience and perspective of various subject encyclopedias.

Individual or Group:

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

Students love wikipedia, and this exercise builds on that. They tell me that one of the ways they use wikipedia is to help them narrow their topic. I've often recommended to students that they read some encyclopedia articles to help them focus/narrow/define their research question. This exercise can serve as a way to encourage that use. It could be immediately followed by having them locate subject encyclopedia articles for themselves.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

When they are in their groups composing their presentation, you will need to encourage them to go into more detail, cite examples from the texts to support their claims. They will initially be making very broad, general statements. Students working on the 4th question will probably need the most assistance.

Suggested Citation: 
Gradowski, Gail. "Pick One, Any One? They're all just encyclopedia articles . . .." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/pick-one-any-one-theyre-all-just-encyclopedia-articles.
Submitted by Gail Gradowski on May 25th, 2018
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Short Description: 

This is a 65-minute workshop designed for 1st year composition students who will be using periodical sources in their research. Students will practice writing contextualizing statements, e.g. describing authors, genres, types of periodicals, for a variety of information sources of the type they will be using in their own research projects.

Learning Outcomes: 

• Identify different types of periodical information sources;
• Describe different periodical information sources;
• Identify relevant author credentials;
• Describe relevant author credentials;
• Compose a valid contextualizing statement describing an information source.

Individual or Group:

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

When deciding on the link to use to the various periodical sources, it is a good idea to provide variety, e.g. EBSCO, Proquest, Sage. The first challenge for students will be to identify the title of the periodical source itself.

Suggested Citation: 
Gradowski, Gail. "What Exactly IS that Source You are Quoting From?." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/what-exactly-source-you-are-quoting.
Submitted by Tessa Withorn on May 25th, 2018
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Short Description: 

This concept map and activity explores how various sources of information are created, accessed, and shared. Students collaboratively define what makes a source traditional, emerging, public, or exclusive. Students are given a type of information source to map on the grid according to each axis, and provide a rationale for their placement.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
The Information Spectrum Lesson Plan.docxdisplayed 1371 times150.74 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to: 1) articulate the traditional and emerging processes of information creation and dissemination; 2) articulate the value and constraints of public and exclusive information; 3) assess the fit between an information product’s creation process and a particular information need.

Individual or Group:

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

This activity was used in a first-year writing course that did not include in-depth research, but students were encouraged to use a variety of sources, including primary sources. The assignment asked students to analyze a cultural artifact and how it has changed over time, such as the telephone or automobile. At the beginning of the class, the instruction librarian introduced the Information Spectrum concept map and asked students to collaboratively define characteristics of an information source in terms of traditional, emerging, public, and exclusive. With the Information Spectrum projected on a whiteboard, each student was given a slip of paper with a type of information source (e.g. print book, online news article, tweet) and a piece of tape to place on the grid. Students were asked to give a rationale for why they placed their source where they did. Students then worked in groups of 2-3 to evaluate a specific source related to an example topic. At the end of class, each group was given another slip of paper with their example source to map on the grid and provide a rationale.

Assessment or Criteria for Success
Assessment Short Description: 
In an online discussion forum or post-session survey, ask students to describe sources they might use for their assignment or for a given scenario according to the Information Spectrum.
Suggested Citation: 
Withorn, Tessa. "The Information Spectrum." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/information-spectrum.

Teaching Resource

This website provides several subject-specific guides to ICT literacy resources (bibliographies, websites, articles, learning activity ideas) to help faculty incorporate ICT literacy into their curriculum.

Submitted by Amanda M. on May 11th, 2018
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Short Description: 

This lesson was developed for HIS484 (Topics in the History of Gender and
Sexuality/Pride in the time of HIV/AIDS) in the Spring of 2018. The students’ final assignment
culminated in a multimedia or digital research project on a topic of their choosing and heavily
relied on primary source and visual materials. This lesson focuses on how students, as content
curators and analysts, can engage in deeper analysis and contextualization of the sources they
present through their projects. Students collectively analyzed one example from a particular
resource that they are already acquainted with and considered the language used by both
systems of knowledge and the communities that they are studying, in order to help them form
thoughtful, critical, and reflective perspectives.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Lesson plan with links to google doc worksheet and google slidesdisplayed 1228 times92.09 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to analyze and contextualize primary source and visual materials related to HIV/AIDS.
Students will be able to articulate how knowledge is socially constructed and contested and how/why language evolves over time.
Students will engage with art as a primary source related to their research topics.

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.): 

See full lesson plan/pdf

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

This worked well with a small class, but may be more challenging with a larger class. I would likely have students work in groups to evaluate different works of art using the google worksheet instead of doing one for the whole class.

Suggested Citation: 
M., Amanda. "Visual Aids and Descriptors in Primary Source Evaluation & Curation." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/visual-aids-and-descriptors-primary-source-evaluation-curation.
Submitted by McKenzie Hyde on April 27th, 2018
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Short Description: 

This lesson, created for English 2010, or Argumentative Writing, teaches students how to use library databases and keywords in order to focus their research topics. Most students come prepared with a general or broad topic in mind, but they need to narrow their focus in order to get more relevant search results. Here they simultaneously learn to search in and use the library databases and to focus their research topics.

Attachments: 
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Narrowing a Topic Handoutdisplayed 2633 times142.65 KB
Narrowing a Topic Lesson Outlinedisplayed 1624 times150.64 KB
Narrowing a Topic Lesson Plandisplayed 2951 times299.2 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

-Understanding how to use library resources and why we use them (instead of Google, for example)
-Searching in library databases using Boolean operators, relevant keyword searches, and other library tools
-Focusing a general research question for a specific audience

Individual or Group:

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

We collaborate with the English faculty and instructors on campus to make sure students are ready to choose a topic for their final research paper before they come to the library for this lesson. The English 2010 curriculum generally stipulates that students do small assignments throughout the semester to work up to this final research paper. Coming to the library for our Narrowing a Topic and Synthesis lessons are important steps in this research process. Some professors like to adapt these lesson plans to their students' needs.

Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Hyde, McKenzie. "Narrowing a Topic." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/narrowing-topic.
Submitted by Amanda M. on March 14th, 2018
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Short Description: 

This lesson was developed for a Photography course on the theory and psychology of photography (non-majors and majors both take this course). This lesson is typically presented at the beginning of a course section on the aesthetics of photography. It was meant to challenge their assumptions about art, information (online) as a commodity, and copyright practices of artists. Students may be asked to look up Richard Prince before class or during, as the lesson suggests.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Richard Prince, Aesthetics, Value of Info.pdfdisplayed 1136 times73.25 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Identify and discuss relevant issues related to the work of Richard Prince, including copyright, appropriation, and visual information as a commodity.
Consider the original context of the work of Richard Prince and critique whether these images, in this new context, take on a different meaning.
Discuss the choices that Richard Prince has made in the production of his work to influence interpretation and aesthetic value

Discipline: 
Art

Individual or Group:

Assessment or Criteria for Success
Assessment Short Description: 
See lesson plan
Suggested Citation: 
M., Amanda. "Richard Prince, Aesthetics, and the Value of Information." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/richard-prince-aesthetics-and-value-information.

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