active learning

Submitted by Amanda M. on March 14th, 2018
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 1492 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.

Teaching Resource

Collects ideas for interactive information literacy lessons.

Teaching Resource

Strategies to guide students towards meeting instructors' expectations for critical thinking. Includes sections on active learning, assessment, and the ACRL Framework.

Teaching Resource

Practical, ready-to-use activities from Professor of Communication Constance Staley.

Submitted by Kirsten Hansen on December 19th, 2017
Short Description: 

During this activity, students work in small groups to explore assigned databases and then share back what they learn in a Google Doc projected at the front of the classroom.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Database_Exploration_with_Google_docs.docxdisplayed 2149 times287.4 KB
AttachmentSize
Sample_Lesson_Plan_databases and google docs.docdisplayed 1769 times120.5 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

• Students will construct a search using their keywords in a designated database in order to find three articles are superficially relevant to their research topic. • Students will analyze one database in order to articulate one useful feature of the database for their research assignment, and explain why or how the feature might be useful to their assignment.

Individual or Group:

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

I frequently use this activity for first year research classes across a wide variety of disciplines when the faculty member teaching the class has asked me to demo databases. I have also used it with great success in higher-level discipline specific classes including biology and my colleagues have used it with graduate students. This activity works best for classes with a research assignment and when students have received the research assignment and are starting to think about their research topic prior to the IL session. However, I've also had classes where students have not yet received their research assignment and working with a single research question as a whole class works just fine. In that case, I usually have a research question that I've created that we can work with but with discipline specific classes we've also created research questions together at the beginning of class.

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

To see how this activity fits into my somewhat-typical first year instruction session, see the sample lesson plan below. Please note: This is a real lesson plan and thus refers to class activities not explained here. The lesson plan is mostly meant to show how the google doc exercise can fit into a larger class session. If you have questions about the other activities mentioned in the lesson plan, please ask!

Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Hansen, Kirsten. "Exploring Databases with Google Docs." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/exploring-databases-google-docs.
Submitted by Ken Liss on November 18th, 2017
Short Description: 

In this lesson students view a series of short videos about searching library resources, interspersed with exercises in which they conduct searches on their topics and reflect on what they find and on the research process. (The first two videos and accompanying activities are done outside of class; the third can be done in class.)

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Links to videos and descriptions of accompanying searching and reflection activitiesdisplayed 1231 times122.27 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

• Students will learn that research is about exploring the scholarly conversation about a topic and not just about finding answers to questions.
• Students will learn that exploring library (and non-library) resources can help them develop different directions and ways of approaching their topics than they initially had in mind.
• Students will learn how to create strategies for overcoming common obstacles encountered while researching a topic.
• Students will learn how to follow paths from one scholarly source to others.

Individual or Group:

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

This set of videos and interspersed searching and reflection exercises was developed by a librarian and two writing instructors as part of a project in the third year of the ACRL Assessment in Action program. It has since been used more widely in the Boston University College of Arts & Sciences Writing Program.

Suggested Citation: 
Liss, Ken. "Exploring the Scholarly Territory Using Library Resources." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/exploring-scholarly-territory-using-library-resources.
Submitted by Sarah Ralston on November 15th, 2017
Short Description: 

This activity/assignment was designed for a first year composition course in collaboration with an English/Writing instructor. It could be used in an information literacy credit course, First Year Experience course, or in another discipline-specific context. The purpose of the lesson is to lay the foundation for students to be able to read scholarly work more effectively and critically. Students are given instruction on reading a scholarly article and directed to look for key pieces of information such as research question or hypothesis, methods, participants or data sources, key findings, and limitations of the study. The instructor then shows an infographic (prepared in advance) showing those key pieces of information in a concise, visual format. Students are introduced to an online infographic maker such as easel.ly or piktochart, and directed to create their own infographic on the article as practice. The graded assignment is for students to create an infographic on a scholarly article of their choosing, relevant to a larger research assignment in the composition (or other) course (e.g. an annotated bibliography).

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Lesson plan, background prep, and assignment instructionsdisplayed 2160 times18.43 KB
"Parts of a Scholarly Article" Handout and Sample Infographicdisplayed 3212 times703.54 KB
Handout&Sample.pptxdisplayed 2154 times703.54 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

1. Students will be able to identify the components of a scholarly journal article in order to become familiar with common structures of research articles. 2. Students will be able to locate the key pieces of information (hypothesis or research question, methodology, participants or data sources, findings, and limitations) in a scholarly journal article in order to read for understanding. 3. Students will be able to present the key pieces of information from a scholarly article in a visual format using infographic or other online creation tools.

Individual or Group:

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

This assignment was created for a first year composition course in collaboration with the instructor. She wanted to use infographics as a method for teaching multimodal writing, and I wanted a strategy for showing how to read scholarly articles. This activity was conducted on my second visit to class, so students already had instruction on source types and characteristics of scholarly articles. We'd also had a discussion about the concept Scholarship as a Conversation. I spent the class time following the lesson plan as written, and the following class day the students had time in the computer lab with their instructor to create their own infographics. The final essay for the class is an argumentative essay, requiring 5 sources, 2 of which must be scholarly. An infographic summarizing one of the scholarly articles is required as an attachment to the essay.

Suggested Citation: 
Ralston, Sarah. "Scholarly Articles: Reading for Understanding." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/scholarly-articles-reading-understanding.
Submitted by Susan Archambault on September 22nd, 2017
Short Description: 

Lesson plan for a 1-hour introductory Communication Studies theory class. Emphasis is on getting students to use the appropriate tool for their information need while considering indicators of authority. Collection of exercises requiring students to do the following: 1) look up background information on a communication theory; 2) chase down further readings; 3) find a scholarly article that applies a communication theory using the ComAbstracts database. This supports an "interpersonal communication paper" where students outline and critique a communication theory and identify a study that applies the theory.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Library Exercisesdisplayed 2180 times4.11 MB
Answer Key- Library Exercisesdisplayed 1467 times4.1 MB
Script for Sessiondisplayed 1598 times20.91 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

*Find background information on a communication studies theory *Find relevant previous research that is cited in encyclopedia articles *Find a peer-reviewed study that applies a communication theory *Pick out the main points in a theory-based scholarly article *Demonstrate an understanding of APA citation format

Individual or Group:

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

This supports an "interpersonal communication paper" where students choose a communication theory to outline and critique. They also must identify a study published in a peer-reviewed journal that applies the theory.

Suggested Citation: 
Archambault, Susan. "Scaffolding: exercises for introductory communication theory classes." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/scaffolding-exercises-introductory-communication-theory-classes.

Teaching Resource

Toolbox of activities, discussion starters, and partner/group work exercises from the University of South Florida's Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence.

Teaching Resource

Communication Teacher is a peer-reviewed publication of the National Communication Association.

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