collaboration

Submitted by Megan Pitz on February 15th, 2024
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Short Description: 

This learning session, led by a librarian, is for first-year community college students in an academic library setting. The intention of this session is to scaffold onto existing research writing skills acquired in previous education, as well as use of popular video sharing platforms to obtain information, like TikTok. Informative videos produced by everyday people are a growing form of intellectual connection between all audiences and scholarly sources based on relatability, as well as visibility of marginalized issues larger news organizations do not address. When the information messenger is familiar yet dynamic in their presentation and provides information that the public is not informed on, viewers are more inclined to listen than if it were just a research paper or a scholarly representative of a research community. There are, however, citation issues and basic research principles missing in several of these videos, based solely on most video sharing platform’s intention to obtain engagement, not to responsibly inform/educate its users. As researchers, it is crucial to discern engagement-intended, incendiary content with informative, well-researched content that our neighbors are making, even if their intentions are good.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
TikTok Lesson Plan.docxdisplayed 1236 times17.53 KB
AttachmentSize
lesson plan project slides.pdfdisplayed 1249 times304.28 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

By the end of this session, students will be able to:

  • Identify research as an ongoing conversation between several scaffolding and outside research and popular community voices.
  • Recognize the importance and necessity of crediting other voices inside and outside of the research and popular communities you are entering.
  • Respect your own contributions to scholarship by following citation guidelines in your own information creation.
Discipline: 
Education

Information Literacy concepts:

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.): 
Assessment or Criteria for Success
(e.g. rubric, guidelines, exemplary sample paper, etc.): 
AttachmentSize
lesson plan worksheet.pdfdisplayed 958 times108.36 KB
Assessment Short Description: 
X number of groups (based on class size, max 5 members per group) will be assigned one TikTok with a relevant, polarizing topic (i.e., Israel-Hamas conflict, self-diagnosing psychological disorders, anti-feminist podcasts, Dating Do's and Don'ts, AI/ChatGPT, school shootings, etc.) per group to watch, will answer questions together, and will ultimately decide if the creator of the TikTok is engaging in scholarly conversation or popular conversation (relevant topics to the zeitgeist at that moment in time). Groups will all come together and review their findings with the class, having designated one representative to speak for the group. Instructor will monitor discussion appropriately, with an overall time frame of 1 hour in mind.
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
  • This session includes both passive and active activities. The librarian begins the session by priming students in standard lecture format with what scholarly conversation is, what it looks like, and how to participate in it responsibly and respectfully. The students then engage in verbal and written group analysis of a TikTok and determine if it is a scholarly or popular information source. The students produce their learning onto the worksheet, which the librarian will collect at the end of the session to assess learning. 
  • The librarian builds on prior knowledge of students’ engagement with TikTok (as viewers and creators) or other video sharing platforms of the same format, as well as student learning of proper citation use from previous education, no matter how long ago. 
  • Popular conversation should not be taught as “lesser” than scholarly conversation, but as diversified intellectual support to scholarly conversation when used properly. The crucial factor in discerning the two is that the information provided is factually correct, well-researched, and most importantly, addresses other voices in the ongoing conversation that the creator is entering instead of operating within a vacuum.
Suggested Citation: 
Pitz, Megan. "“According to the CDC…” vs. “Someone just said…”: Identifying Scholarly and Popular Conversations on TikTok." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2024. https://projectcora.org/assignment/%E2%80%9Caccording-cdc%E2%80%A6%E2%80%9D-vs-%E2%80%9Csomeone-just-said%E2%80%A6%E2%80%9D-identifying-scholarly-and-popular-conversations.
Submitted by Chelsea Heinbach on May 16th, 2019
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Short Description: 

This low-stakes, in-class assignment is designed to help first-year seminar students learn about important library resources and present their findings to their fellow students. In teams, students complete a series of authentic research tasks (called challenges) such as selecting and citing images from our digital collection and using our discovery tool to find books on the library shelves. Each team is also assigned a unique challenge to learn more about the library. Students spend the last twenty-five minutes of class designing a quick presentation in Canva and using it to teach each other about what they learned through their unique challenges.

Attachments: 
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Lesson Plandisplayed 916 times17.1 KB
Activity Challengesdisplayed 856 times109.77 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will identify uses for library technologies and resources in order to teach their classmates. Students will examine metadata from an image found via the UNLV digital collections in order to write an accurate image citation. Students will design a slide in Canva that showcases library resources and technologies.

Individual or Group:

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

We used this lesson plan to provide library instruction for a first-year seminar for liberal arts students. The course was loosely themed around the idea of “a domain of one’s own,” i.e., equipping students to become thoughtful creators of digital content. The session was not tied to a particular research assignment, but the course instructor thought it was important to provide students with a general introduction to the library. The course instructor gave Mark few parameters for developing the lesson, instead asking Mark “to just tell them about the library.” Mark decided to collaborate with Brittany and Chelsea to transform the generic “welcome to the library” session that the instructor had asked for into something more vibrant.

Assessment or Criteria for Success
Assessment Short Description: 
Student groups checked in with us as they completed the succession of challenges in order to move on to the next stage. We also reviewed students’ presentations and Canva slides for evidence that students fulfilled our learning outcomes.
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Although the goal of this lesson plan is to provide a casual, low-stakes learning experience for the students, the constraints of time and logistics require the instructors to undertake careful planning in advance. The clearer you can make your directions for each challenge, the more time students can devote to discovering library resources and sharing what they learned. You will probably want a second instructor to help students with logistical questions. If you cannot get an additional librarian colleague, an experienced student worker or even the course instructor could fill this role, but make sure that they understand the plan in advance. Try to avoid extending the lesson plan by shifting the presentation to an additional class session, as it will likely cause students to overthink what is meant to be a low-stakes and engaging activity.

Suggested Citation: 
Heinbach, Chelsea. "A Peer-to-Peer Introduction to the University Library." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/peer-peer-introduction-university-library.
Submitted by Cristy Moran on March 3rd, 2016
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Short Description: 

This activity asks students to work in groups to evaluate Internet sources to meet a research need. Students will use their available wireless devices, smartphones, tablets, computers, or laptops to retrieve the URLs provided to them. Working together, students will ask evaluation questions, guided by a CRAAP handout (attached) or instructor. Then, groups will share their findings with the class. o Students are grouped (3-4 students per group, number of groups in total is irrelevant what it important is the size of the group remains very small). o Each group is handed a scenario card – a 3x5 index card with a URL, beneath the URL is a topic/ question for research. Each student should also receive an Internet evaluation handout with the CRAAP criteria for evaluation on it. (These cards will be created by the instructor. They are recommended to be realistic, likely research questions/ topics for their course and the URLs should be likely search results. Results should vary between acceptable, recommended sources and not recommended sources.) o Students should be given a short time to review - 3-5 mins. Instructor should stress how quickly students can move through a website to capture information such as publication dates and check source links. o At the end of the review period, each group will have a spokesperson make their case to which the class can engage with questions as to the criteria. This activity can be repeated multiple times. It is highly adaptable and reusable.

Attachments: 
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CRAAP Evaluation of Web Sources Infographic Handoutdisplayed 2070 times668.5 KB
Example for Scenario Cards - Search on Juvenile Justice Topicsdisplayed 2139 times251.42 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

o Students will analyze sources for currency, relevance, accuracy, authority, and purpose. o Students will determine whether a source meets their information need.

Individual or Group:

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

This activity is a 5-10 minute activity delivered after a tour of library resources, when students are taught about evaluating Internet sources and given tips on how to effectively manage Internet research. This activity has also been implemented with professional faculty acting as students when modeled for faculty professional development workshops.

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

The attached handout is an infographic for the CRAAP evaluation strategies and can be printed out and used in tandem with Internet evaluation skills instruction or provided to students to guide them through this activity.

Suggested Citation: 
Moran, Cristy. "Evaluating the Interwebz with Think/ Square/ Share." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/evaluating-interwebz-think-square-share.
Submitted by Cristy Moran on March 3rd, 2016
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Short Description: 

This is a short, engaging activity suitable for learners of all levels. In it, students evaluate web sources that are provided by an instructor using the acronym CRAAP (currency, relevance, accuracy, authority, and purpose). Students work together in groups and explore evaluation processes aloud, with guidance from the CRAAP cards and the instructor. This is an adaptation of various evaluating sources activities available in LIS literature and professional resources. This activity is ideally implemented as a kind of collaborative game moderated by the instructor. It is highly adaptable. o Students are grouped into 5 groups - one for each criterion of CRAAP. Each group will receive a CRAAP card or 3x5 index card with evaluation questions pertaining to Currency, Relevance, Accuracy, Authority, and Purpose – different for each table. o A source will be shared with the class on the projector. These sources will include scholarly articles, websites (blogs and orgs), and reference entries. It is essential that the instructor select sources that are relevant to their students (either by course, subject, or level) and that would be likely results on a student Internet search for a research topic/ question. o Each group will evaluate the source aloud on the single criterion they’ve been assigned. If it “passes,” then the source gets asked the next question. If it “fails,” the source is dismissed. o This activity can be repeated with various websites or web sources.

AttachmentSize
CRAAP Cards 2 sideddisplayed 935 times3.97 MB
Learning Outcomes: 

o Students will examine sources for currency, relevance, accuracy, authority, and purpose. o Students will explain how different elements of a source (author, date, scope, slant, reading level, etc.) effect how the source meets or doesn’t meet their information gathering needs.

Individual or Group:

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

This is implemented in one-shot library instruction sessions at a state college. It has also been implemented as a way to model the activity in professional faculty workshops.

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

CRAAP Cards print 2 sided for criterion (ex: Currency) on one side and questions (ex: What date...?) on back.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

This activity is engaging, student-centered, and metacognitive. It is recommended that instructors curate a list of acceptable or recommended Internet resources for their various subject areas and use those among not recommended web sources for this exercise.

Suggested Citation: 
Moran, Cristy. "Evaluating the Interwebz with Designated Skeptics." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/evaluating-interwebz-designated-skeptics.