primary sources

Teaching Resource

Primary and Secondary Sources Tutorial

This interactive learning module takes students through the process of identifying the differences between primary and secondary sources. The structure of the tutorial consists of four parts.

Submitted by Deborah Novak on July 12th, 2016
Short Description: 

This assignment was created for an introductory nutrition course for health related science majors and nonmajors to meet the Information Literacy Flag criteria for the core standards at Loyola Marymount University. The assignment focuses on the evaluation of a primary and secondary source on a specific topic to assess the similarities and differences between the sources of information. The primary goal of the assignment is for a pair of students to select a current popular press article that references a recent scientific journal article. The students then procure a copy of the scientific journal article. Using a formatted questionnaire, the students evaluate characteristics and information from the popular press article and then characteristics and information from the journal article, then compare and contrast the two information sources.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
The ILP Project Instructions: provides detailed step by step instructions on how to complete the two part projectdisplayed 831 times19.64 KB
The ILP Project Questionnaire: the form that the students use to complete their assessment of the information sources.displayed 805 times17.05 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Locate, evaluate and effectively utilize information obtained from a variety of information sources. Find and use scholarly and discipline-specific professional information and understand how it differs from popular information. Evaluate resources for reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, and bias.

Discipline: 
BiologyHealth

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

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

This assignment is incorporated into an introductory nutrition course for health-related science majors and nonmajors. Most nutrition courses include a discussion on scientific research methods and sources of reliable nutrition information. This project has been integrated into the course as the follow-up assignment to the Scientific Method and Reliable Sources of Nutrition Information Unit. The assignment is designed to be completed by students partnered together in groups of two (three when there is an odd number of students in the class).

Assessment or Criteria for Success
(e.g. rubric, guidelines, exemplary sample paper, etc.): 
AttachmentSize
The Partner Evaluation Form: allows each student to evaluate their project partner's contributions to the assignment.displayed 757 times15.92 KB
Sample Popular Press Articledisplayed 666 times16.93 KB
Sample Scientific Journal Articles referenced in popular press articledisplayed 1029 times189.18 KB
Sample completed ILP Questionnaire (exemplary sample)displayed 2635 times253.47 KB
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

This assignment does not work well if the popular press article is a "list" i.e. top 5 sources of fiber, or the journal article is a opinion or summary piece. The journal article should be a standard analytical, descriptive or experimental study. Instructor needs to carefully review the popular press article and scientific article to make sure the students have selected proper articles. About 10-15% of the class need 2-3 tries before identifying an appropriate set of articles. The due date for Part 2 is usually determined after all of the groups have successfully identified their sources. The project can be done individually but it can be time consuming to grade which is why it has become a partner project. The partner evaluation rubric provides accountability for level of participation of each partner.

Suggested Citation: 
Novak, Deborah. "Information Literacy Project." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/information-literacy-project.
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Submitted by Elizabeth Galoozis on March 2nd, 2016
Short Description: 

This annotated bibliography assignment has five different versions for five different groups of disciplines: arts, humanities, social analysis (social sciences), life and physical sciences, and quantitative reasoning. Each is meant to give students a way to identify and explore the key types of scholarly sources in those disciplinary categories; for example, to understand what is meant by a primary source in each category. The titles of these disciplinary categories are specific to the General Education Seminar categories at my institution, as are the titles of the research guides suggested in the assignment. It could be used as a precursor to a research paper or as a standalone assignment.

AttachmentSize
Arts GE Seminar Annotated Bibliography Assignment.docxdisplayed 1415 times13.84 KB
Humanities- GE Annotated Bibliography Assignment.docxdisplayed 1333 times13.79 KB
Life and Physical Sciences - GE Annotated Bibliography Assignment.docxdisplayed 1074 times13.8 KB
Quantitative Reasoning - Annotated Bibliography Assignment.docxdisplayed 1085 times13.7 KB
Social Analysis - GE Annotated Bibliography Asignment.docxdisplayed 1353 times13.96 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Identify the contributions that different types of information sources (e.g., experimental research, creative works, primary sources, theory) make to disciplinary knowledge.

Discipline: 
AnthropologyArchaeologyArtBiologyBusinessCommunication StudiesComputer ScienceDanceEconomicsEducationEngineeringEnglishEnvironmental StudiesEthnic StudiesFilm and TVGeologyHistoryLinguisticsMathematicsMultidisciplinaryMusicPhilosophyPhysicsPolitical SciencePsychologySociologyTheater ArtsUrban StudiesWomen's and Gender Studies

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

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

This assignment is part of a suite of resource,s including tutorials and library instruction, for the General Education seminar, a course for first-year students meant to introduce them to modes of disciplinary inquiry.

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

The other resources for this course may be found at http://libguides.usc.edu/ge.

Suggested Citation: 
Galoozis, Elizabeth. "Annotated Bibliography / Introduction to Disciplines." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/annotated-bibliography-introduction-disciplines.
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All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License
Submitted by Lani Smith on February 17th, 2016
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 1135 times537.5 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

coming soon

Discipline: 
Communication StudiesEnglishHistoryLibrary and Information ScienceUrban Studies

Information Literacy concepts:

Tags:

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.
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All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License
Submitted by Desirae Zingarelli-Sweet on December 1st, 2015
Short Description: 

This set of assignments is designed to help students: (a) grow initial thoughts and questions into carefully scoped and well-reasoned research papers, and (b) develop critical thinking skills through interrogation of familiar images of religion and spirituality in American popular culture.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
SequenceResearchPaperReligiousStudies_Description+Instructions_DZingarelli-Sweet_2015.docxdisplayed 1046 times24.7 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

a) Critically evaluate images of religion in American popular culture (primary sources), using criteria such as date, authorship, context, and rationale for creation and/or dissemination. b) Formulate an appropriately scoped research question based on information gaps or on reexamination of existing information. c) Locate and access pertinent scholarly sources beyond course readings. d) Analyze specific aspects of a religious tradition as historical, social, and cultural phenomena through integration of course content and outside scholarly sources. e) Demonstrate an understanding of the value of information and nature of the scholarly conversation through the consistent and accurate citation of sources in Chicago style. f) Interpret chosen images (primary sources), course material, and other secondary sources in order to draw reasonable conclusions about the transformation of religious concepts through their circulation in American popular culture.

Discipline: 
Theology

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

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Suggested Citation: 
Zingarelli-Sweet, Desirae. "Sequenced Research Paper in Religious Studies." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2015. https://projectcora.org/assignment/sequenced-research-paper-religious-studies.
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All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License
Submitted by Alexander Justice on June 4th, 2015
Short Description: 

This assignment asks students to compare the dramatization of a historical event to the historical writing about the same event.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
This assignment asks students to compare the dramatization of a historical event to the historical writing about the same event.displayed 1380 times51.08 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Critical thinking

Discipline: 
Film and TVHistory

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

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Suggested Citation: 
Justice, Alexander. "Historical Film Critique and Comparison." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2015. https://projectcora.org/assignment/historical-film-critique-and-comparison.
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All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License

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