social issue

Submitted by Steve Gerstle on July 12th, 2016
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Short Description: 

Using ProQuest SIRS Issues Researcher or similar database, groups of students work together to find and read four informative magazine articles representing a variety of opinions on a topic. For each magazine article they write an MLA citation. In an oral presentation of less than three minutes per group, they summarize the controversy without giving their own opinions and explain why they chose the four articles. Students are told to be prepared to answer questions about their topic and why they selected each of the four articles. Students are given basic instruction on writing an MLA citation and using a database.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
SIRSTopicsBlank.docxdisplayed 1353 times14.58 KB
ESL 52A SIRS Assignment.docxdisplayed 1576 times16.57 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Develop successful search strategies appropriate for specific tools. Locate, evaluate, synthesize, organize and present credible information that fulfills the identified information need.

Individual or Group:

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

Can be adapted for higher level ESL classes.

Assessment or Criteria for Success
(e.g. rubric, guidelines, exemplary sample paper, etc.): 
AttachmentSize
ESL 52 Assessment.docxdisplayed 992 times14.22 KB
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Students tend to summarize the articles rather than the controversy. Also, students tend to want to give their own opinions. It is important to stress that they are to summarize the controversy and different perspectives. I sometimes have them think of it as a work assignment. The boss is a very busy person and wants you to research the topic and provide an executive summary. It is a challenging assignment, but I have found that the students rise to the challenge.

Suggested Citation: 
Gerstle, Steve. "Summarizing different perspectives on a controversial topic." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/summarizing-different-perspectives-controversial-topic.
Submitted by Lindsey McLean on January 5th, 2016
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Short Description: 

This assignment was designed to incorporate information literacy concepts into an in depth writing assignment. By only focusing on a total of one outside source at a time, students are required to do deep research to find the one source that they can engage with on the level required for a good essay. Requiring a small number of sources also allows the students to practice incorporating outside material into their own writing and thinking and allows the instructor to see progress in this area.

Exercise One:

Choose a phenomenon, situation, or event that relates to family life in the United States. Examples of this could be gay marriage, international adoption, divorce, immigration, or a phenomenon that has directly impacted your own family. Find one scholarly source written by a sociologist related to your topic and write a 1200 word essay (+/- 10%) that describes the phenomenon as you understand it, identifies how it is connected to family life in the United States, why you are interested in it, the ideas presented by the author of the source, and how those ideas add to your knowledge or understanding of the phenomenon. Cite your source properly in text using ASA style and include a full ASA citation for it at the end or your paper.

Exercise Two:

Find a second scholarly source written by a sociologist on the phenomena you selected. Write a 600 (+/- 10%) word addendum to your original essay that details the ideas presented by the second scholar and how these ideas further enhance or complicate your understanding of the phenomena. Cite your sources properly in text using ASA style and include a full ASA citation for your sources at the end or your paper.

Library Instruction:This exercise would benefit from a library instruction session focused on the first learning outcome – identifying scholarly sources and finding discipline specific information

  • Discussion of identifying scholarly sources (ending with the three-point test for scholarly information: peer-reviewed or extensively edited, included citations, written by a scholar from within the discipline)
  • Finding scholarly sources using discipline specific tools (for sociology: Sociological Abstracts, Social Science Citation Index)
Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Writing, Analysis, and Disciplinary Discourse Learning Sequence - McLean.docxdisplayed 948 times18.5 KB
Learning Outcomes: 
  1. Students will be able to identify and find scholarly sources within a specific discipline.
  2. Students will be able to thoughtfully and ethically integrate discipline specific scholarly sources into their writing.

Individual or Group:

Suggested Citation: 
McLean, Lindsey. "Writing, Analysis, and Disciplinary Discourse." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2016. https://projectcora.org/assignment/writing-analysis-and-disciplinary-discourse.
Submitted by Susan Archambault on August 6th, 2015
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Short Description: 

This assignment is designed to help students develop a thoughtful research topic. Students go through a series of steps, questions, and background reading to help them better understand and refine a research topic.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
DevelopingResearchTopic_socialjustice_FINAL.pdfdisplayed 4558 times263.92 KB
DevelopingResearchTopic_socialjustice_FINAL.docxdisplayed 1947 times297.42 KB
Learning Outcomes: 
  • Conceptualize and refine an effective research topic
  • Value information and sources from different perspectives
  • Contextualize a research topic by drawing upon their own intellectual curiosity or personal experience

Individual or Group:

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

This exercise is due week 3, usually before library instruction. As a result, the library created a 4-minute instruction video done as a pre-visit homework assignment called "Developing a Topic with CQ Researcher and Opposing Viewpoints" available on this LibGuide: http://libguides.lmu.edu/RHET1000/LibraryVisit

Using a Topic Development exercise, students will explore and conduct preliminary research on three separate research topics. This is in conjunction with the Information Literacy component of the course as stated in "Rhetorical Arts: Speaking and Writing for Social Justice" common syllabus. A requirement for all first-year students, Rhetorical Arts is a course designed specifically to integrate important skills- information literacy, writing, and public speaking- into the Jesuit Rhetorical Tradition "Eloquentia Perfecta." Students will also engage with important ethical themes related to the common good. 

This is the first assignment in a sequence of writing and oral assignments (followed by a Research Proposal, Annotated Bibliography, Persuasive Research Paper, etc.). Each successive assignment expands on the previous assignments.

Assessment or Criteria for Success
(e.g. rubric, guidelines, exemplary sample paper, etc.): 
AttachmentSize
Rubric for Research Exploration.docxdisplayed 1219 times22.71 KB
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Some students may think this is busy work. Don't allow students to turn this in at the end of the semester with their final paper, as this defeats the purpose of sequencing assignments.

Suggested Citation: 
Archambault, Susan. "Research Exploration Exercise." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2015. https://projectcora.org/assignment/research-exploration-exercise.
Submitted by Jennifer Masunaga on July 14th, 2015
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Short Description: 

This assignment is meant to illustrate the differences between scholarly and popular information sources by presenting students with information on the topic of "fracking" from four different resources: a scholarly article, a magazine, a newspaper and a website. It introduces the idea that information can be presented in different formats depending on the context and information need.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Source_Evaluation.docxdisplayed 2165 times20.32 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

At the end of this activity, students should… • Be able to compare and contrast four different types of information sources • Recognize differences between scholarly and non-scholarly articles. • Recognize the importance of authorship

Individual or Group:

Suggested Citation: 
Masunaga, Jennifer. "Scholarly vs. Popular ." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2015. https://projectcora.org/assignment/scholarly-vs-popular.