Carmen Genuardi, BSc., BEd., M.L.I.S.

Health Sciences Liaison Librarian

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Creating Effective Research Assignments While Keeping Your Sanity

Learning Outcomes & Objectives Identifying Information Literacy

Learning Objectives Recommendations for Best Practices Academic Honesty Tutorial Share Experiences Next Steps Your Feedback is Important

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Learning Outcomes:To help support the Faculty in the creation of well-designed, course-related research assignments that utilize Seneca Libraries’ resources and services while at the same time facilitating a positive experience for students who are developing research skills.

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Learning Objectives: Upon completion of this workshop, you will be able to…

Know

Recall at least 2 of the recommendations that will help create more effective research assignments and student research experiences.

Do

Incorporate at least one of the recommendations from today’s workshop that may serve to improve an existing or newly created research assignment.

Share experiences with the group around creating research assignments (i.e., what has worked for you and what has flopped?).

Feel

Recognize the benefits of collaborating with the library (i.e., Liaison Librarian) in creating course-specific research assignments.

“In recent years, as students’ reliance on Internet research has grown, professors have expressed a growing dissatisfaction with the research efforts and thinking skills demonstrated by students” p. 324

“Academics are increasingly struggling to encourage students to perform library research that involves a more in-depth and critical exploration of the subject matter than a quick Google search typically provides.” p. 324

Mahaffy, Mardi. (Fall 2006). Encouraging Critical Thinking in Student Library Research. College Teaching, 54(4), 324-327.

 

1. Communication2. Numeracy3. Critical Thinking & Problem Solving4. Information Management [*Information Literacy*]5. Interpersonal6. Personal

All graduates with the following Ontario College credentials, Ontario College Certificate, Ontario College Diploma and Ontario College Advanced Diploma, must be able to reliably demonstrate the Essential Employability Skills required in each of the following six categories:

Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/college/progstan/essential.html

DEFINING SKILLS: Skill areas to be demonstrated by graduates:

LEARNING OUTCOMES: The levels of achievement required by graduates. The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:

• Gathering and managing information

• Selecting and using appropriate tools and technology for a task or a project

• Computer literacy

• Internet skills

• locate, select, organize, and document information using appropriate technology and information systems.

• analyze, evaluate, and apply relevant information from a variety of sources.

Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/college/progstan/essential.html

What research skills /information literacy skills should students have upon completion of this research assignment?

Upon completion of this research assignment, students should be able to:

1. Know when they have an information need (ie., identify gap in knowledge);

2. Locate the needed information in a specific discipline effectively and efficiently;

3. Use this gathered information ethically (by citing all of their sources);

4. Evaluate critically, both the gathered information and sources.

This spells KLUE….the students should have a KLUE.

When designing an effective research assignment these research skills that spell “KLUE” must be developed within the framework of subject matter of the course. In this way, students are learning about the information sources within their own subject area; as a result, students are simultaneously furthering their knowledge of the subject matter and gaining valuable research skills.

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THERE IS A BETTER WAY!!

THE MISSING PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

I need some recommendations that

will help me be less frustrated with the assignments my

students hand in on a regular basis.

Don’t go it alone!The library is meant to be a place filled

with resources, services and people who are there to help you.

Contact a Librarian: We can and want to help.

Information sources are constantly changing. Try doing the assignment yourself to test its

feasibility and ensure there are a variety of sources (e.g., databases, articles, books, ebooks) available for students to explore/compare different types of information sources.

What to do?

•Contact a Librarian to ensure availability and access of needed resources ahead of time.

http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/Collection_Development/subject_specialists.htm

•Provide a list of the resources to students.

Collection Development / Liaison Librarians

Remember, we want to hear from you!

Send us requests for book titles, videos, and journal titles that will support your research assignments and your courses.

By doing so, you will have the required information sources at the library for your students to complete course assignments.

Library instruction sessions will help students understand the organization of information within a discipline, how to search databases, and how to evaluate information.

*Example of a library instruction session (ppt. and exercise) from an EAC150 class this semester at King Campus.

Provide clear learning objectives or even steps to follow.

Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to write your learning objectives .

Create a rubric for yourself and your students so there are clear guidelines for your marking scheme.

To minimize student frustration, place any journal articles, books or videos that will be used heavily by students to complete an assignment at the reserve desk on a 2 hour loan or overnight.

*Course Readings are also an excellent access point for providing course specific online resources .

Tell students what citation style you require (i.e., APA or MLA).

Through the Seneca Libraries web site (http://library.senecacollege.ca/), students can access online guides for MLA and APA under “Research Help” that were created specifically for Seneca students.

Tip: Some faculty are having a discussion around plagiarism and what it means at Seneca and then students write a brief quiz to test understanding and sign this like it’s a contract.

You can design research assignments that help to promote academic honesty and reduce student plagiarism by:

Students keep a “Research Log”; Students submit research in stages during year; Give choices for topic selection; Collaborate with a Librarian to schedule a library

research skills workshop a few weeks before the research assignment is due so that student’s have the skills they need to find reputable sources;

Alter assignment requirements (slightly), every year;

Use Turnitin to encourage students to cite sources.

http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/ahtutorial.html

Pre- and Post-Tests accompany this tutorial consisting of 2 sets of 10 questions created in Respondus which are generated randomly and are then put into Faculty’s Bb course pages. Let me demonstrate!!

**HANDOUT WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FACULTY**

Related Article:“Designing Assignments to Minimize Cyber-Cheating” from Teaching

Professor (January 2005).

I would like to take a few minutes to hear from all of you, what have been your experiences around designing (and marking) research assignments for your specific subject areas/discipline?

Please share with us one that you feel worked well or maybe didn’t work so well.

Do you think any of the recommendations from today’s session could improve your assignments? Why or why not?

Next steps

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Checklist Librarians at Seneca

Libraries are confident that they can help with your information needs

Teaching & Learning at Seneca

http://blogs.senecac.on.ca/faculty_dev/

Many college students regardless of class level, do not have the necessary skills to complete academic library research.

Yet, employers expect graduates will have these skills upon entering the workforce.

Please do not leave this portion of the learning process to chance.

Connect with a Librarian to ensure students have the necessary skills and resources to have a positive library experience.

"Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education." American Library Association. 2006. http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html (Accessed 15 Nov, 2006).

Miriam Library. (April 21, 2006). Promoting Information Literacy through Class Assignments. http://www.csuchico.edu/lins/assignments/promoting_infolit.html (Accessed March 25, 2007).

Mahaffy, Mardi. (2006). Encouraging critical thinking in student library research. College Teaching, 54(4), 324-327.

Carmen Genuardi, BSc., BEd., M.L.I.S.Health Sciences Liaison Librarian, Seneca Libraries 416-490-5050 ext. 5194carmen.genuardi@senecac.on.ca

I would love to hear from you.

Have more questions?