creating research assignments that nurture student-centered learning henri mondschein iss/pearson...

Creating Research Assignments that Nurture Student-Centered Learning

Henri MondscheinISS/Pearson Library

Kapp JohnsonReligion/School of Management

Mary Jo ShaneSchool of Management

Objective…How can we create research assignments that foster student-centered learning and:

•Are relevant to students’ interests?

•Promote use of Library tools & resources?

•Encourage critical thinking, self-directed learning, team collaboration?

•Embraces students’ backgrounds & learning styles?

The Challenge…

• What difficulties do students encounter when conducting research for school or personal needs?

• The Project Information Literacy (PIL) 2010 Student Survey

Icebreaker

“What are the key challenges you have encountered in creating research assignments in your courses?”

CLU Student Learning Outcomes

Carefully designed research assignments address CLU SLOs:Creative and critical thinking.Information literacy.Interpersonal and teamwork skills.

Goal of Research Assignments• Define an individual

research topic• Use library tools • Develop research skills• Cultivate critical thinking,

evaluation skills• Learn attribution, citing

sources • Sharpen workplace skills • Sample Assignment

Challenges • Students lack knowledge of

using search tools/keywords to find sources directly related to research topics.

• Research or sources vaguely relate to the research topic or argument.

• Undergraduates and graduate students (International students in particular) have difficulty building arguments using research.

• How do we nurture these skills?

Image from: http://www.tonyadavidson.com

Undergraduate Examples

• Assignment.• Problems/issues.• Solutions.

Graduate Examples

• Assignment.

• Problems/issues.

• Solutions.

Image from: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/internationalstudents

Incorporate Library Tools to Hone Research Skills

• Weave WorldCat Local (e.g. the “catalog”) into your assignment.

• WCL enables students to share lists of their research sources.

• Database platforms such as Ebscohost provide collaboration tools--shared folders.

Questions? Comments? Best Practices?