CLARITY:

•  Identify the purpose of the assignment and learning objectives for students, including any information literacy outcomes you have identified for your course. Information Literacy Competency Standards based on the Association of College & Research Libraries recommendations is available on the Information Instruction Program web page: http://lib.westfield.ma.edu/iiprogram.htm.  (If you are writing or revising a library-related assignment and would like our feedback, let us know. We would be happy to meet with you. Contact Corinne Ebbs, Coordinator of Information Instruction, at cebbs@westfield.ma.edu or 572-5464.)
• Give the research assignment in writing to reduce confusion. Include all information they will need to complete it.
• Define vague or unfamiliar terms. If you differentiate between magazines and journals, explain what you mean by those words (Use our guide defining Scholarly v. Popular at http://lib.westfield.ma.edu/scholpop.htm).  If you expect your students to use primary sources, be sure your students understand what "primary" means in your discipline or in this instance. If you discourage use of "the Internet," clarify that use of the web-based research databases subscribed to by the library is acceptable.

THE RESEARCH PROCESS:

• Make the assignment part of a real investigation, linked to course content.
• Effective research strategies may seem obvious to experienced researchers, but are often unknown to students, despite their familiarity with Internet search engines. Discuss the information search process in class. Teach research strategies. Practice shaping "topics" into research questions appropriate to the field, selecting appropriate research tools for a given information need, and evaluating sources.
• Students benefit from opportunities to reflect on their research strategies and think critically about what they are doing. Show your students what you look for when you research the literature on an unfamiliar subject. Provide opportunities for feedback and reflection throughout the research process. Include a method for evaluating strategies (for example, a research log) as well as readings.
• Require students to exercise critical thinking in the research process. Grade their bibliographies for quality of sources, balance, etc., not just for style. If they will be using Web sources for the project, have them develop criteria for judging the quality of those sources, or use the Evaluation Criteria available through the library at http://lib.westfield.ma.edu/evalcrit.htm, and discuss these criteria in class.

PREVENTING PLAGIARISM:

• Discuss the role of documentation in a community of scholars. Have your students read "Avoiding Plagiarism" http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_plagiar.html. See adapted handout for easier distribution.
• Require early submission of a thesis, peer or instructor responses to drafts, oral presentations of work in progress, etc.
• Make research assignments that do not follow the usual research paper structure and design.
• Announce and use grading criteria that are specific to the assignment and are not likely to be fulfilled by a generic research paper.
• Require a journal or research log in which students describe successful and unsuccessful research strategies and/or analyze what they learned in the process of completing the assignment.
• Require an annotated bibliography of the sources cited.

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

• Provide resource lists to give your students a starting point. Check to see whether there is a Subject Research Guide available for your area (These are located on the Library Home Page http://lib.westfield.ma.edu). Feel free to link to these guides, for your classes.
• If the assignment requires the use of specific sources, check on availability and access before giving your students a list of them. Databases and other resources change from semester to semester, and vary from library to library. Web pages may disappear. New sources and ways of accessing information may have replaced old ones since the last time you assigned this project.  (Contact the reference desk at (413) 572-5234 or askus@westfield.ma.edu for assistance in tracking down items.)
• Orient students to complex sources or unfamiliar research strategies by scheduling an instruction session with a librarian. (See the Information Instruction Program link on the Home Page http://lib.westfield.ma.edu for more information or call Corinne Ebbs at 572-5464 to talk about library-course collaboration.)

Page maintained by Corinne Ebbs
Coordinator of Information Instruction
Posted August 24, 2004