Transcript Beyond Wikipedia and Google: Finding Quality Information
Beyond Wikipedia and Google: Finding Quality Information
Mara Bordignon, B.Sc., M.I.St.
Information Services Librarian Seneca @ York Library [email protected]
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OUTLINE:
Learning Outcomes Why? Lens on learning Identifying Information Literacy Learning Outcomes Recommendations for Best Practices and Collaboration Assignment Example
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this session, participants 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 this session that may serve to improve an existing or newly created research assignment.
Feel
Recognize the benefits of collaborating with the library (i.e. Liaison Librarian) in creating course-specific research assignments.
Why? Lens on Learning
Start: Google, Wikipedia Refine: Library databases, catalog, subject specific Internet sources Knowledge: analysis and synthesis … critical thinking skills, information literacy skills
The first Google index in 1998 already had 26 million pages, and by 2000 the Google index reached the one billion mark…[as of July 2008, there were well over] 1 trillion (as in 1,000,000,000,000) unique URLs on the web at once! http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/we-knew-web-was-big.html
Google Insists It's Friend To Newspapers, Not Foe Preview By: HELFT, MIGUEL. New York Times, 4/8/2009, p6 Universal search: research papers and music videos, map images, and blog postings, wikis and…
Wikipedia
In October 2008, wikipedia readers viewed 10.941 billion pages.
http://infodisiac.com/blog/2008/10/wikimedi a-page-view-stats-I/ For March 2009, approx. 6,295 Million English Language wikipedia page views or… 210 M /d 8.7 M /h 146 ,000 /m 24,000 /s http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesPageViewsMonthly.htm
Percent of global Internet users who visit wikipedia.org on April 30, 2009: 9.82% http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/wikipedia.org
OCUFA
To read this article in full, click here for Seneca Libraries access to Canadian NewsStand http://www.ocufa.on.ca/ The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations invited Ontario university faculty and librarians to respond to an on-line questionnaire. Close to 2,000 responses from 22 Ontario universities were received between Feb. 16 – Mar 13., 2009.
http://www.quality matters.ca/QualityMatters/docs/Students_less_prepar ed_April_6_2009.pdf
Why? Lens on Learning
Results of the questionnaire: First-year students are less prepared for university education than students from just three years earlier, according to over 55% of respondents Respondents most often reported the following challenges among first-year students:
Why? Lens on Learning
Lower level of maturity Lack of required writing, mathematical and critical thinking skills Poor research skills as evidenced by an overreliance on Internet tools like Wikipedia as external research sources Expectation of success without the requisite effort Inability to learn independently
Why? Lens on Learning
An article in
College Teaching
describes concern by professors…
“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)
Why? Essential Employability Skills
All Ontario College graduates, must be able to reliably demonstrate the Essential Employability Skills required in each of the following six categories: 1. Communication 2. Numeracy 3. Critical Thinking & Problem Solving 4. Information Management [*Information Literacy*] 5. Interpersonal 6. Personal Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/college/progstan/essential.html
What is Information Management… Information Literacy?
DEFINING SKILLS: Skill areas to be demonstrated by graduates: LEARNING OUTCOMES: The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:
•
Gathering and managing information
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Selecting and using appropriate tools and technology for a task or a project
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Internet skills
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locate, select, organize, & document information using appropriate technology & information systems
•
analyze, evaluate, and apply relevant information from a variety of sources.
(American Library Association)
A few recommendations For Best Practices and Collaboration…
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1. Make expectations clear to students at the beginning of the course
Create a positive environment of involvement instead of detection and punishment (Carrol) For additional information on Academic Honesty and Copyright, visit the Seneca Libraries Information for Faculty website:
http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/academichonesty.html
Teach the skills of summarizing and paraphrasing, critical analysis and building an argument (James, McInnis and Devlin) Teach the skills of referencing and citation (James, McInnis and Devlin) For example, have your students work through the Academic Honesty Plagiarism tutorial available at:
http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/ahtutorial.html
Academic Honesty and Plagiarism
Ensure that students know which citation style to use, i.e. APA or MLA For example, state which style to use in your course outline and all assignments/projects Tell students to “Please use the Seneca Libraries Guide to Research and Citation (MLA or APA), both available online, at http://library.senecacollege.ca/Research_Help/Citing_S ources/index.html
, or in hardcopy at the cost of $5 at all Seneca Bookstores” For example, copy and paste the above quotation into your course outline, all assignments/projects, and in your Blackboard course (where appropriate)
Academic Honesty and Plagiarism cont’d…
Make students aware that you are using detection tools such as SafeAssign (available in Blackboard) For example, become familiar with SafeAssign using the SafeAssign manual available at: http://myhelp.senecacollege.ca/learning_system/site_devel opment/ls_det_SafeAssign.pdf
Require students to work through the Academic Honesty Plagiarism Tutorial, available at: http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/ahtutorial.html
...including working through pre-assessment & post-assessment quizzes consisting of 2 sets of 10 questions created in Respondus which are generated randomly and are then put into Faculty’s BB course pages
2. Clearly state what students are expected to learn from the assignment
Provide learning outcomes that are clear, reasonable and achievable Use Bloom’s Taxonomy outcomes to write your learning Create a rubric for yourself and share it with your students so there are clear guidelines for your marking scheme
Identify learning outcomes for research assignments…
Upon completion of a research assignment, students should have research skills /information literacy skills to be able to: 1.
2.
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4.
Know
when they have an information need (i.e., identify gap in knowledge);
Locate
the needed information in a specific discipline effectively and efficiently;
Use
this gathered information ethically (by citing all of their sources);
Evaluate
critically, both the gathered information and sources.
Help students find the right KLUE s in doing their research!
3. Ensure the library has required resources
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.
Contact a Librarian about resources and advice in helping you create your assignment Request book and journal titles, videos, etc. that will support your research assignments Building your assignments around these resources = students become more accustomed to searching & using these resources = higher quality student work Provide a list of the resources to students
Need additional information?... Visit Seneca Libraries Information for Faculty website at: http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/index.html
Who do I contact?... Find your liaison librarian at: http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/Collection_Development/liaison_librarians.html
4. Clearly direct students to appropriate resources
Be specific and use appropriate terminology “…use at least one Scholarly Journal article obtained from a Seneca Libraries e-database” “…do not use any Internet sites” or “… do not use online resources” = confusion since newspaper, magazine and journal articles are found in electronic databases available through the Seneca Libraries website Provide correct links to the Seneca Libraries website “… use Seneca Libraries http://library.senecacollege.ca/ to find information sources, in hardcopy or in electronic format, such as books, articles from newspapers, magazines and journals, reports, transcripts, etc.”
4. Clearly direct students to appropriate resources cont’d…
Where appropriate, list examples of resources whether print or electronic i.e. “…to find drug information, use the electronic database e-
CPS - Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties
found at…” Consider a Course Readings page for your course, or a Library Cartridge for MySeneca … your Liaison Librarian will help!
5. ‘Design out’ easy cheating options
• Using the same essay/practice questions year after year • Assignments that ask students to collect, describe and present information as these are more prone to plagiarism than those that ask for analysis or evaluation • Give choices for topic selection • Topics that integrate theory and examples or use personal experience , e.g. a field trip report, a task with no right answers or a personal reflection on a task • Integrate classroom dynamics, field learning, assigned reading and classroom learning • Alternatives to the standard essay, such as case studies (James, McInnis and Devlin)
6. Request a library instruction session to help students succeed
Search fundamentals: Database and Internet search interfaces Organization of information within a discipline Library Instruction: Information Literacy Topic definition and development Plagiarism and citation support Skills Critical analysis: evaluating information for quality
Who do I contact?... Find your liaison librarian
Library Instruction can help your students…
1.
DEFINE 2.
RETRIEVE 3.
EVALUATE 4. CITE SOURCES
What kind of information am I looking for? How broad is my topic?
Where do I search for this information?
How do I search?
How can I tell if the information is useful?
Where do I find More?
Consult A checklist for booking library instruction classes: http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/library_instruction_booking.pdf
Seneca Libraries “Guide to Research & Citation” for MLA and APA
7. Place material that will be in high demand on reserve
Electronically
• Course Readings: A list of required, recommended & supplemental readings for your course or subject area • Items from online library databases and the Internet: online articles, links to magazines, journals, newspapers, electronic books, web sites, pre-defined searches • Items on reserve in the library (scanned and posted online): teacher notes, solutions, etc., paper articles, book chapters, etc. (with copyright licenses) • For example, contact your liaison librarian to create a course readings page for your course which will have resources your students can use!
7. Place material that will be in high demand on reserve
-OR-
On Reserve at the Borrower Services Desk
• Place any books or videos that will be used heavily by students to complete an assignment on a 2 hour loan or overnight
8. Design assessment tasks and promote academic honesty
Collect an annotated bibliography before the submission is due Students submit research in stages, e.g. outlines, drafts, research notes Assess work produced in class, possibly with preparation allowed beforehand Students make brief presentations to the class based on their written assignments Students to supply photocopies of any references used as part of an appendix e.g. for articles, citation and first page e.g. for books, bibliographic record from library catalogue and/or verso and table of contents (James, McInnis and Devlin)
Helpful Search Tips…
Searching Google on campus: Will search for this article against +140 Seneca Libraries article databases for retrieval of the entire article
Helpful Search Tips…
Firefox Extension: LibX download at: http://libx.org/editions/download.php?edition=1E1D56E9 Will search for this book against Seneca Libraries catalog in order to locate a hardcopy or electronic copy
In Summary…
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Make expectations clear to students at the beginning of the course Clearly state what students are expected to learn from the assignment Ensure the library has required resources Clearly direct students to appropriate resources “Design out” easy cheating options Request a library instruction session to help students succeed Place material that will be in demand on reserve Design assessment tasks and promote academic honesty
Can you improve this assignment?
Research assignment
worth10% of your final mark Due Date: in 2 weeks Topic: Research a current local politician. Find out biographical and career information about him or her. Write a 750 word, double-spaced, essay which includes: • Biographical and career overview • Why you have chosen this local politician • Political viewpoints • A list of career achievements Must include at least five different reference sources, one of which must be a journal article. Only one Internet source is allowed.
Your written work should have a title page and a Works Cited or Bibliography page noting your sources.
Assignment improvement suggestions… Part 1
Research assignment
Due Date: in 2 weeks worth10% of your final mark More time needed?…consider pre-assessment Topic: Research a current local politician. Find out biographical and career information about him or her. Write a 750 word, double-spaced, essay which includes: • Biographical and career overview • Why you have chosen this local politician • Political viewpoints • A list of career achievements Check library resources to ensure there are adequate materials on this topic… in this case, there are few/no resources: • Consider changing topic • Give list of topic choices and ensure there is enough material on each of them • Ensure each student selects a different topic… otherwise you may have an entire class trying to obtain the only copy of a book AND copying(cheating) becomes easier
Assignment improvement suggestions… Part 2
Must include at least five different information sources, one of which must be a journal article. Only one Internet source is allowed.
Confusing use of the word “Internet” since newspaper, magazine and journal articles can be found in electronic databases available through the Seneca Libraries website. Requiring so many different sources when in reality most information may only exist in one place, e.g. newspapers, will send students on an unrealistic chase and divert attention away from the topic. Would a journal article exist about a local politician?… highly unlikely. List useful and realistic sources such as, e.g. newspaper articles, interviews, radio transcripts, etc.
Your written work should have a title page and a Works Cited or Bibliography page noting your sources.
Specify which citation style (MLA, APA, etc.) and ensure students know where to find the library’s citation guides.
Best Practices from your Colleagues…
Lead by Example Required Text and Recommended Readings in Course outlines are in proper Citation Style Cite your sources on your powerpoint presentations Chunk Assignment into Steps Hand in a draft copy to SafeAssign. Discuss results in class.
Annotated Bibliography
Useful Sources
Seneca Libraries http://library.senecacollege.ca
Seneca Libraries Information for Faculty http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/index.html
Seneca Libraries Liaison Librarians http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/Collection_Development/l iaison_librarians.html
Seneca Libraries books :
Badke, William B. Research strategies : finding your way through the information fog . New York : IUniverse, Inc., 2008. [S@Y library: Z710 .B23 2008]
Research—Methodology Library research
*Sources Consulted
Badke, William. “Stepping beyond Wikipedia.” Educational Leadership 66.6 (2009):54-58. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Seneca Lib. 15 Apr. 2009.
Carroll, Jude. “Deterring, Detecting and Dealing with Plagiarism”. Oxford Brookes University OCSLD Nov.2004. 26 Jan. 2009
"Designing Assignments to Minimize Cyber-Cheating." Teaching Professor 19.1 (2005): 2. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Seneca Lib. 3 Feb. 2009.
Fogg, Piper. "A Dozen Teaching Tips for Diverse Classrooms." Chronicle of Higher Education 54.9 (2007): B12. ERIC. EBSCO. Seneca Lib. 2 Feb. 2009.
"Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education." American Library Association. 2000. 23 Jan. 09
*Sources cited in MLA citation style
*Sources Consulted Continued
James, Richard, Craig McInnis and Marcia Devlin. “36 strategies to minimise plagiarism.” Assessing Learning in Australian Universities: Ideas, strategies and resources for quality in student assessment.. Sept. 2002. 6 Feb. 2009
Mahaffy, Mardi. "Encouraging Critical Thinking in Student Library Research." College Teaching 54.4 (2006): 324-327. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Seneca Lib. 10 Feb. 2009.
Tomaiuolo, Nicholas. “U-Content.” Searcher 17.4 (2009): 40-47. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. SenecaLib. 15 Apr. 2009. [ persistent link ] Warn, James. "Plagiarism Software: No Magic Bullet!." Higher Education Research & Development 25.2 (2006): 195-208. Education Research Complete. EBSCO. Seneca Lib. 6 Feb. 2009. *Sources cited in MLA citation style
Final comment…
The library is a place filled with resources, services and people who are there to help you.
Contact your liaison librarian : We can and want to help.
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