Creating Powerful Assignments
To help your students understand the importance of good research and assist them in developing critical thinking skills, check out these tips from the UC Blue Ash (UCBA) Library.
How Can the UCBA Library Help?
- Collaborate: UCBA Librarians are available to collaborate in the development or review of any library research assignment.
- Library Instruction: We teach library instruction classes which can focus on research strategies and critical thinking concepts or cover a range of resources.
Determine Topic Guidelines When given too many choices, students may have difficulty narrowing the topic and finding appropriate information. Alternatively, restricting students to the same topic can mean limited materials.
Consider giving students a list of pre-researched topic areas or approve students topics based on preliminary research. If it's necessary for the same topic to be used, ensure equal access by putting materials on Reserve or building in time for students to request materials from other libraries.
Clarify Terms Avoid confusion by clarifying research terms with your students. For example, if you require journal articles, tell your students what these are. Let them know journals can also be referred to as "research journals," "professional journals," "peer-reviewed journals," or "scholarly journals." Discuss Plagiarism & Citing Any research assignment brings the potential for students to plagiarize sources or fail to cite them. Discuss the importance of academic integrity with your students to ensure they understand the range of plagiarism and importance of citing. Scaffold Assignments Breaking an assignment into parts can help students stay on track and avoid last-minute plagiarism. It also allows professors to track student progress. DIVERSIFY
Make Students Think Create assignments that require students to evaluate the quality of the information they find. Avoid Format Restrictions on Sources Avoid restricting students to the print format since this can limit searchability and access. For example, many scholarly journals are only available online through library databases.
Check for Outdated Resources Review assignments to make sure the resources you include are currently available through the UC Libraries. Materials can cease publication or be withdrawn from the library so check with your librarian to verify resource availability.
Recognize the Usefulness of Reference Sources These materials (encyclopedias, handbooks, etc.) can help students become familiar with a topic, especially when the research process is new to them.
Avoid Scavenger Hunts Avoid these assignments as they lack a clear purpose, do not teach students how to do research, and may be frustrating. Talk to Your Librarian We can provide more effective research assistance when we understand the goals of the assignment and any preferred resources (free Web, library subscription databases, etc.). Test the Assignment Test the assignment yourself to see how long it takes before you decide how long students need to do it. Factor in their limited perspective and inexperience. Remember, if you struggle to find sources, so will your students! Schedule Library Instruction Paired with a research assignment, scheduling library instruction can provide students with a hands-on opportunity to learn about the research process and give them context for the current assignment.
Please don't assume that students have had library instruction in another class.
This page was last updated on 05/07/2012 by Lauren Wahman.