What are the objectives for this course? That is, what do we want our students to learn?
How do we offer lecture in this course? (PowerPoint, Video, Lecture Notes, Links, etc.)
What kind of activities do we offer to help students learn the material?
Should the cumulative (final) assessment be a paper, or a test? The paper would be a 3-paragraph paper with two References; would the test be multiple choice, matching, or a combo? For what it's worth, we could use a paper as a pre-assessment for the Information Literacy Piece for GAP.
How long should the course run? If it IS a 1-credit course, then we'd have to run it for three weeks.
How would we manage the course? That is, they are self-paced, but the librarians would have to participate in the courses to answer questions and complete grading the final assessment (unless it is a test, which could be auto-graded).
How would the blended model of this course work? Would you hold open workshops?
What other concerns or questions do you have?
-E
9 comments:
Objectives
To be able to distinguish between catalogs, database sources, and web sources (How is a database article different from a website? You found them both while on the computer.)
To be able to determine which type of resource to use for specific need (when is internet best option, when is database best option, when is a book best option)
To be able to take notes from a source and then to integrate those notes in a unique way to support own opinion or main point
How to Offer Lecture
I'd like the format to be as interactive as possible. I've noticed that students tend to skip the written lecture notes in their online courses. When possible, a video is a great idea. A recorded webinar is a little more interactive than simply viewing a PowerPoint. Videos and webinars could be used in a blended model as well.
Activities
How about interactive activities? Check out http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/
bedhandbook7enew and then click on Research Exercises
Could we make it purely online so all students could access it? Online seems to need it the most.
They could view video (download speed and highspeed connects), innerspersed with slide shows, then have a final online test at the end (that would get changed up every two quarters or every year, to decrease cheating).
I think that videos and/or webinars would be a great addition to online Success Strategies classes. Adding a recorded voice component with recorded screen shots would work well with visual learners. I have heard really great things about
Camtasia:
"Easily record your screen to create compelling training, demo, and presentation videos … without ever leaving your desk."
+ your audio
http://www.techsmith.com/
camtasia.asp
Objectives-
Thesis building, subject narrowing, search strategies, evaluation of sources, paraphrasing, summarizing and quotation skills, APA Citation.
Lecture-
I believe including multiple modes of presentation would be best, i.e. powerpoint, video and links
Activities-
Our current workshop activities plus additional ones for each objective.
Assessment-
Both a short paper and test.
Length-
Should be a 1-credit course for 3 weeks.
Manage course-
Librarians would teach it, I'm not sure if self-paced will work, I'd be concerned that many students would try to do assignments too quickly towards the end. A blended course with on-campus workshops would be my suggestion.
Some sites for additional ideas...
ACRL's site has ideas on course development, activities, etc. http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/
acrlissues/acrlinfolit/
informationliteracy.cfm
Communications in Information Literacy (open-access journal) http://www.comminfolit.org/index.php/cil/index
Assessment
Paper and a test.
Relating to Chandra's Objective #2 - we could build multiple choice, fill-in, and/or True/False questions from this: which resource would be best to use (give them choices), or an example of a citation to correct, or an in-text citation and ask students if the format/content is correct.
Lecture
I agree a combination of lecture, webinars or videos
1-credit course
Objectives - 1) Information overload - how to handle 2) Identifying and evaluating quality resources 3) Reading and getting the most out of resources/articles 4) Developing a thesis statement or research question 5) Outlining 6) Composition and writing 7) Integrating resources (paraphrasing and quoting) 8) Citing and crediting sources 9) Noodlebib
Lecture - Less lecture more activities, use a variety of mediums, focus less on powerpoint
Activities - Allow them to research a "fun" subject of their own interest. Pick 3 quality resources and integrate the sources into a 1 page paper (using APA guidelines).
Assessment - The paper mentioned above
Course Management - Librarians need to play an active role, whether online or residentially
I would hold open workshops.
Teaching someone how to do research and write a paper is a challenging task. To do it well, I think it requires face-to-face time. Writing a paper after a student has done the research often needs individual critique. I think this is particularly true for the majority of our Rasmussen students. I think we need a blend of lecture, video, activities, online.
How important is this to Rasmussen to have our students do well in the area of information literacy and research writing? Are we giving lip service only to this topic, or is Rasmussen truly trying to create students with quality skills?
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