Pre-Assessment of Research Skills
The library staff has created an assessment that you can use to gauge your students' research proficiency early in the semester. Upon request, your librarian will set this up and send you a link to provide your students. Following the deadline you set, you will be provided with results, which may help you determine which of the following lessons are most critical for your course.
A sample of this assessment can be viewed here: Humanities Assessment.
English Department Research Scaffold
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Lesson 1 Timing: when reviewing your syllabus |
Expectations for a Research Project These resources should be added to your syllabus or Moodle and discussed in class along with other introductory course activities. Required Readings:
Activity Suggestion: Have students read the section entitled "Searching as Strategic Exploration" from the Association of College & Research Libraries' Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Then write in about 250 words:
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Lesson 2 Timing: when required supplemental course readings are assigned |
How to Locate and Access a Journal Articles, Print Books, and eBooks Rather than posting on Moodle copies of required readings that the library owns, provide students with a citation and ask them to retrieve readings themselves. Having students access their own material familiarizes them with the library’s resources, reinforces the idea that not all research material is free and accessible through Google, and provides the library with statistics needed for making purchasing decisions. Students who already know how to look up and retrieve these items can skip these tutorials, which otherwise should be required: |
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Lesson 3 Timing: after students have been asked to retrieve and read several different source types. |
Distinguishing Among Source Types Students often have a difficult time discerning what type of source they are using, particularly in the online environment, which has the effect of equalizing the value of material. Students may therefore use sources that are inappropriate to their needs (e.g. using a book review instead of a critical article, or a magazine instead of a scholarly journal). Required Tutorials:
Activity Suggestions:
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Lesson 4 Timing: following or in conjunction with lesson 2 and after a few resources have been read and analyzed in class This lesson is optional and is included as an idea and for convenience; other course activities and discussion may likely replace it.
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Identifying a Thesis Have students critically read a secondary source article or book chapter relevant to your course. Students should then identify the thesis and answer the following questions in writing in about 200 words total.
Handout: What is a Thesis? Activity: There are samples of "good" and "bad" thesis statements all over the internet, but if possible, find some that are relevant to your course, or make up a few. In discussion, ask students to collectively to explain the elements of a "good" thesis, and/or ask them to improve samples. |
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Lesson 5 Timing: when a research project is first introduced.
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JumpStart vs Discipline-Specific Databases Students need to be in the habit of selecting the best tools for their research needs. Have students select a topic for investigation, discussion or preliminary research before completing the activity. Required Tutorials: Activity: Choosing Appropriate Databases. Outcome of this activity: students in most literary studies courses should conclude that the MLA International Bibliography is an indispensable resource that they must consult for most research projects in English courses. |
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Lesson 6 Timing: when a research project is first introduced, in conjunction with Lesson 5.
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Efficiently Searching Databases This lesson teaches students that searching in academic databases is different from searching Google, and how to use databases efficiently. Required Tutorial: Choosing Search Terms Required Reading: Boolean Operators and Truncation Symbols Activity: Searching Databases Efficiently |
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Lesson 7 Timing: As needed when bibliographies/works cited documents are due. |
Citing in MLA Required Resources:
Handout: Common MLA Mistakes and How to Fix Them Activity: After completing Lessons 5 and 6, students should create a bibliography of 5 - 10 sources in the MLA format. Students should be required to revise their initial attempt after reviewing the documentation above. |
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Lesson 8 Timing: As needed when students are gathering information for their research project. |
Finding Primary Sources This module helps students understand different types of primary sources and teaches them how to to find them. Required Tutorial: Introduction to Primary Sources Required Reading:
Activity: Finding Primary Sources |
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Lesson 9 Timing: When students are preparing a source list or annotated bibliography, after or in conjunction with Lessons 6, 7, and 8. |
Annotating Sources Students should learn to critically analyze primary and secondary sources, and avoid simple descriptions that simply restate an academic title or draw too heavily from a published description. The should repeat any tutorials necessary to refresh their skills in order to complete the activity. Activity: Annotating Sources |
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Lesson 10 Timing: Any time |
Zotero Zotero is an open-source tool that allows you to collect, organize, cite, and share research sources easily, using a web browser extension along with a stand-alone program on your computer. Students often ask us why we don't teach Zotero sooner! Our guide and tutorials can help them get started using Zotero. While this is optional, we recommend that students learn Zotero before their senior seminar experience using our Zotero Guide and Tutorials page. |
Notes about this Scaffold
Although the lessons are numbered, they need not necessarily be assigned in this order. Please assign the lessons as they best fit into your course.
You may plan to have a librarian visit your class for a date following the completion of the lessons that are relevant to your course. To contact your librarian, go to: Ask a Librarian.
We recommend requiring students to complete a task following all tutorials and videos. Unfortunately, we cannot verify completion of the lessons created in YouTube. However, you can ask students to submit proof of completing the interactive tutorials. To do this, they should click the "Submit" button on the left side of the screen after completing the tutorial. Their results will be emailed to them.
