Assignments – Alphabetically by Title
- Annotated Bibliography - Students research and create an annotated bibliography on a topic relevant to your course.
- Arguments and Evidence - Demonstrates how very different conclusions can be reached on a single issue, depending on the evidence and arguments presented.
- Comparing Library Databases - Acquaints students with the similarities and differences in library databases, helping them learn to select the most appropriate database for their information need.
- Comparing Opposing Viewpoints - Students are asked to locate articles with different viewpoints and compare them.
- Comparing Popular and Scholarly Sources - Students read several articles and determine if each one is popular or scholarly. They are then asked to fill in a table that helps them compare the sources.
- Comparison of Web and Database Images - Students are asked to locate and compare the same images in different sources.
- Coverage of a Controversial Issue - Students are asked to locate and compare three articles about a controversial issue. The articles must be from different types of sources (newspaper, magazine, scholarly journal, etc.).
- Database of Resources Activity – Moodle - Students create their own database of resources in Moodle.
- Evaluating Psychological Tests - Requires students to choose a psychological test and research its efficacy using scholarly sources.
- Fact and Opinion in Editorials - Highlights the subjective nature of editorial content and allows students to practice finding facts to back up opinions.
- Finding and Evaluating Websites for Academic Use - Students learn to find and evaluate Internet sites for use in academic projects.
- Finding Primary Sources - Students practice finding and primary sources on a specific topic.
- Following a Trail to Earlier Articles - Students track down the text of an article cited in another article. They then are asked to compare the two articles.
- Generating Research Topics - Students consider the appropriate scope of topics by generating three versions of a research topic: a broad version, a narrow version, and a “just right” version.
- Grant Proposal - Guides students through the process of researching and applying for a grant, requiring them to access, evaluate and use information effectively.
- Living Obituary - Asks students to write an obituary, requiring them to gather information from several sources, analyze those sources, synthesize their information, and develop a point of view about a subject.
- Locate and Compare a Popular Press and Scholarly Article - Helps students learn to search for articles and compare the types of information found in popular and scholarly sources.
- Patient Perspective - Explores perspective and evaluation of information by asking students to research a medical condition from a patient’s perspective and then consider it from the perspectives of medical professionals.
- Poster Session - Gives students the opportunity to conduct research and present their findings succinctly in a poster session format.
- Primary and Secondary Sources – Time Periods - Asks students to find and examine primary and secondary sources about a subject from two different time periods. This demonstrates the shifts in language, public perception and representation over time.
- Quotation, Paraphrasing, and Citing - Gives students practice quoting vs. paraphrashing an argument and introduces them to proper citations.
- Reading for Point of View - Encourages students to read for bias and evaluate information critically.
- Researching Authority and Social Bookmarking - Introduces students to considering authority when evaluating information resources.
- Search Engine vs. Library Database - Demonstrates the differences between searches on the web and searches in proprietary library databases.
- Selecting Search Terms for Library Databases - Helps students select the most appropriate search terms and introduces the concept of “narrowing” searches.
- Social Bookmarking - Asks students to practice generating descriptors and “tagging” using web-based social bookmarking software.
- Starting Art Research with a Scholarly Bibliography - Students compare bibliographies from Oxford Art Online and Wikipedia, and then are asked to locate sources from a bibliography.
- Tracing a Research Study - Allows students to search for a research study, and evaluate the differences between a study and a newspaper article about that study.
- Tracking Legislation - Asks students to follow a piece of legislation through the legislative process.
- Updating a Science Review Article - Introduces students to subject indexes, literature reviews and reference sources. It also demonstrates the evolution of scientific research.
- Website Comparison - Helps students critically evaluate information they find on the web and consider how different sources work in different contexts.
- Writing a Critical Response to a Work of Art - Allows students to analyze a work of art and write a critical response.