Creating Effective Research Assignments: Home
Introduction
This guide shares observations about crafting effective research assignments, gleaned from the experiences of the librarians of DeVry University and other academic institutions. Here can also be found links to ebooks and other resources that address the research process and research assignments.
General Considerations
Learning Objectives
What is the purpose of the research assignment? The assignment's learning objectives should be clear to both students and the instructor.
Student Confidence
Remember that students, despite some of them being "digital natives," do not know as much about research (even online) as they think they do, and a large percentage of our population are returning students with a long "gap year."
Library anxiety is a well documented phenomenon. Even students who grew up with information technology admit to finding the library and its wide array of resources intimidating and confusing (Head, 2013). The librarians are here to help, but not every student is aware of this resource - please direct them to ask for assistance.
Head, A. (2013). Project Information Literacy: What can be learned about the information-seeking behavior of today’s college students? Retrieved from https://www.projectinfolit.org/uploads/2/7/5/4/27541717/head_project.pdf
Good Ideas
Clearly define research assignment terminology. A specification like "do not use the Internet" can be construed as applying to the library's resources (and the librarians have dealt with this exact state of confusion by students). It is better to positively identify what your expectations are, e.g. "a minimum of six scholarly sources."
Direct students to contact the librarians for help - this is an essential part of the research process, not an admission of ignorance (if using the library was obvious, there wouldn't be librarians).
On a related note, consider scheduling a library instruction session with your DVU librarians that coincides with the start of the research assignment.
Test the assignment yourself before assigning it to students.
Contact the librarians to make sure the library has the resources needed and in sufficient quantity. Some access models limit the library to one "copy" of a particular e-book, for example, and some of our vendors do not always make the most recent content available immediately.
Consider requiring research journals or logs, or annotated bibliographies, etc. to encourage thinking about the research process and quality of the resources used.
Things to Avoid
Avoid directing students to a particular and finite resource - it is an unfortunate fact that some of the library's license agreements limit the number of "copies" of some content.
Avoid "scavenger hunts," i.e. directing students to find things for the sake of finding things. Students tend to reject activities that do not appear to have direct application in their classes. However, these kinds of activities can work if students find them sufficiently engaging or entertaining.
Do not make assumptions about what resources are available in the library. The library's resources change over time, due to factors including budget variations and vendor agreements. Contact the librarians to ensure that the needed resources are available.
Avoid seemingly arbitrary specifications on resources. Telling students not to use Wikipedia is not as effective as being explicit about which resources are acceptable.
Ebooks
The Elements of Library Research by
To do solid academic research, college students need to look beyond the computer search engine. This short, practical book introduces students to the important components of the information-seeking process. The Elements of Library Research provides a foundation for success in any research assignment, from a freshman paper to a senior thesis. Unlike guides that describe the research process but do not explain its logic, this book focuses entirely on basic concepts, strategies, tools, and tactics for research--in both electronic and print formats. Drawing on decades of experience with undergraduates, reference librarian Mary George arms students with the critical thinking skills and procedures they need to approach any academic project with confidence. Ways to turn a topic into a research question Techniques for effective online searches How to evaluate primary and secondary sources When and how to confer with reference librarians and faculty How to avoid plagiarism Glossary of key terms, from Boolean search to peer review Checklists, timelines, and hints for successful research projects
ISBN: 9780691138572Publication Date: 2008-08-31
Reading, Research, and Writing by
Through theory and examples, and with ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education integrated throughout, Reading, Research, and Writing: Teaching Information Literacy with Process-Based Research Assignments shows just how difficult research assignments can be for novice learners, and offers concrete plans and approaches for building assignments that enhance student learning. In six chapters—including a final chapter on turning theory into practice—Reading, Research, and Writing is an in-depth, interdisciplinary look at the literature in rhetoric and composition studies, reading comprehension, cognitive psychology, education theory, and library and information science that captures what academic librarians and their teaching faculty collaborators should know about reading and writing to improve undergraduate writing-from-sources assignments.
ISBN: 9780838988756Publication Date: 2017-03-01
Successful Strategies for Teaching Undergraduate Research by
Editors Marta Deyrup and Beth Bloom have brought together well-known educators from the fields of library science, communication, composition, and education to show you how to develop successful strategies for teaching undergraduates how to conduct basic research and write papers. Chapters cover each step of the research process, beginning appropriately with separate pieces from a librarian and from an academic on how to construct good research assignments. Following chapters cover establishing the research question, assessing the research process, information ethics and the protocols of research, and using new modes and media to communicate research findings. The book fully explores current theories on pedagogy and provides practical demonstrations of how library instruction can reinforce critical thinking and set the groundwork in place for life-long learning. Each chapter contains an extensive bibliography for further reading.
ISBN: 9780810887169Publication Date: 2013-09-11
DVU Library Resources
- Education Database This link opens in a new window "Education Database supports the study and application of education across all levels of education, including early childhood education, primary and secondary education, and higher education."
- Education Research Complete This link opens in a new window Covers all levels of education from early childhood to higher education and all educational specialties in more than 2,000 journals (with full text of more than 1,200) and 500 books
- ERIC This link opens in a new window Contains more than one million records with links to over 300,000 full-text documents dating back to 1966
- Library Science Database This link opens in a new window "Library Science Database gives users full-text access to a selection of publications relevant to library and information science"
External Links
The following sources were consulted in preparing this LibGuide:
Burkhardt, J. (2016). Teaching information literacy reframed. Chicago: ALA Neal Schuman
Head, A. (2013). Project Information Literacy: What can be learned about the information-seeking behavior of today’s college students? Retrieved from https://www.projectinfolit.org/uploads/2/7/5/4/27541717/head_project.pdf
Hunter College Libraries (2018). Creating research assignments: Faculty guide. Retrieved from https://libguides.library.hunter.cuny.edu/c.php?g=438884&p=2991497
Mesa Community College Library (n.d.). Planning checklist: Research assignments [PDF]. Retrieved from https://mesacc.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=26267774
Su, D. (2014). Library instruction design: Learning from Google and Apple. [Books24x7 version] Available from http://common.books24x7.com.proxy.devry.edu:5050/toc.aspx?bookid=73439.
University of Idaho Library (2017). Creating effective library research assignments. Retrieved from https://libguides.uidaho.edu/Creating_Research_Assignments
