Expanding Horizons

Last week, my co-instructor and I distributed a “first look” topic proposal worksheet to our Education 1210 (Seminar on Urban Education – Policy and Practice) students. Using the form, students identified broad areas of interest for their final research projects and a rationale for their selections. Students were asked to bring the proposals to our hands-on library research session led by Benjamin Harris.

Check out the results of the 2008-2009 Research Practices Survey Analysis, presented at the May 18-20 Information Literacy Workshops at Trinity University by Jessica Larsen, M. Ed.

From the Chronicle of Higher Education, a librarian at Yale University outlines ways to guide students in research education.
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2009/05/2009051401c.htm

Academic Research A Painful Process For Students
Steven Bell. ACRLog 2/18/09

Steven Bell reflects on the Project Information Literacy Report, recently issued by University of Washington and findings, which include:

* “The majority of the students we interviewed did not start on an assignment - thinking about it, researching or writing - until two or three days before it was due.”

This article surveys English instructors at three different institutions to examine their methods of incorporating information literacy objectives in their First Year Writing courses. Two of the institutions are liberal arts. From the journal Communications in Information Literacy.

First-Year Writing Teachers, Perceptions of Students’ Information Literacy Competencies, and a Call for a Collaborative Approach