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Information
Literacy and Writing Assessment Project:
Tutorial for Developing and Evaluating Assignments
Section 4: Designing Assignments that Contain Writing
and Research
Guide for Effective ILWA Assignment Design
One way you may assist students is by expressing expectations
in unambiguous terms. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
can help find these terms. Another way Bloom's taxonomy can be useful
is in its classification of mental tasks ranging from simple recall
of information to sophisticated construction of knowledge. Ask yourself
the following questions about the language, the expectations, the
organization, and the rationale of your assignments.
Questions for Syllabus Review:
- Do the assignments include any or all of the following terms
from Bloom's taxonomy? (The intellectual tasks charted below increase
in sophistication moving from left to right.)
| Knowledge |
Comprehension |
Application
|
Analysis |
Synthesis
|
Evaluation
|
| List |
Summarize |
Solve |
Analyze |
Design |
Evaluate |
| Name |
Explain |
Illustrate |
Organize |
Hypothesize |
Choose |
| Identify |
Interpret |
Calculate |
Deduce |
Support |
Estimate |
| Show |
Describe |
Use |
Contrast |
Schematize |
Judge |
| Define |
Compare |
Interpret |
Compare |
Write |
Defend |
| Recognize |
Paraphrase |
Relate |
Distinguish |
Report |
Criticize |
| Recall |
Differentiate |
Manipulate |
Discuss |
Justify |
|
| State |
Demonstrate |
Apply |
Plan |
|
|
| Visualize |
Classify |
Modify |
Devise |
|
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- Does your syllabus have a goal and objective that addresses
information literacy and effective writing?
- Have you outlined the assignment objectives and criteria in
the syllabus?
- Have you tied the assignment to the goals and objectives of
the course and major?
Effective Information Literacy Assignments
When you begin the process of designing an information literacy
assignment, it is worthwhile to review the criteria that help ensure
your assignment will be effective.
Do:
- communicate specific learning objectives (Bloom's taxonomy)
- try the assignment yourself
- take advantage of library and Internet instruction resources
- stress tasks/resources as well as the topic
- teach research strategies rather than simply making an assignment
- collaborate with the librarians -- "assignment alert"
Don't create frustration:
- The "Mob Scene" -- sending the entire class to look for the
same information, book, or article. Use a variety of resources,
give students different assignments
- The "Shot in the Dark" -- inadvertently giving incomplete
or incorrect information
- The "Scavenger Hunt" -- sending students to search for obscure
bits of information
- The "Old Curiosity Shop" -- assigning use of outdated reference
sources
- The "Elusive Topic" -- assuming students will be able to
select a manageable topic without faculty assistance
- "Lost in Space" -- sending students off to use Internet resources
without demonstrating how to approach the assignment and providing
some hands-on time to try the assignment when the faculty member
is available for consultation.
Characteristics of Effective Library
Assignments
Library-related assignments should originate from and be directly
related to the course subject matter. If we want students to learn
how to effectively choose among, evaluate, and use information sources,
they must have a concrete purpose for applying the research and
measuring its value. Research projects should arise from course
work and the results should be examined, discussed, and incorporated
into the course. A library research project should never be added
to a class merely to teach library resource use. Research without
a purpose surely serves no educational goal.
The students must understand the purpose of the project and how
it will benefit them. All too often students think that research
projects are assigned so that they might demonstrate their proficiency
at paraphrasing sources. Faculty do not improve the situation when
they approve topics and lists of resources that the students freely
admit are familiar to them. Rather, they should demonstrate that
the true value of library research is to learn something new or
see an issue from a new perspective.
Analysis should be emphasized over answers. Many poorly executed
research papers result from a student's belief that he or she must
come up with a solution to a problem through the project. This would
certainly be an unfair expectation; many scholars spend a career
trying to come up with an answer. Learning to analyze, question,
and delve into the scholarly debate surrounding an issue, rather
than presenting an easy, immediate answer, are the key skills students
should learn through their research.
Students should be encouraged to plan their research before and
as they retrieve information. One difference between novice and
expert researchers is the amount of time spent in planning and analyzing
an issue. Student researchers should be taught that background reading,
outlining relevant perspectives, and investigating the amount and
type of information available are necessary parts of effective information
use. If they plunge directly into the first information sources
they find rather than following a plan, serendipity is likely to
direct their projects rather than any true information need.
The assignment should be a progressive project, with time and opportunities
for concrete feedback from a variety of sources. Students should
see that building our personal or societal base of knowledge is
a progressive, often collaborative, process. Regular feedback from
their instructors, fellow students, outside experts, and others
should help them to see questions, requests for more information,
and criticisms in a positive light.
Once you are ready to design an assignment, you can examine how
others have developed assignments to assist you in developing your
own ideas for assignments relevant to your class. Following are
a number of different assignments in use by UMUC faculty. In addition,
this document also provides links to Web sites that offer additional
examples using a variety of information technologies.
Examples of Information Literacy Assignments
Information literacy assignments progress through several different
levels of difficulty. The most basic level is appreciation and the
most challenging is integrated skill. For each level, assignment
examples are provided to help faculty to develop assignments of
their own.
Appreciation
- Have students explain what an information database is and
how it is relevant for finding information.
- Have students discuss
the differences among various
Web search engines.
- Have students examine the role of information in a democratic
society. What are the issues? How is information relevant or
important to them?
- Have students explain the difference between a popular and
scholarly work.
- Have students explain how information is stored and retrieved,
(e.g., print, microform, optical, floppy, CD-ROM, magnetic tape).
- Have students go to a
library either on the USM
campus or in their local
community and report back
on the kinds of services
that are available.
- Have students share information on how to obtain a library
card in their local community or through the University System
of Maryland libraries.
- Have students interview an information professional about
how computers have changed the way people access information.
Literacy
- Given a topic, have students
search for relevant information
resources using the Web
and compare what they retrieve
with the resources found
in the library databases.
- Have students complete the research for a term paper except
for the paper itself. Have students turn in at intervals: choice
of a topic, annotated bibliography, outline, thesis statement,
first paragraph, and conclusion.
- Have students identify
10 articles from the library
databases and obtain at
least three full text articles,
providing a full bibliographic
citation.
- Have students compare using a resource in paper and then in
electronic format. Students should discuss the pros and cons
of using the resource in different formats. How were they similar?
How did they differ?
- Have students retrieve
statistical resources of
relevance to their course.
Have them look for statistical
trends and postulate the
causes of those trends in
writing. Discuss in class
the most likely causes of
the trends.
- Have students construct a timeline or map that illustrates
the influence of a particular piece of published research and
then summarize the relationship of the original research with
what followed.
Facility
- Stage a debate in class with pro and con panels. Students
should be responsible for obtaining relevant information, including
both electronic and paper resources.
- Write an evaluation of a particular work or person using book
reviews, weighing biographical information about the author
and the reviewers. Students should identify at least one electronic
resource available on the topic.
- Compare a fictional work with social commentary or accounts
written about people during the same time that the fictional
work takes place. Cite the resources used, ensuring that the
citations are accurate.
- Have students examine
a Web search using a search
engine (such as Google)
and a database (such as
ABI Inform) for information
resources on a topic. Have
students prepare a description
of the resources available
through the two tools and
discuss how the tools are
similar and different.
- Have students prepare an annotated bibliography including
the best, most useful books, essays, periodical articles, or
other relevant sources on a subject. Entries should be properly
cited and annotated. Students should be prepared to explain
how each work was useful to them: basic information, useful
insights (if so, what?). Also, students should explain how and
where they obtained the information.
- Have students prepare a term paper using appropriate resources
in a variety of formats.
Integrated Skill
- Have students develop a logical plan to retrieve information
in a variety of formats, retrieve the information, evaluate
the information, cite the information resources appropriately,
and present their findings to the class.
- Have students use a bibliographic file management program
to download citations and personal files of references and then
develop a bibliography using their package.
Information Literacy Assignments in
Use by Faculty at UMUC
A Stand-Alone Assignment
Review a newspaper or business magazine for accounts of or editorials
about ethical issues that have arisen in business or the professions.
List four titles and match those with units in the course syllabus.
Provide a brief abstract of each article. What conclusions can
you draw from this article?
Example
Article: Richard Morin, "Women as winners, Losers and Movers,"
Washington Post, (Sunday, January 23, 1994),Unconventional Wisdom
section, C5.
Course syllabus unit: Unit 7. Issues especially affecting working
women, and sexual issues in business ethics.
Abstract: Although 6 out of 10 Americans interviewed in a Gallup
Poll said society favors men over women and women do not have
equal job opportunities, women continue to make real progress
moving up the corporate ladder. More young women than young men
have moved out of their parents' home. Men rebound financially
from divorce significantly more quickly than women.
An Assignment Integrated into a Project
Students are asked to write papers on an activity in which an
individual knowingly breaks a societal, religious, or institutional
law. A list of possible actions such as shoplifting, copyright
abuse, plagiarism, pre-marital sex, speeding, employee theft as
examples would be helpful to get students started on the assignment.
As a first step, students conduct a literature search for information
on prevalence, arguments for and against, and consequences of
the action they have chosen to study. With this preparation, students
plan and carry out a piece of original research--a survey, interview,
observation, etc. The results must be included in their final
paper. Make it clear to students that although their research
is not strictly scientific, their findings do have a valuable
place in their papers. In a brainstorming activity, students are
encouraged to consider their topics from different perspectives
by writing in-class profiles titled "I am a ____________________,"
in which they pretend they are the law-breaker, the law-enforcer,
the victim, and so on.
(Adapted from Anne C. Coon, "Using ethical questions to develop
autonomy in student researchers," College Composition and Communication,
40, February, 1989, 85-92.)
Letters to the Editor
Each student chooses a topic of current national interest and
writes a letter expressing his/her opinion on the subject to the
editor of a local newspaper.
Students work in small groups to critically examine one another's
letters and to identify any dubious statements. Each student is
assigned to substantiate those statements that were singled out
by the group as needing more convincing evidence or authority.
Research is required for the process, and the result is a 750-word
essay, with documentation in the form of notes and a bibliography.
Information Literacy and Writing: Evaluating
Assignments
The following assignments are actual assignments in use at UMUC.
Examine the assignments and decide which ones you think have a writing
assignment, information literacy assignment, or both and which ones
do not. If the assignment does not include a writing or information
literacy component, try to modify it so that it would include one.
If the assignment contains writing or information literacy, alter
it so it would include both.
As you review the assignments, decide whether they require students
to:
- identify
- retrieve
- evaluate
- effectively utilize information
Sample Assignments
- Using the course readings, consider the concept of race. Debate
both sides of the issue of whether the concept of race should
be abolished. Explain why some scientists believe the concept
is useless and why others believe it is useful. Evaluate the issues
and support your position.
- When President Clinton campaigned, he promised to allow gays
in the military. The backlash was great and a compromised solution
of "don't ask, don't tell" was accepted. Investigate the possibility
of homosexuality as an innate (genetic) factor. Would this politically
change its acceptability or unacceptability? Provide a brief literature
review of sources regarding the genetic transmission of homosexuality.
Discuss you personal view in the body of the 10-page, double-spaced
paper. The paper should have at least five references, none of
which can be from the required readings from this course.
- Choose one of the following topics: fairness in hiring and promotions,
race-based affirmative action, employee rights and duties, quality
of work life, the mommy track or the daddy track, or business
and childcare. Write a 2,000- to 2,500-word paper on this topic,
emphasizing the ethical issues involved. Imagine how adherents
of differing ethical theories might handle the problems. Decide
how you think these issues should be resolved and defend your
answer against the objections that are likely to be raised against
your view.
- Define humor. Compare and contrast the definitions of each of
the theorists we have covered in the course.
- Identify various types of stress related to the workplace. Examine
possible sources of stress from three varied types of careers
(for example, white, blue, pink collar; accountant, salesperson,
assembly line worker) and ways both the individual and the organization
can work to ameliorate job stress. Discuss different ways to measure
the effects of job stress, including the strengths and weaknesses
of each. Explore the impact of identified stress on the individual
and the organization.
- Choose a developmental psychologist mentioned in our text.
You will examine the development of your target psychologist's
ideas and research program. Indicate which sources in your bibliography
will contribute to your final paper. Provide justification for
each selection. You should also assess the reactions of other
psychologists to the work of your target person.
- This assignment is designed to acquaint you with the services
available at almost any library and to help you become aware of
the publication sources, specifically the journals, available
to you in the field of management in the public sector. For any
one of the journals that you include in the report identify its
review policy. A reference librarian can help you determine this.
There are differences in review policies among journals ranging
from editor's choice to rigorous blind review processes.
- Review a newspaper or business magazine for accounts of or editorials
about ethical issues that have arisen in business or the professions.
List four titles and match those with units in the course syllabus.
Provide a brief abstract of each article. What conclusions can
you draw from these articles?
- Each student in the course will identify a topic of current
national interest, and write a letter to the editor of a local
newspaper expressing his/her opinion on the subject.
Students will work in small groups to critically examine one
another's letters and to identify any dubious statements.
Each student is assigned to substantiate those statements
which were singled out by his or her group as needing more convincing
evidence or authority. Research should be conducted that will
result in a 750-word essay, with documentation in the form of
notes and a bibliography.
- Put yourself in the shoes of a soldier who fought in World War
II. Your grandchild is learning about the war in school and wants
your firsthand recollections of what it was like, including the
most remarkable moments, who was in charge, what the leadership
of your commanding officer meant to you, and why you agreed to
fight.
Additional Examples of Assignments Available
on the Web
There are a number of sites
on the Web that offer excellent
examples of how faculty across
the country are integrating
the use of the Web, and resources
on the Web, into their courses.
The sites below provide numerous
examples, usually listed by
discipline, that you may wish
to use to get ideas of how to
integrate the use of Web-based
resources into your course.
The Information Literacy Checklist
The information literacy checklist provides proposed standards
faculty can use to create an assessment tool of their own for their
individual research assignment. You may use all or some of the following
standards when evaluating student research.
In evaluating student research, it is helpful to have a standard
tool that allows the faculty member to compare students to the standard
to determine their level of success in completing the research project.
Below are some suggested standards faculty can use to evaluate student
research-based assignments.
Suggested Standards for Evaluating Student Research
- The student used resources beyond book and journal materials
(e.g. World Wide Web resources, technical reports, personal interviews),
if appropriate.
- The research question chosen for the paper was succinct and
clear.
- The materials referenced in the body of the paper were accurately
cited.
- The topic chosen was sufficiently narrow to allow the student
to research it thoroughly.
- The bibliography demonstrated that the student had chosen those
resources most pertinent to the research question rather than
listing everything available on the topic.
- The bibliography included a variety of resources (e.g. scholarly
journals, popular journals, and newspaper sources).
- The materials used in the bibliography were both historical
and current (if relevant) and presented in a standard style format.
They included a sufficient number of primary sources (when appropriate)
and included a sufficient number of secondary sources.
- The student's paper demonstrated that the student:
- could distinguish between fact and fiction.
- could differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information.
- identified the author's purpose and point of view accurately.
- identified unsubstantiated statements.
- identified inconsistencies, errors, and omissions.
- identified bias, stereotyping, or incorrect assumptions.
- could compare and contrast different points of view properly.
- included his/her original ideas.
- The student understood and used consistently a uniform system
of documentation (citation format).
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