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Notes to Instructors on Writing Good Research
Assignments

[Designing Effective Research Assignments]
    DO
    Feel free to ask your subject or liaison librarian for assistance in creating assignments.

    DO ASSIGN
    Real, relevant, content-based research.
      Why:
      • Student investment is key to meaningful library assignments.

      • An assignment that enhances classroom discussions/lectures/textbooks will be more useful for students and will provide additional ideas or concepts that will increase the likelihood of success and interest in the course.

    DO:
    Define your terms so that students know what you are asking for when they complete their assignments.
    • What is a summary? Abstract? Annotation? Essay? Paragraph? Analysis? Synthesis?
        Why?
        • Many terms have different meanings, depending upon the context or who is grading the paper.
        • For example, an "abstract" is
          • a brief non-judgmental summary of an article, book chapter, etc.,
          • a type of periodical index that in print form is searched differently from a more typical periodical index (an "index" can also be at the back of a book, a forefinger, etc.)
          • a type of painting,

          • a type of idea or concept (vs. concrete).

    DO
    Specify how many sources are required.
      Recommended:
      • A minimum with no set maximum for papers longer than 5 pages (10+ or whatever is appropriate).
      • A range in the number of sources for shorter papers: 3-5, 5-7, 6-10;
      • An appropriate number that allows students flexibility.
      Why?
      • some topics have limited, yet thorough, material available about them,

      • other topics require input from several sources in order to be adequately researched.

    DO:
    State clearly specific requirements--let students know exactly what you want them to include as resources:
    • Any kind of periodical article? Or only:
      • Scholarly/refereed journal articles?
      • Magazine articles?
      • Newspaper articles?
      • At least 2/3 of the articles be from scholarly journals?
    • Books?
    • Book chapters? (Note: these can resemble journal articles in anthologies.)
    • Web pages?
    • Government Documents?
      Recommended:
      • Require at least two different types of acceptable sources from a range of possibilities.
      • Describe and/or give examples of the different types in class.
        For example:
        • "6-8 sources; general magazine articles (no more than three), scholarly journal articles (no more than five), books (no more than three), book chapters (no more than four)."
          • "
        • "Minimum of ten sources. Acceptable sources are scholarly journal articles, book chapters, and Web pages from reputable sites. No more than seven of the sources may be of the same type."
        • "3-5 sources; they may be magazine articles, newspaper articles, commercial web sites, or news web sites." [Current topics.]
        • "5-7 sources; use at least two of the following types of sources: web pages, magazine articles, or newspaper articles." [Current topics.]
      Why?
      • Students will have a better idea about what is expected of them when they do their research.

      • If students ask for help, the librarian will be able to provide better assistance.

    BE CAREFUL
    When specifying acceptable types of sources.

    DO:
    Give examples in class and/or on your assignment of what is an acceptable resource.
      For example:
      • [magazines] Time, Newsweek, U.S. News " World Report, Business Week.
      • [scholarly journals] Journal of Education, Journal of Bacteriology, Journal of Gender Studies.
      • [newspapers]
        • New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Denver Post.

      • See also, Popular Magazines VS Trade Magazines VS Scholarly Journals for general criteria.

    DO
    Encourage your students to evaluate the sources they find. Final step: is the source useful for them? An excellent source might not be relevant to a student's assignment.

    DO
    • Give ample time for students to complete library assignments.
    • Or better yet, create your assignment and have sections of it due throughout the semester. Students will then need to return to the library throughout the semester and thereby will learn how to do better research.
    • Repeat skills learned in earlier assignments to reinforce concepts.
        Why:
        • Skills are more likely to be retained if they are repeated, so each two to three weeks something new can be added to students' skills while they are reminded about earlier skills.
        For example:
        • The first assignment might require students to search the online catalog for books on specific topics or to identify "known" books or government documents.
        • The second assignment might ask them to identify articles in indexes found on the Libraries' &Online Databases" page--only if RELEVANT, of course--and the assignment could include a brief refresher on searching for books owned by Colorado State University.

        • A third might ask students to find missing information from article citations known (i.e. personally verified) to be in a specific electronic index relevant to the course (e.g. PsycINFO, Medline, Sport Discus). Then the students find out the Libraries' call numbers and locations for the journals and volumes that the specific articles are found (in SAGE).

    DO:
    Grade library assignments and allot them a percentage of students' final grades.
      Why?
      • This shows the importance of the research to students.

      • If an assignment isn't important with regard to a final grade, students tend to take it less seriously.

    DON'T:
    Require students to use print, CD-ROM and electronic indexes for their topics.
      Only if you know that they exist (and have checked them personally--each semester)
      Why not?
      • The CONTENT of an index is more important than the format. Students need to find relevant information, not just anything.
      • When students have as many different topics as there are students, research does not lend itself to assignments where they are required to use different kinds of sources
      • An assignment has to be doable. Not all topics will have indexes to articles in all formats.
      • It is important that students find relevant sources--otherwise they are doing "bad" research. Don't set them up for failure or have them doing pseudo research.

      • There are fewer and fewer CD-ROM indexes, and some indexes are only available in print or electronic format, depending on the year.

    DON'T
    Assign "Scavenger Hunt" assignments.
      Why not:
      • They only work if carefully constructed.
      • Competitive students have an incentive to hide or destroy library materials.
      • Very little, if anything, is learned from this kind of experience and it unnecessarily harms the library materials.
      If you feel you must give this kind of assignment,
      • verify personally (each semester) that the library has more than two resources that can answer each question.
      • Show your assignment to a librarian before making copies and giving it to your students.
      • Emphasize to students that they must not move materials away from their locations or other students won't be able to find them.
      • Explain that everyone needs to have access to materials.

      • Don't grade the assignment on a curve, but on straight percentages.

    INSTEAD
    • Have students identify information (such as full bibliographic citations: authors, titles, cities, publishers, dates for books--in SAGE) found in electronic sources.
    • Not require students to find the physical items (books or articles) for this assignment.
      Why?
      • This is a good way to have students learn how to use the online catalog and the electronic databases connected to it.
      Note:
      • Be careful not to have typos when asking students to identify missing information. A misspelled author's name will produce major frustration for students and librarians!

[Designing Effective Research Assignments]
[Short Notes to Instructors]

How to do Library Research

Content: Naomi Lederer