Ned Fielden, Library - Introduction and Moderator

Chris Waldrep, History
Daniel Meier, Elementary Education (Syllabus MS Word)
Oswaldo Garcia, Geosciences (Powerpoint Demo)
Pamela Vaughn, Classics

The assignments we give out to our students can have a wide variety of goals. One of them may be to provide work that will require some research to accomplish. Gathering information, making choices about where to look and how to evaluate the quality of the sources, organizing the information and then digesting it and finally applying it, are all distinct elements of research at the university level.

The University has an exit requirement for graduation (now stipulated to occur in the first year for new students) the Basic Information Competence Requirement, that is, as its name implies, quite basic, but different majors have a range of more advanced skills necessary for their graduates to be functional in their chosen fields. Training students how to find, understand and analyze information is particularly important in an age when the fluidity of communication has become so great.

• What kinds of assignments make for solid development of student research skills?
• Do students benefit from detailed explicit instructions about locating information, or are they best left to forage for themselves?
• What are your students' greatest research strengths and what do you do to further them?
  
• What are the gravest weaknesses in student research abilities and what can be done to help them improve?

In this session we will look at the kinds of research assignments that are given in a variety of class settings, from a range of disciplines. We hope to address some of these questions, and very likely will initiate other questions about teaching research methods. Case studies and sample assignments will help form a basis for discussion.