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Effective Research-Based Assessments

Troublesome Tasks

As an expert in your field with extensive experience doing research within your discipline, you most likely have developed a wide variety of habits and strategies for finding, evaluating, and integrating sources. You might not even realize the steps you take, or the knowledge you have developed about sources, publishing, the information cycle, etc., that may be completely foreign to your students.

As you prepare students to complete your assessment, take a moment to think through the actual tasks and knowledge required to complete the assignment well. What exposure have students had to the types of tasks, sources, and search tools required? What additional support will they need?

ACRL Framework for Information Literacy

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) articulates six key concepts that can often be difficult for novice learners in higher education to grasp, yet are central to our interactions with sources of information, including:

Experts understand that authority is dependent on:

  • the consensus of a community or discipline, where biases exist that privilege some sources of authority over others.
  • the credibility of the author or creator, which is typically grounded in subject expertise (e.g., scholarship), societal position (e.g., public office or title), or special experience (e.g., participating in an historical event).
  • the information need, or how the information will be used.

Understanding this concept helps students "critically examine all evidence—be it a short blog post or a peer-reviewed conference proceeding— and ask relevant questions about origins, context, and suitability for the current information need" (ACRL, 2016, p. 12).

Experts understand that the unique capabilities and constraints of the creation process of an information product or format impacts the message conveyed by the information and how the information is valued within different communities and for different use purposes.

Understanding this concept helps learners "recognize the significance of the creation process, leading them to increasingly sophisticated choices when matching information products with their information needs" (ACRL, 2016, p. 14).

Experts understand that information is valued for personal, social, or financial purposes and may be wielded within a variety of contexts in ways that disadvantage particular groups and privilege others. Because it is valuable, a variety of factors (e.g. political, economic, or legal) may constrain or influence the creation, access, distribution, and use of information.

Understanding this concept helps learners "understand their rights and responsibilities when participating in a community of scholarship" (ACRL, 2016, p. 16).

Experts understand that research is an iterative and often collaborative process of asking questions to solve problems for personal, professional, or societal needs. Asking questions plays a central role at every stage of the research process - from defining a research problem, to selecting and analyzing sources, to constructing conclusions.

Understanding this concept helps learners "acquire strategic perspectives on inquiry and a greater repertoire of investigative methods" (ACRL, 2016, p. 18).

Experts understand that scholarly work contributes to an ongoing discussion within their discipline where new ideas are often contested and debated. Experts seek out competing perspectives within their own discipline and others, understanding that there may not be one single uncontested perspective, and engage with scholars in the conversation through citations.

Understanding this concept helps learners "seek out conversations taking place in their research area" and "see themselves as contributors to scholarship rather than only consumers of it" (ACRL, 2016, p. 21).

Experts understand that searching is a complex endeavour that requires flexibility and creativity. Searchers benefit from extensive knowledge of information sources, tools, and search strategies gained through experience and exposure to diverse information sources.

Understanding this concept helps learners "search more broadly and deeply to determine the most appropriate information within the project scope" (ACRL, 2016, p. 22).

To learn more about the Framework, read the full Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and complete the Teaching Information Literacy: Beyond Basic Research Skills module by the University at Albany, SUNY.

Common Bottlenecks

Research tasks that can be particularly challenging as novice learners are developing their understanding of academic expectations and appropriate use of information sources include:

Until novice learners have developed a deeper understanding of the types of information sources and systems in their discipline and the academic expectations of their area of study, determining scope remains challenging. By scope, we mean not just the breadth covered by their research topic, although that is an important consideration, but also the scope of their search terms when seeking sources, the scope of the search tool they are using, etc. Search terms, for example, may change depending on the type of sources or search tool being searched -- broader terms for books, narrower terms for scholarly articles, more jargon for scholarly sources and more common terms for popular sources.

Determining scope is most closely associated with understanding Research as Inquiry, Information has Value, and Information Creation as a Process.

Strategies to support learning include:

  • Help learners visualize the complexity of their topic through concept or mind mapping.
  • Provide learners with a selection of manageable topics to choose from. Be sure to test them out or ask a librarian for recommendations.
  • Reflect on your own implicit processes for determining scope. Share and model your process with learners.

Used to quick answer-getting through a single search box, learners may struggle to understand how exploring a variety of databases and search tools can be beneficial. Understanding the key databases and resources in a discipline, how each search box is constrained by a unique search algorithm and collection of items, how preferred vocabularies of specific disciplines, types of sources, and databases can impact search strategies, and how content is added to databases through the unique organization of records, indexes, and fields, can all help learners improve their digital literacy and become better researchers overall.

Navigating databases and search tools is most closely associated with Searching as Strategic Exploration, Information has Value, and Information Creation as a Process.

Strategies to support learning include:

  • Give learners opportunities to explore and compare a variety of databases in your discipline, reflecting on what makes the database unique (e.g., types of sources, search tools, currency, etc.) and when it would be helpful to use.
  • Develop assessments around specific databases in your discipline. For example, study current events through a single newspaper database like Canadian Newsstream, or public opinion through a statistics database like Statista.
  • Help learners draw connections between navigating proprietary databases and databases on public websites. For example, Amazon, YouTube, or authoritative public resources and websites in your discipline.
  • Test out any recommended databases and consult with your librarian for additional recommendations.
  • Avoid scavenger-hunt type of activities as this can be too frustrating and reinforces an answer-getting mentality.

When presented with hundreds of results from a search tool, learners can quickly become overwhelmed and frustrated. Sifting through sources of varying relevance and quality takes significant time and cognitive effort. In cases where learners struggle to identify key markers of authority or discern between different types of sources in a digital environment, learners may resort to satisficing -- choosing the first source that “will do”.

Choosing sources is most closely associated with Searching as Strategic Exploration, Authority is Constructed and Contextual, and Information Creation as a Process.

Strategies to support learning include:

  • Give learners opportunities to critically examine examples of the types of sources they will be required to use in the assessment.
  • Avoid describing sources as good or bad. Instead, discuss the purpose and value of different types of sources for different purposes, their markers of authority in your discipline, and where to find and access them.
  • Encourage learners to explore, read, and select sources, then modify, discuss, and/or justify their choices.
  • If requiring specific types of sources, consult with your librarian for additional source recommendations.
  • Assess the quality of sources used and how well they fit the rhetorical context in which they were used, rather than assigning points for simply meeting the number and type of sources required. See the BEAM method for an effective framework for choosing sources based on their function.

Understanding when and how to integrate sources is an important skill students will need to use throughout their lifetime. Sources are used in a variety of ways in written and creative works and across a variety of digital platforms, including social media, news media, and more. Conventions and norms for crediting sources are not universal and often vary depending on the context. Understanding how scholars and other authors engage with sources in meaningful ways as part of an on-going conversation and debate can help learners see how they themselves contribute to the conversation, whether scholarly, professionally, or personally.

Integrating sources is most closely associated with Scholarship as Conversation, Information has Value, and Information Creation as a Process.

Strategies to support learning include::

  • Familiarize students with the Library’s Using Sources and Citing Your Sources guides.
  • Practice reading citations from a variety of sources and noting how others cite their sources. For example, trace or categorize citations from course readings, social media posts, and/or Google Scholar’s ‘Cited by’.
  • Focus assessments on how effectively students integrate sources in terms of how well a source fits the rhetorical context in which it was used, rather than on how well learners follow style rules. See the BEAM method for an effective framework for integrating sources.

Unintentional breaches of academic integrity can occur when learners misunderstand or are unfamiliar with when and how to cite sources or are confused about appropriate collaboration or appropriate use of generative artificial intelligence tools. For learners, every course imposes unique expectations regarding academic integrity. As a result, academic integrity is something that is learned and re-learned throughout their academic career.

Maintaining academic integrity is most closely associated with Information has Value.

Strategies to support learning include:

  • Provide explicit examples of behaviours that are not appropriate in the context of your assessment.
  • Reinforce the purpose and learning goals of the assessment as guidelines for determining whether a behaviour is appropriate.
  • Give students opportunities to practice the skills they will need to demonstrate in the assessment.
  • Have students generate their own code of conduct for the assessment.
  • Ensure you are using best practices for addressing the use generative artificial intelligence in your assessments (see Resources to Support Research, Teaching and Learning in a AI/ChatGPT World by the Academic Integrity Office)

To identify bottlenecks your students may be experiencing, try the Decoding the Disciplines methodology or contact your Faculty Librarian for support.