To improve students' functional understanding of plagiarism, a variety of approaches was tried within a comprehensive information literacy program. Sessions were taught as a "module" inside a required communications skills class at a private university. Approaches taken included control, direct-instruction, and student-centered sessions. Students were taught content and definitions regarding plagiarism, what circumstances or instances constitute plagiarism, where to go for help in avoiding plagiarism, and what constitutes appropriate paraphrasing. Pretest and posttest scores indicated that no approach performed significantly better than the others; however, even though students improved across all methods, they nonetheless showed the need for more hands-on practice.
Abstract:The goal of information literacy instruction is to enable students to develop skills that they can use for life to facilitate their empowerment through information. Instruction librarians, particularly those teaching Millenials whose need for "hands on" instruction has been widely emphasized, are constantly searching for methodologies that will provide appropriate levels of interactive instruction. Many methods for enhancing the relevance of library instruction have been discussed in the literature. This study, designed and developed by a collaborative team of librarians and science faculty, describes the effects of providing course-integrated, interactive (with clickers) information literacy instruction to undergraduates at a small private nonprofit university in the Southeast.
Academic libraries | clickers | information literacy | science education
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