English

Scholarship is Not Neutral: Using Positionality Statements for Source Evaluation

Beginning college students often make assumptions that scholarly sources are inherently bias-free. Students may also hold the belief that if they find a source through a library database, it is automatically a useful and neutral viewpoint on a topic. These mindsets can limit students’ motivation to apply evaluation strategies beyond establishing credibility based on the author’s credentials.This lesson plan introduces the concept of positionality statements to help students understand that scholars do not leave their identities and life experiences behind when they conduct research. Students practice a new way to evaluate and understand the perspective–and limitations–that scholars bring to their research.The lesson plan is designed for first-year composition courses in which students are asked to develop a research topic based on their interests or experiences. It could be adapted for upper-level undergraduate courses in the social sciences.

Resource Type(s):

Discipline(s): 
EnglishMultidisciplinary
License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-NonCommercial License CC-BY-NC

Quote Tracing Activity

The purpose of this activity is to recognize how a quote can be taken out of context in subtle (and overt) ways. The goal is to locate a quote within a news article and trace it through multiple layers of context to discover how journalists’ interpretations of quotes impact our understanding of actual events and news.

Resource Type(s):

Type of Institution:

License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License CC-BY-NC-SA

Topic Development

In this module, we will discuss the challenges in selecting a topic and how to overcome that obstacle so that you can enjoy the work that you are doing and feel more confident in your writing!  

Resource Type(s):

Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed:

Type of Institution:

License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License CC-BY-NC-ND

MOOC BoniCI

An open access MOOC in French to bonify the information literacy skills of university students (with Moodle).

Type of Institution:

License Assigned: 
CC Attribution License CC-BY

Tags:

Unlock Library Literacy

This lesson is designed to orient teacher education students to the library spaces and resources that support the development of multiple literacies by using a gamified tour through a series of stations throughout the library. Exploration stations are focused on themes of Indigenous perspectives and critical literacy, differentiated reading materials, leisure reading, coding and computational thinking resources, and “making” stories through unplugged STEAM activities. At each station, students engage with the resources through conversation, play, and decision-making. Students will gain an appreciation for the breadth of library resources to support the development of multiple literacies, and begin to critically appraise teaching and learning resources for the classroom. The Unlock Library Literacy workshop models a gamified approach to learning design. Students gather in small groups and engage in a self-guided exploration of stations throughout the library, with librarians available to facilitate and answer questions. An online survey platform is used to randomly move students from one station to the next, and states the tasks students must perform at each location. After completing each exploration station, students will receive a clue. After completing all required stations, students will have the code for a combination lock that they can use to unlock a box and get a prize.  

Resource Type(s):

License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License CC-BY-NC-SA

Engaging Students: Using the MLA International Bibliography to Teach the Research Process

This is a recorded webcast presentation featuring tips on using the MLA International Bibliography to teach scholarly research concepts and analytical skills.

Resource Type(s):

Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed:

Type of Institution:

License Assigned: 
All Rights Reserved

MLA International Bibliography Tutorial Videos

The MLA provides short tutorial videos that help users make the most of the bibliography’s rich metadata and its advanced searching and filtering features. New and updated tutorials are released throughout the year.If you have a suggestion for a topic that you would like to see covered in a tutorial, please let us know by sending an e-mail to bibliography@mla.org.

Resource Type(s):

Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed:

License Assigned: 
CC Attribution License CC-BY

Understanding the MLA International Bibliography: An Online Course

The MLA has developed an online course to teach students how to use the MLA International Bibliography for college-level research. Each of the five units in the course presents a lesson, followed by progression questions to reinforce the lesson through active engagement with the bibliography, and a quiz.  Students will receive a badge upon passing each quiz and a course-completion badge after completing all the lessons and passing all five quizzes.The course usually takes students ninety minutes or less to complete and requires that they have access to the MLA International Bibliography on the EBSCO platform through their institution’s library. Students can create a free account to take the course and start earning badges.In January 2018, the MLA launched four new subject area modules to accompany its online course Understanding the MLA International Bibliography. Each module focuses on searching the bibliography for scholarly publications in one of four disciplines: folklore, linguistics, film (including television, video, and other broadcast media), and rhetoric and composition. Students who complete the new modules can earn badges in each of these four subject areas. Visit the course site to access the main course and new modules.Interested in other resources for teaching research and information literacy? Visit the Teaching Resources page on The MLA Style Center, where you’ll find lesson plans, assignments, and an instructor’s guide to integrating the online course into class curricula.

Resource Type(s):

Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed:

License Assigned: 
CC Attribution License CC-BY

Pages