Discusses the importance of teaching information literacy skills through hands-on learning, and offers alternatives to assigning research papers to add variety for both students and teachers.

1. 2015 GISA Conference Brian Collier
Marist School
Do your students whine like Fran Drescher when you assign a research paper? (Maybe you
whine when you grade them?) There are interesting alternatives to teaching and assessing
research skills that don't involve a traditional research paper. This presentation will be especially
helpful to Librarians, English and Social Studies teachers, but anyone who deals with student
research might find this information useful.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE RESEARCH PAPER
What is 'information literacy'?
Information literacy is the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information;
those competencies that enable an individual to:
 Recognize when information is required
 Determine the extent of information needed
 Access the information effectively and efficiently
 Evaluate information and its sources critically
 Incorporate selected information into one's knowledge base
 Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
 Understand the issues surrounding the use of information, and use it ethically and legally
Faculty can provide opportunities to practice these skills, and while the traditional research
paper is an excellent medium, not every instructor assigns them, and not every student
appreciates writing them.
Good alternatives to a full paper scaffold the development of writing abilities, provide an
opportunity for students to use what they already know, accustom students to different modes of
communication, allow students to create work for a larger audience than a single reader, and
lighten your grading load.
Successful assignments:
 are relevant to the course, build on previous work and provide foundation for future work
 encourage students to think about the type of information they need
 include retrieval of information using tools in ways that will be helpful in other contexts
 ask students to look at information critically--evaluate it, identify the most crucial pieces
of information available, compare it with other information, and synthesize information
from different sources
 can realistically be completed by students
Tips for Successful Alternative Assignments & Activities
 work with a librarian to design the assignment
 be clear about what problems, skills, or knowledge are you working to address
 don’t assume your students already have the knowledge to complete their assignment
 devote class time to tasks that will help students complete the assignment
 give the students specific questions to help them structure their work
 set very clear expectations for the work; scope of assignment, presentation time allowed,
kinds of research materials that will be acceptable, evaluation criteria, etc.

2. 2015 GISA Conference Brian Collier
Marist School
SAMPLE ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Conduct an Ignorance Audit
Given a contemporary issue, discuss in groups or as a class what you don’t know or you might
misunderstand about the topic.
Underlines the importance of discovering gaps in personal knowledge.
Draw a Map
Using Venn diagrams and mind-maps, create a visual thesaurus for a topic and one or two
subtopics within it.
Encourages students to organize information about a topic before researching even begins.
Research Log
Learn everything you can about specific topic connected to the course. Keep a detailed log of
your research process addressing methodology, sources consulted, words used in searches,
frustrations encountered, successful searches, good and bad resources discovered, etc.
Allows students to focus specifically on the search process.
Everything but the Paper
Conduct the research for a term paper. Do everything except write it. At various stages,
students submit: 1) a clearly defined topic, 2) an annotated bibliography of useful sources, 3) an
outline of paper, 4) a thesis statement, 5) an opening paragraph and summary.
Focuses on stages of research and the parts of a paper, rather than on the writing of it.
One Wish
Describe a book or article you wish you had found on your research topic. Make up a title and
create a table-of-contents listing for this imaginary item.
Assists students in identifying the basic information needed for a given project. Helps students
learn to give the most pertinent information in a brief format.
SCHOLARLY VS. POPULAR RESOURCES
Vet the News
Find an article in a newspaper or popular magazine that references an original research study
(look for a phrase like, “according to a study by”), then locate the original research. Compare the
authorship, content, format, and the conclusions of the two articles.
Variation: locate a newspaper or popular magazine article about a class topic, then find a
scholarly article on the same subject. Compare the two articles for content, style, bias,
audience, etc.

3. 2015 GISA Conference Brian Collier
Marist School
Highlights the distinctions between popular and scholarly sources. Helps students understand
differences in audience and in authority of sources. Demonstrates the characteristics of various
types of sources and develops evaluative skills.
Can You Believe It?
Find an article in a non-credible publication such as The National Enquirer. Then research the
topic of the article in an attempt to support or refute the claims made in the article. Search
online databases, the library catalog, and/or the Internet. Document your research--both what
you were able to find and what you were unable to find. Indicate what evidence you uncovered,
and from what source. Finally, give an overall assessment of the article’s credibility.
Students learn to critically analyze claims and to question the credibility of sources. Searching
through multiple research tools helps understand differences in content, and search strategies
for using these different tools.
PRIMARY VS. SECONDARYSOURCES
What’s the Difference?
Consult primary and secondary sources on the same topic, and note the similarities and
differences in the sources’ content, purpose, audience, and treatment of the topic. Summarize
the major connections between the primary and secondary sources, and note major distinctions
between them. Address what information the primary source provides, and how this compares
with that given in the secondary source.
Teaches differentiation between primary/secondary sources, and when and why to use each.
Newspaper Detective
Examine an event closely by reading newspaper articles written at the time. Find other articles
about the people who were involved to learn what happened to them after the event.
Allows students to judge the impact of an event during the time it happened.
How Things Change
Compare and contrast an economic or social condition from XX years ago with the current
situation of that condition. Use first-hand reports, statistics, and articles to describe each era
and to support your response.
Develops a student’s ability to use a variety of resources and to compare and critically evaluate
the findings.
BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND CITATIONS
Compile an Anthology
Find resources (books, articles, web sites, interviews, etc.) focused on your topic that could be
used as a class anthology. Include an introduction that briefly explains the subject. List the
resources in a formatted bibliography with descriptive annotations for each source that explain
why it is included.

4. 2015 GISA Conference Brian Collier
Marist School
Encourages critical reading and evaluation. Requires that students identify similarities and
differences between articles, as well as relate various writings to a common theme. Offers an
opportunity to practice proper bibliographic formatting.
Collection Building
Build a book collection on a particular topic for a fictional library with a budget of $X.00. Use
reviews to help select your books. Provide an annotated bibliography with justification,
availability, and costs.
Students demonstrate the ability to make critical judgments about the appropriateness,
accuracy, and authoritativeness of the information resources they have found and select the
most appropriate for their topic.
Read the References
Read two or three references cited in a Wikipedia or scholarly article. Explain how each is
related to the article, why it was appropriate to cite references, and what purposes the citations
serve.
Assists students in understanding the use of information resources in one’s writing, as well as
the relationships between ideas presented in different sources. Shows when it is appropriate to
recognize the contributions of previous authors in the development of new work.
DATABASE & INTERNET SEARCHING
Best and Worst of the Web
Using a search engine, locate and evaluate the “best” and the “worst” web sites you can find on
a topic. Describe the criteria you used to determine best and worst, and recommend
improvements for the worst site.
Students practice using search engines to locate web sites and develop criteria for judging the
pertinence and reliability of the information found.
Internet vs Database…Fight!
For each option, provide a precise statement of your search topic and an outline of your search
strategy for retrieving information relevant to the topic.
A: Run the search on two different search engines. Compare the results from the two searches--
was one search engine better than the other? why and how?
Emphasizes the mechanics of searching and the differences between search engines.
B: Run the search using one search engine and one database. Compare the findings. Was
one source better than the other? (To complete this assignment, students may need instruction
in the basic concepts of database searching, such as selecting effective search terms and using
different search options.)
Demonstrates the differences between database and Internet searches, particularly with respect
to content and search strategy.

5. 2015 GISA Conference Brian Collier
Marist School
C: Explore your topic through two research tools (such as the library catalog and a journal
database). Compare and contrast the resources you find, noting differences in purpose,
subjects covered, types of resources indexed, and availability of full text.
Familiarizes students with databases, the library catalog, the differences between and
similarities in different research tools, and determining effective search strategies when using
them.
CRITICAL READING
Analyze the Argument
Read an editorial. Find facts which either support or refute the views it expresses. Using the
research you compiled, present your own assessment of the editorial. Explain the reasoning
behind your evaluation, and cite the sources that inform your views.
Encourages critical reading and develops research skills. Provides practice in applying
principles of citation style.
Review the Reviews
Read three or four reviews of a book (or a product). Compare and comment on the viewpoints,
biases, or assumptions that the reviewers exhibit.
Encourages students to think critically about an author’s point of view, as well as others’
responses to an author’s perspectives. Provides insight into the importance of critical reception
and dialogue.
Coverage of Controversy
Examine the treatment of a controversial issue or event in several sources. Consult newspaper
articles, editorials, magazines, websites, and scholarly journals from different disciplines.
Compare and comment on each resource’s use of documentation, viewpoint, audience,
objectivity, and quality of argument.
Emphasizes that there are multiple perspectives on any issue or event, and that various
disciplines approach a common topic from both similar and differing vantages.
Write Your Own Article
Research a particular event (political, social, cultural, etc.), then write a newspaper article that
describes the event based on your research.
Variation: it’s even more interesting if several people research the same event in different
sources and compare the resulting articles.
Variation: compose a letter to the editor using statistics & information to support your stance on
an issue. Trade letters with other students and critique each other’s arguments.
Teaches students to develop and support an argument that is convincing to a particular
audience. Develops skills in researching, critical reading for essential information, and
summarizing.

6. 2015 GISA Conference Brian Collier
Marist School
Forecasting in Retrospect
What did articles written during a given time period predict about the future of a cultural practice
or a phenomenon (computers, fashion, vehicles, educational techniques, etc.). Did the
forecasts come true or not? Why? Share your findings in class discussion.
Demonstrates the importance of historical perspectives, including how writing and research are
situated within given historical and sociocultural circumstances.
APPLYING CRITICAL THINKING
These assignments encourage students to exercise all of their information skills and apply them
to a practical and/or creative purpose.
Historical Video Assessment
Compare and contrast the film version of an event to the actual event in history. Discuss plot,
main characters, settings, events, etc., but also facts vs. interpretation. Movie ideas include
Amistad, Gettysburg, Glory, Last of the Mohicans, The Crossing, The Patriot, Andersonville,
1776, Saving Private Ryan, Patton, Paths of Glory, English Patient, Pearl Harbor.
Students learn to assess the accuracy of popular media in relation to history and become more
conscious consumers of culture.
News Interview
Prepare to conduct a news interview with an important person (connected to the coursework)--
either to be carried out in reality or hypothetically--and generate questions based on the
person’s life and work that will help you understand this person’s significance and how events
during the person’s life impacted his or her decisions.
Encourages gathering information from multiple sources to learn about people, and shows the
importance of advance preparation before an interview.
Debate It!
Team up in groups of three to five and argue the pros and cons of a current or historical issue.
Support your opinions with analyses and data from the field, and back your assertions with
scholarly articles and statistics. Be prepared to attack your opponents’ arguments as well as
defend your own. Information can be gathered from anywhere (popular press, scholarly articles,
organizations, personal interviews, and internet) but resources must be documented in a
bibliography.
Challenges students to find relevant sources of information, synthesize it into a cogent
argument, prepare to defend that argument by anticipating opposing points of view, and justify
their resource selections.
Outbreak!
Each student is “diagnosed” with a disease and given a partner that they must “treat”.
Investigate both the diagnosis and the prescribed treatment, then treat your patient in class,
explaining the condition, its symptoms, its prognosis, the effectiveness of the prescribed
treatment, side effects, and a comparison of the relative effectiveness of alternate treatments.
Dramaturge

7. 2015 GISA Conference Brian Collier
Marist School
Write the program notes for a play, recital, concert, or recording. Include a promotional blurb for
the work, commentary on significant previous performances, a history/biography of the
performers, and connections to other dramatic, musical or literary works.
Mini-Conference
Assemble a conference on a broad subject that includes presentations focusing on narrower
aspects of the subject. The class will create a program with abstracts, conduct panels organized
by topic areas to discuss the subjects. Make brief oral presentations. Close with a question and
answer period.
Curate an Exhibit
Research objects in a given collection, culture or time period. Recreate objects for a real exhibit,
or gather virtual objects for an online exhibit. Decide what to display based on the exhibit’s
goals. Create accompanying “wall text” to give viewers information that expands on their
understanding of the objects.
Redesign the Course
Propose a new topic for the course. Justify inclusion of the topic, suggest readings, and relate
the new topic to the rest of the course.