Approaching Internet Research

Students should use the internet as a resource for current opinion and data. However, students have difficulty handling complex searches and using large, complex sites. Although they use the internet at the start, web site sources do not appear on their bibiliographies or their one choice is not the most useful.

Students need the tools to do searches well, to recognize the complexities of internet research without giving up, to learn how to read and use complex web sites, and to transfer that knowledge to their written work.  

Note: this research project was conducted at a small, rural, liberal arts college with a large enrollment of first-generation students.

Discovery: students liked "different perspectives" and "new areas of research."

Comparison and Information Gathering: students appreciated a "wider range" and a lot of "options." They showed awareness of pitfalls; as one student explained, "I learned if you don't narrow your research down to your topic then you will get a lot of unnecessary information."

Connectivity: students liked the brainstorming aspect of "multiple ideas or suggestions." For one student, "relevant issues that I hadn't thought of would pop up and I was like, 'Oh hey I can use that.'" Other statements demonstrate that students were thinking about connections in terms of sequencing tasks: "Not all research is reliable, you have to look into it to make sure."

Competency Program
The Competency Program at Tusculum College consists of Foundational Competencies and Virtue Competencies which are designed to teach students the skills, values, and knowledge they need to become citizens in a democracy. 

Critical Analysis: students should think critically about their "search and discover" mission on the internet. I want them to become independent about their internet research and to apply what they are being taught in their own research. They need to reflect about each stage of learning to do internet research in a public, shared format.  more... 

Writing Competency: Students should use the competency criteria as their guideline. more...

ESR: Ethics of Social Responsibility: This "Virtue" competency guides students in their exploration of the class topic. more...

New ideas and perspectives to solve the research problem.

Students ideally will learn about the process of researching online and will use appropriate web information effectively in their papers. They should be able to build on initial knowledge, go back and do further research, and develop more specific questions on their research topic, as they write their paper.

Assessment of student success: 1. Pre- and post- surveys focusing on internet knowledge. 2. Narrative responses on their attitudes to measure if their knowledge base and their perceptions about internet research has improved. 3. Analysis of student bibliographies and patterns of use of sources in their papers, including pre-writing materials, to assess what kinds of web resources they are using and how they are incorporating the information. assessment info...