Information Literacy Reflection Assignment

Dr. Young HIST 1378 Summer 2021
Information Literacy Reflection Assignment
 
Due Date: Wednesday, July 7, at 11:59 p.m. No late papers accepted or graded.
Submit your paper to the Turnitin.com link in the Week Fourteen folder on the course Bb page. Worth 50 points/5 percent of the course grade.
Required length: three to five pages (900-1500 words).
PURPOSE: The purpose of this assignment is for you to reflect on the process of “doing history.” Once you develop the habit of reflecting on your learning process for your individual courses, you will better retain the critical thinking skills developed in those courses. Doing so will benefit you throughout your college career and into your professional lives beyond the university. Craft a response to the question prompts listed below under “task.” SKILLS: Successful completion of this assignment requires the skill of self-reflection and assessment along with clear and crisp writing. Ultimately, success in college and beyond depends on how well you reflect on your own work and change course as needed. KNOWLEDGE: First for the definitions: According to the American Library Association, information literacy is defined as “a set of abilities requiring individuals to ‘recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.’” This assignment asks you to tell us how you learned in this class. Because one of the goals of the course involves learning historical mindedness—a concept that merges knowledge of historical evidence, critical thinking skills, and effective research strategies—it is important to reflect on that process at the end of the semester. Reflection matters in the learning process because it helps one solidify and internalize what has been gained from the course. Over time I have discovered that students who are most successful in college coursework are the ones who internalize and/or personalize the material. Once they see how it applies to them specifically, not just to the history of the United States (in the case of this class), they become more engaged and retain the critical thinking skills and the material longer. TASK: Write a letter to future students in this class in which you explain how to succeed. There are no wrong answers for this assignment, but there are specific concepts that must be discussed and evaluated as you deal with the following charge: Your letter must address the larger context of how the class impacted you on a personal level. How did it reinforce and/or challenge your beliefs, convictions, assumptions, previous knowledge, etc.? Be honest and be thoughtful. In doing so, your letter must explain:
1) why and how this course’s approach to history is different from rote memorization; 2) why and how information literacy skills helped improve the process of “doing history”;
 

 
3 how you went about selecting which documents to evaluate in your essay assignment and in your discussion board work for each topic; 4) why and how seeing scholarship (meaning academic writing, not scholarship money) as an active conversation in which you are a participant changes the way you think about your role as a student; 5) and, why and how textual, audio, video, and visual sources are similar and different, noting the rewards and challenges of working with each.
If putting the assignment in the form of a letter proves too difficult for you, you may write a straightforward reflection, but to be eligible for full credit your work must adhere to all the requirements described above. CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS:
1. Permissible and impermissible sources: Completion of the paper assignment requires consultation of no additional sources beyond those materials assigned for the class. Any use of class materials should only be done to support points you make as you reflect. You must not use Wikipedia or any other Internet source. What you write must be entirely your own work.
2. Formatting: Make sure that your paper is typed and double-spaced, has standard one-inch margins, 12-point font, Times New Roman. Put page numbers on your document.
3. Late papers: Late papers will not be accepted.
4. Citations: There should be no need to cite because there should be no need to quote for this assignment but if you do cite any of the assigned course materials then use the parenthetical method as you did for the Section Assignments.
5. Word Counts: Word counts will be strictly enforced. Essays that are too short will earn a failing grade. Your TA will quit reading at the 1500th word, meaning that any words after that won’t be graded.
 

PURPOSE:
SKILLS:
KNOWLEDGE:
TASK:
CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS: