Assigning Vs. Teaching: Utilizing Research and Composition Skills Across Disciplines
Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Room 212
Proposal
Too often, composition students fail to understand the importance of efficient research skills outside of and beyond their first-year composition courses. This phenomenon could be the result of “the emphasis on finding and evaluating information at the heart of the work [overshadowing] the literacy aspect for some writing instructors,” according to Howard and Jamieson. In order for students to carry their research skills with them throughout their college experience, they must be taught these skills in a more applicable way; therefore, composition instructors must adopt the idea of teaching the literature review so that students learn how to not only locate and evaluate sources, but also synthesize and employ sources for future issues – to develop true information literacy. Focusing on information literacy is the key to composition courses being beneficial and relevant for all students entering into a variety of fields. Furthermore, information literacy's place within these courses is what sets them apart from other English courses and allows them to be useful for students pursuing degrees outside of the liberal arts. This presentation will outline how composition students’ understanding and practice of a social sciences literature review can double as an effective means of developing information for future projects across disciplines.
Short Description
This presentation will outline how composition instructors can teach the literature review so that their students' research skills can be applied to future projects outside of and beyond the first-year composition course. Participants will learn how teaching rather than merely assigning research projects allows students to develop and understand the value of information literacy as it applies to them in their individual fields.
Keywords
composition, writing, first-year composition, researched writing, rhetoric and composition, rhetoric
Publication Type and Release Option
Event
Recommended Citation
McAlister, Bailey, "Assigning Vs. Teaching: Utilizing Research and Composition Skills Across Disciplines" (2017). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 77.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2017/2017/77
Assigning Vs. Teaching: Utilizing Research and Composition Skills Across Disciplines
Room 212
Too often, composition students fail to understand the importance of efficient research skills outside of and beyond their first-year composition courses. This phenomenon could be the result of “the emphasis on finding and evaluating information at the heart of the work [overshadowing] the literacy aspect for some writing instructors,” according to Howard and Jamieson. In order for students to carry their research skills with them throughout their college experience, they must be taught these skills in a more applicable way; therefore, composition instructors must adopt the idea of teaching the literature review so that students learn how to not only locate and evaluate sources, but also synthesize and employ sources for future issues – to develop true information literacy. Focusing on information literacy is the key to composition courses being beneficial and relevant for all students entering into a variety of fields. Furthermore, information literacy's place within these courses is what sets them apart from other English courses and allows them to be useful for students pursuing degrees outside of the liberal arts. This presentation will outline how composition students’ understanding and practice of a social sciences literature review can double as an effective means of developing information for future projects across disciplines.
