Cross-disciplinary collaborative for teaching research writing in the 21st century [Panel]
The premise of this session was that a research paper should be a conversation between sources. The team of presenters offered the perspectives of a rhetoric/writing program director, librarian who helped with the class, and one of the professors. The first perspective, I must say, was a bit theory-heavy for me, and I was relieved when the language shifted to library-type lingo.
In this collaborative, students read one book, then analyze the rhetorical situation (= how the author frames a series of questions), and finally, branch into disciple-specific inquiries to form their research paper, for instance focused on economic, nutritional, or political interests, depending on their major. The director stressed that the one of the greatest challenges is to reshape students' understanding of the research process from high school, namely forcing them to slow the inquiry process down. They must first analyze their sources, and delay their position-taking argument until closer to the end of the semester, rather than vice versa. Instead of simply summarizing each of their sources, they are expected to discuss how the texts they find in their research converse with each other, generating intellectual control of the debate.
The faculty member guides students in the theory & analysis part; the librarian contributes to the information literacy and research segments. After the faculty member realized that she did not feel well-equipped to show her students how to research, the collaborate began, and since, has evolved into 2-3 75-min. instruction sessions in the library. During the library instruction, students learn how to integrate sources into the research process, how to use the catalog to locate materials, use Boolean operators, use databases, distinguish between scholarly and popular magazines, and critically evaluate info (all of these closely follow the ACRL IL competencies).
LibGuides have been most useful to outline the material to be covered and direct students to the most useful information specific to the assignment.
One of the presenters used the analogy of pushing students a little, but with the librarian as their bungy cord and the instructor as the net below them.
As a result of the collaborative, the students have become more engaged in the assignment; they recognize the transferability of the research skills; enter the conversation with authority; and even though the instructors worried that library instruction would take too much time away from their classroom time, having a librarian presenting how to research effectively in fact opened up time.
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