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Primary Sources in Core Undergraduate Writing Classes

Primary Sources in Core Undergraduate Writing Classes. Exposure to primary sources. Understand the role of historical materials in shaping human knowledge and understanding Develop core skills in examining these materials Gain first-hand experience in their role in original, academic research.

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Primary Sources in Core Undergraduate Writing Classes

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  1. Primary Sourcesin Core Undergraduate Writing Classes

  2. Exposure to primary sources • Understand the role of historical materials in shaping human knowledge and understanding • Develop core skills in examining these materials • Gain first-hand experience in their role in original, academic research

  3. Krause, Magia G., “Learning in the Archives: A Report on Instructional Practices.” Journal of Archival Organization. Vol. 6(4), 2008. • History/Social Sciences – 90% • English – 49% • American Studies – 41% • Art/Art History – 40% • Women’s Studies – 40% • Education – 33% • African—American Studies – 26% • Political Science – 22% • Sociology – 19% • 62% of those responding said they do the majority of their instruction for undergraduates.

  4. Outreach strategies • Meeting with bibliographers and curators • Participate in core information literacy programs • Participate in orientation sessions • Participate in K-12 outreach programs • Promote collections and services -- via blogs, exhibits, events, email list distribution, direct one-on-one communication

  5. Humanities Core Course • Founded at UC Irvine 35 years ago • First year writing course with introductory study of literature, history and philosophy • Three-quarter course, concluding with major research paper

  6. Three phases of development • Articulation • Of learning objectives and outcomes • Alignment • With faculty objectives and outcomes • Assessment • Of effectiveness in meeting objectives and outcomes

  7. Key components of planning • Special Collections librarians/archivists, Education and Outreach staff, Humanities Core faculty collaborated in planning • Primary sources identified as seed from which research grows • Primary sources selected to reflect broad scope of the theme each cycle

  8. Design instruction session • Decide on content • Set the learning objective and outcomes, and align with faculty • Identify and understand the audience • Choose active learning techniques • Assess the effectiveness

  9. Learning Objectives and Learning Outcomes If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know if you’ve gotten there?

  10. Learning Objective: The Big Idea • Will differ depending on level of students Training vs. Higher Level Learning • Explicit Students will accurately describe the basic characteristics of primary and secondary sources. • Implicit Students will leave the session feeling that the Special Collections librarian is available to help them.

  11. Learning Outcomes • “By the end of this session, students will…” • Action oriented • Skills and concepts necessary to achieve the objective • No more than two or three per 50 minute session • The “take-aways”

  12. Learning outcomes By the end of the class session on primary sources, students will be able to: • Articulate what makes a primary source • Articulate what makes a secondary source • Differentiate between a primary source and a secondary source

  13. What is a Primary Source? • Original data, images, or artifacts created at the time an event occurred or at a later date by a participant in the events being studied • Provide direct evidence about events, phenomena, or a person’s thoughts or actions • Original creative works • Raw materials that help interpret the past • Definition can vary by discipline

  14. Questions for students to consider • What did you discover about your primary source -- both from your examination of the primary source and from the secondary source? • What questions do you still have about your primary source? • What research topics might this source support?

  15. Student also have access to • Online tutorial on primary-secondary sources • A follow-up class session on locating primary and secondary sources • Peer Tutors available weeks 2-10 in libraries and dorms • Course Guide for Humanities Core • Subject Guides for variety of subjects, each with a “primary sources” tab on how to locate

  16. Average annual statistics • Offer classes in Winter and Spring quarters • Each quarter one session for 20-25 sections • Each section has 22 students • Annually, teach 45 sections of Humanities Core Course, reaching 1,000 students.

  17. Assessment In Krause’s article, reporting on her survey of SAA RAO members, she found: • 40% never evaluated instruction • Another 28% rarely evaluated instruction • Less than 5% always do an evaluation

  18. Assessment Methods • How do you know if they got it? • Tie back to learning objective, learning outcomes • Satisfaction surveys • Testing • Experience in the reading room • Archival Metrics Project

  19. Thank you!Steve MacLeod smacleod@uci.eduhttp://special.lib.uci.edu/Images are from Calispherehttp://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu

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