Kresge Library Oakland University August 14-15, 2007

1. LS 500: Information Literacy for Educators Kresge Library Oakland University August 14-15, 2007 Instructor: Beth Kraemer

2. Learning Outcomes Participants will . . . • identify inquiry-appropriate sources of information for student research at the high school level • enhance or acquire skills in formulating, executing, and revising search strategies for successful information retrieval. • engage critical examination of information to evaluate its authority, currency, and utility for the research process. • promote ethical use of information by students through analysis of common student pitfalls in using and citing sources.

3. Information Literacy Defined “To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.” --ACRL Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report(released on January 10, 1989) http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/presidential.cfm

4. Evaluating Web Sites • Authority • Currency When was the site first created? When was the site last updated? For your topic, how important is it to have the most up-to-date information? What person or organization made the site? What are their qualifications? On which type of domain is the site hosted? How accurate do you feel this information is? Can you spot check any information on this site to that found in a periodical or book? Is the information on this site stilted to one point of view or another? If so, have you considered the reasons why this might be so? Might it be useful to find an additional source with an opposing viewpoint? Is the information on this site a match for the level of research you’re doing? Is this the best resource you can find to meet your needs? Does this site truly provide useful information for your research? Will the information on this site add value to your research? • Relevancy • Accuracy • Objectivity/Bias • Appropriateness

5. Plagiarism Defined The Council of Writing Program Administrators defines plagiarism in the following terms: “In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.” The WPA Statement on Best Practices: Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/9

6. Plagiarism Defined The Student Academic Conduct Code at Oakland University defines plagiarism in this way: “Plagiarism is using someone else’s work or ideas without giving that person credit.” Oakland University Academic Conduct Regulations http://www4.oakland.edu/?id=1610&sid=75

7. Academic Conduct Case Count

8. 2005-2006 Academic Conduct Plagiarism Cases • Total Number of Conduct Cases: 75 • Plagiarism Case Count: 48 • Number of Students Involved: 52

9. Avoiding Plagiarism:Whose Responsibility? • Students should understand research assignments as opportunities for genuine and rigorous inquiry and learning. Such an understanding involves: • Assembling and analyzing a set of sources that they have themselves determined are relevant to the issues they are investigating • Acknowledging clearly when and how they are drawing on the ideas or phrasings of others • Learning the conventions for citing documents and acknowledging sources appropriate to the field they are studying • Consulting their instructors when they are unsure about how to acknowledge the contributions of others to their thought and writing • The WPA Statement on Best Practices: Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism • http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/9

10. Avoiding Plagiarism:Whose Responsibility? • Faculty need to design contexts and assignments for learning that encourage students not simply to recycle information but to investigate and analyze its sources. This includes: • Stating in writing their policies and expectations for documenting sources and avoiding plagiarism • Teaching students the conventions for citing documents and acknowledging sources in their field, and allowing students to practice these skills • Avoiding the use of recycled or formulaic assignments that may invite stock or plagiarized responses • Discussing problems students may encounter in documenting and analyzing sources, and offering strategies for avoiding or solving those problems • Selections from The WPA Statement on Best Practices: Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism • http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/9

11. Avoiding Plagiarism:Whose Responsibility? • Administrators need to foster a program- or campus-wide climate that values academic honesty. This involves: • Publicizing policies and expectations for conducting ethical research, as well as procedures for investigating possible cases of academic dishonesty and its penalties • Providing support services (for example, writing centers or Web pages) for students who have questions about how to cite sources • Supporting faculty and student discussions of issues concerning academic honesty, research ethics, and plagiarism • Providing faculty development opportunities for instructors to reflect on and, if appropriate, change the ways they work with writing in their courses • Selections from The WPA Statement on Best Practices: Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism • http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/9