1. Creating Meaningful Information Literacy Assignments for an Introductory Agriculture Course
Marianne Stowell Bracke
Purdue University Libraries

2. AGR 10100 Introduction to Agriculture & Purdue University
OVERVIEW
AGR Introduction to Agriculture & Purdue University
Required 8 week course / 0.5 Credits / 500 students
Objectives:
Learn about the College of Agriculture and its academic departments and programs
Understand academic policies and procedures/how to use educational resources
Examine career opportunities, current issues, and priorities in the food, agricultural, environment and natural resources system

3. FIRST…A RESEARCH PAPER
List of topics provided (controversial ag issues)
2-3 pages
Papers were returned/revised/resubmitted
Why didn’t it work?
The students lacked the ability to write and think about the research process!
Pick a topic, write an abstract, find research articles, synthesize the material, and make the argument
“For over three-fourths (84%) of the students surveyed, the most difficult step of the course-related research process was getting started.”

4. NEW APPROACH
New Objective: identifying differences between scholarly and general articles
Used the Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) system
Online system designed by a chemistry professor at UCLA
Requires assignments to be created up-front addressing all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (knowledge & comprehension, synthesis, and evaluation)
Introduces the scientific process of peer-review
Students practice writing and critical thinking skills
User group for support at Purdue
Suitable for large classroom settings!

5. “CPR empowers students to write to learn rather than learn to write…When students write, they are required to organize their thoughts, make decisions about what is relevant, convey their thoughts, and arrive at conclusions…”
--Arlene A. Russell, Chemistry Lecturer, UCLA

6. ASSIGNMENT 1 (week 1) Assignment and submissions online
Read "Indian Tribe Wins Fight to Limit Research of Its DNA" by Amy Harmon in the New York Times (April 21, 2010) and Guide for Source Materials
Write essay based on descriptive (yet limited) questions
The text you wrote is in paragraph form
What made the article newsworthy (summary)
One thing that you didn't know before you read the article
Way(s) you would go about finding more information about what you didn't know
How the author's credentials impact her authority to write about a topic
An example of how the author cited her sources
An explanation of how you could use this article in your research process, or an explanation of why you would not find this to be helpful at all in your research process

7. ASSIGNMENT 1 (week 2) 3. Read 3 sample essays and peer review
Written by me (good, excellent, and poor version)
Asked to peer review along the same guideline questions (e.g., Does the author include a summary? If no, give details)
System assigns a rating on their ability to peer review
4. Read 3 of their (anonymous) classmates essays and review
Same guideline questions are used
Encourage descriptive, yet professional comments
Grade assigned based on algorithm of completing all parts, their ability to review and the average of the peer-written reviews
Second set of assignments asked them to read "Access to Stem Cells and Data: Persons, Property Rights, and Scientific Process" by Debra J. H. Mathews, et al., in Science (Vol. 331, 11 February 2011) and compare the two articles through another series of questions.

8. I can tell the difference between a scholarly
article and a general article
Χ2 =
P < .0001

9. Peer review (feedback from my fellow students) helps me understand what I did well and what I could have done better
χ2 =
P < .0001

10. I feel prepared to find appropriate sources for
my next research assignment
Χ2 =
P < .0001

11. I feel confident about my ability to write at the college level
Χ2 =
P < .0001

12. In the future I would consult a librarian if I had a research question that I didn’t know how to answer
χ 2 =
P <

13. CONCLUSIONS
Four of the five questions showed clear statistical difference between pre- and post-test
Main objective was met – students understand the difference between a scholarly and general article
Evidence suggest that CPR is achieving the desired results

14. FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Match the individual student responses for pre- and post-test with the final grade and some demographic info (e.g., high school background)
Change the second part of the assignment, need more descriptive direction
Purdue is creating an enterprise version of CPR

15. THANK YOU! QUESTIONS? Marianne Stowell Bracke
Purdue University Libraries