Research, Resources, and Presentations

Effective College Learning Jodi Patrick Holschuh * Sherrie L. Nist

How do you use the library and Internet to find resources?

Exactly what is plagiarism?

How do you prepare for individual and group presentations?

How do you use technology as a learning tool?

Often your tasks in college-level courses center on tests over lecture and text information.

However, to be successful in college, you also need to know how to locate and process information because you will also be responsible for writing research papers, completing projects, and giving oral presentations.

So an effective college student needs strategies for engaging in the research process, from beginning to end!

At some point in your college career, you are likely to be required to write a paper that requires you to use resources from both the library and the Internet.

Many college libraries seem intimidating at first, but once you learn how to navigate the library you will find it an incredibly user-friendly place. And the Internet can complement traditional library resources.

College and university libraries house books, government documents, periodicals, newspapers.

They also provide online resources including scholarly articles, newspapers, magazines, and even electronic books.

Some tips for using the library effectively:

Ask a librarian.

College librarians are there to help, so don’t spin your wheels if you are having trouble! They can help you refine your search, locate materials, and direct you to new resources.

Some tips for using the library effectively:

Use your ID card.

Just like public libraries, college libraries require you to have a specific card to utilize your borrowing privileges. Often your student ID will also work as your library card.

Many students turn to the Internet to find material for their research papers.

The trouble is that you can find it all on the Web: world-class thinking to pure garbage to blatant lies. Anyone can put up a Web page that looks good!

So just because a Web page looks polished and professional doesn’t mean it is a reliable source for your research!

To help you evaluate the credibility and quality of on-line information, use the SCC heuristic as a general method each time you surf the Web.

Sourcing.

Who is the author of this information? Is it a noted expert in the field, a high school student doing a report for school, a fan, a business, or an organization? In general, it is best to trust the information from an authority in the field over a fan or hobbyist.

Context.

What is the reason for this site to exist? Is it trying to educate, inform, or is it trying to market a product?

Is the source recent? Because the Web is an ever-changing source of information, the more current the source, the better. Most Web pages tell you the last time the site was updated.

Corroboration.

How does the information compare with other Web sites? Corroboration is the level of agreement the material has with other sources. If you find a site that is claiming ideas that no one else is discussing, that should send up a red flag.

Does the information represent a particular point of view or is it trying to present an unbiased view? Most sites will contain some sort of bias; your job is to figure out what it is.

In high school, research papers generally involve selecting a topic and writing about it. In these types of papers, you most likely collected information, summarized it, and reported what you found.

In college the expectations are greater. The topics become those that ask you to write a thesis statement and argue a stance based on evidence from your research.

Because the expectations are higher for college-level papers, gathering the research will take longer and the writing will take longer as well.

In addition, because a paper in college may be worth a large percentage of your grade, you will want to start early to be sure you can submit your best work.

The writing process for a college-level paper should involve four main stages:

Organizing

Drafting

Revising

Evaluating

After you have all of your resources together and you are satisfied that you have the most appropriate support for your argument, you are ready to organize your information.

The most important part of organizing is not the particular format you use; rather, it is selecting the key points you want to make and then organizing your support around them.

After you have organized the information you are ready to begin your first draft. Make sure you have a good thesis statement and that each of the points you wish to make supports your argument.

Once you have a working draft read what you have written making notes to yourself in the margins about what you should attend to. Identify the information you need to clarify, support you need to add, or connections that seem not to make sense.

Then put your paper aside for a day or two. Things that appeared to make sense while you wrote the first draft often clearly do not when you return to your draft with a fresh eye! Revise by first addressing the notes you made in the margins.

Next focus on the “flow” of your paper. Keep in mind that you are writing for an academic audience who expects you to follow grammar and usage rules. Most students should revise their papers over several sittings.

When you have completed the revision process, put your paper aside for another day or so once again. Then read your paper with a critical eye. Put yourself in the place of your professor who will be grading your work.

Then answer the following questions:

Do I have a strong thesis statement that is clear?

Is my paper organized around several key points that relate to my thesis statement?

Do I have adequate support for each of my key points?

Are my resources credible and reliable?

Is my paper free of grammatical errors? (Computerized grammar and spell checkers are not foolproof!)

Have I followed my professor’s guidelines for completing the paper so that I will receive full credit?

You will need to find out the citation style required by your professor and use the same style consistently throughout your paper. The most common academic citation formats are:

APA (American Psychological Association)

MLA (Modern Language Association).

In addition to using a particular citation format, you also need to know how and when to credit your sources.

It is fairly straightforward when you use a direct quote. Put quotation marks around it, and then provide an indication of the person who authored the source. For example, an APA-style citation looks like this: “Most tobacco-related cancers come from smoking, but

the passive inhalation of secondhand smoke also poses a risk” (Campbell, Reece, & Simon, 2004).

Plagiarism is to present someone else’s ideas as though they were one’s own.

Many students believe they only need to cite direct quotes, and thus fail to cite their sources when they paraphrase or summarize information. But any thoughts or conclusions that are not exclusively yours must be cited, even if they aren’t direct quotes!

There are two common ways that students may plagiarize without consciously realizing it:

using the ideas of others without giving credit

receiving inappropriate assistance

In many cases, students fail to give credit to sources when they paraphrase their ideas, believing that they only have to cite direct quotes.

It is important to remember that anytime you take ideas from someone else (or from somewhere else) you must give that person credit for the idea.

At some point in your college career you will probably be required to present information to your classmates. Sometimes these oral presentations will be done in conjunction with a written report.

Sometimes you will be asked to present the results of a group project to the class.

Group learning involves sharing your ideas with others and relying on others to help get the work done.

Many students find group work to be challenging because they are concerned that group members won’t pull their own weight. However, groups work most effectively when there is mutual trust between members.

Use the following guidelines to help your group decide the best way to get the project done: Break down the tasks. At your first group

meeting, begin by outlining all of the tasks that need to be completed. Visualize the project from today through your final presentation to the class.

Set deadlines. Have group members put the deadlines in their planners so everyone has a record. Plan to have a group meeting at each deadline so that all group members stay connected with the progress that is being made.

Assign roles. Think about the strengths of each group member as you assign tasks. Establish ground rules for how the group will work together.

Rehearse. Plan a dress rehearsal. Make sure that everyone knows what they will be saying, that it fits within your allotted time, and that any technology is ready and working.

Think about consequences. Sometimes in group projects someone does not do his share or is difficult to get along with. Set ground rules for dealing with difficult individuals and talk about them in your first meeting.

Use the following steps to help you complete all of the steps of an individual presentation on time:

Figure out the task. Who is the audience? How much time is allotted? What is the purpose of this talk? What do I want the audience to learn from my presentation?

Make a timeline. Create a timeline to help yourself visualize completing the project. These deadlines will help you know what is coming up and to stay on track.

Practice Makes Perfect. Before presenting your talk in public, plan to practice a few times at home. Have a friend or a family member listen for the following:Rate of speed. Are you speaking too quickly or

at just the right pace?Volume. Are you speaking loudly enough to be

heard clearly from the back of the room?Knowledge of the material. Are you able to

give the presentation without merely reading your paper?

Introducing the talk. Have you clearly stated what you will be talking about in the first few sentences? Have you defined important terms?

Transitions between ideas. Can the listener follow your points in the order they are presented?

Conclusion. Have you pulled your ideas together at the end of the presentation?

Time. Have you met the time allotment without going over?

Body language. It is good to move a little as you talk, but are you moving too much so that it is distracting?

Create visual aids. Use overheads,

posters, computerized, or multimedia presentations. No matter what type of visual aids you use, be sure that they are large enough to see from the back row of the class.

Here are some ways that students can use technology to enhance their learning:

Organizing Lecture Notes. Some students retype their lecture notes because typing them on the computer helps them reorganize the information. Other students take notes on their personal digital assistant as another way to help organize course information.

Creating Maps and Charts. Several software programs can help you create useful concept maps and charts in a snap. These maps and charts help you organize and synthesize ideas.

Meeting with Virtual Study Groups. Set up online study groups to meet at designated times before exams. This is a great way to study with others because the group tends to stay more on task than in a face-to-face study group.

Webcasts or Podcasts. A Webcast is a broadcast of information over the Internet. Professors may require students to listen to a Webcast or Podcast as part of a course assignment. In addition, you may find information for research using Webcasts.

Researching Information for Papers and

Presentations. Be careful about the quality of the information you get from the Internet, and take care that you do not plagiarize information from the Web!