Guides: WRIT 1150 Library Toolkit: Lesson Plans

Focusing Research Questions

Purpose: This exercise is designed to help students focus or narrow their research question.
Time Required: 30 minutes out of class | 20 minutes in class
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout

Purpose: This exercise is designed to help students focus or narrow their research question using existing scholarship.
Time Required: 40 minutes
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout

Purpose: Students will learn skills necessary for effectively searching library databases and catalogs, including identifying search terms, combining search terms, subject searching, and refining searches.
Time Required: 30-45 minutes outside class, 10 minutes to debrief in class
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout (forthcoming)
LibGuide Pages: Generating Search Terms (Keywords), Combining Search Terms, Refining Search Results, and Using Subject Headings.

Purpose: To equip students to move from their initial research questions to identifying appropriate search terms.
Time Required: 30 minutes outside of class; 10 minutes in class
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout
LibGuide Page: Generating Search Terms (Keywords)

Purpose: To help students critically evaluate and revise their initial search terms.
Time Required: 30 minutes
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout
LibGuide Pages: Generating Search Terms (Keywords)

Purpose: To equip students to evaluate an author’s authority and expertise as a means of evaluating texts.
Time Required: 25 minutes
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout

Purpose: To help students think critically about what characteristics define scholarly sources so that they are better equipped to evaluate sources.
Time Required: 20 minutes
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout
LibGuide Page: Understanding Sources

Purpose: To teach students lateral reading strategies for evaluating the reliability and credibility of web sources.
Time Required: 15 minutes (outside of class); 20 minutes (in class)
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout; Worksheet; SIFT (The Four Moves) article
LibGuide Page: Evaluating Web Sources with SIFT

Purpose: To teach students lateral reading strategies for evaluating the reliability and credibility of AI generated text.
Time Required: 10 minutes (outside of class); 30-40 minutes (in class)
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout; Worksheet
LibGuide Page: Evaluating AI-Generated Content

Purpose: To help students identify the most effective information sources (or search engines) with which to conduct their research.
Time Required: 20 minutes
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout

Purpose: To equip students to compare features and scope of databases (search engines) relevant to the course topic so that they can make informed choices about where to search.
Time Required: 45 minutes
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout

Purpose: To equip students to find print materials in Georgetown’s collection.
Time Required: 15 minutes
Attachments: Lesson Plan
LibGuide Pages: Finding Books in HoyaSearch, Finding a Book in the Stacks, and Reading Call Numbers

Purpose: To teach students how to recognize common source types by their citations.
Time Required: 10 minutes (asynchronous version); 15 minutes (synchronous version)
Attachments: Lesson Plan; MLA Citation Handout (asynchronous); Google Slides (synchronous); In-Class Activity Handout

Purpose: To teach students how to construct common source types in MLA style.
Time Required: 5-10 minutes (outside of class); 15 minutes (in class)
Attachments: Lesson Plan; MLA Citation Handout; Citation Game Key; Citation Game Pieces

Purpose: To equip students to understand how a particular source is part of a larger, ongoing conversation.
Time Required: 40 minutes
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout

Purpose: This activity is designed to help students understand how scholarship functions as a conversation using Google Scholar and Research Rabbit.
Time Required: 30 minutes
Attachments: Lesson Plan

Purpose: To help students use existing scholarship to generate ideas and learn more about their intended topic.
Time Required: 40 minutes
Attachments: Lesson Plan; Handout