Next week, March 8, our students will turn in their completed research portfolios to Project READ.  So this week (week 9), the groups were working fast and furious to continue compiling their portfolios and write appropriate recommendations based on their research.  This is the part where the students apply critical thinking skills by synthesizing the research they found. Students also took a very brief 5-question review "quiz."  The quiz covered the big concepts we covered, like evaluating information and the invisible web.

Last week in class, our students spent time working in groups to revise their citations and annotations for the annotated bibliography and also begin to compile some recommendations based on their research.  We met with each team separately to check on their progress and make some suggestions about how to improve their citations and annotations and how to start writing recommendations.  Since our goal is for the students to experience all stages of information literacy, the recommendations they will write will be a way for them to synthesize the information they have found.

Don't miss the ACRL Instruction Section virtual discussion "Service-Learning and the Academic Librarian."  This email just came across the ili-listserv yesterday: The IS current topics discussion, “Service-Learning and the Academic Librarian” will be held online Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 1 PM ET (12 PM CT, 11 AM MT, 10 AM PT) via the Elluminate platform. Convened by Gabe Gossett of Western Washington University, this virtual discussion will be an opportunity for participants to learn how service learning is becoming an important issue for academic librarians.

Since our service learning experience (the book sorting activity) was cancelled yesterday, we created an alternate service project for our students.   And with only 3 weeks left in the quarter, we consulted with Dr.

Flexibility is extremely important in service learning partnerships.  And anyone who teaches undergraduates knows that students often lack flexibility.  That is one of the challenges of service-learning courses.

Our class didn't meet during Week 5 due to the ice storm.

Last spring, I approached an English composition instructor, Stephanie Dickey, about integrating a research component into her English 102 service-learning intensive course.  I sent Stephanie Jennifer Nutefall's article: "The relationship between service learning and research."  (see Recommended Reading for the full citation).

Homework due today, 1/25:  Students viewed the Information Cycle tutorial, produced by Penn State University Libraries; Students also submitted three articles related to their research topic (reading/writing assessment for K-8 students) to a dropbox in the learning management system.

During Tuesday morning's class, our students discussed the web sites they found for homework.  They each found three web sites relating to assessing reading skills for K-8 students.  They decided in groups which they would deem the "best" and discussed with the entire class what criteria they considered in choosing the best web site.  After this practice in evaluating the web sites they chose, we provided a brief introduction to the Education Research Complete database, so they were prepared to find 3 articles on the same topic for homework.

Week 1 was full of logistics and housekeeping.  An experienced SL instructor and faculty liaison to the Office of Service Learning, Dr.