research assignments for students

• Research Skills

50 Mini-Lessons For Teaching Students Research Skills

Please note, I am no longer blogging and this post hasn’t updated since April 2020.

For a number of years, Seth Godin has been talking about the need to “ connect the dots” rather than “collect the dots” . That is, rather than memorising information, students must be able to learn how to solve new problems, see patterns, and combine multiple perspectives.

Solid research skills underpin this. Having the fluency to find and use information successfully is an essential skill for life and work.

Today’s students have more information at their fingertips than ever before and this means the role of the teacher as a guide is more important than ever.

You might be wondering how you can fit teaching research skills into a busy curriculum? There aren’t enough hours in the day! The good news is, there are so many mini-lessons you can do to build students’ skills over time.

This post outlines 50 ideas for activities that could be done in just a few minutes (or stretched out to a longer lesson if you have the time!).

Learn More About The Research Process

I have a popular post called Teach Students How To Research Online In 5 Steps. It outlines a five-step approach to break down the research process into manageable chunks.

This post shares ideas for mini-lessons that could be carried out in the classroom throughout the year to help build students’ skills in the five areas of: clarify, search, delve, evaluate , and cite . It also includes ideas for learning about staying organised throughout the research process.

Notes about the 50 research activities:

• These ideas can be adapted for different age groups from middle primary/elementary to senior high school.
• Many of these ideas can be repeated throughout the year.
• Depending on the age of your students, you can decide whether the activity will be more teacher or student led. Some activities suggest coming up with a list of words, questions, or phrases. Teachers of younger students could generate these themselves.
• Depending on how much time you have, many of the activities can be either quickly modelled by the teacher, or extended to an hour-long lesson.
• Some of the activities could fit into more than one category.
• Looking for simple articles for younger students for some of the activities? Try DOGO News or Time for Kids . Newsela is also a great resource but you do need to sign up for free account.
• Why not try a few activities in a staff meeting? Everyone can always brush up on their own research skills!

• Choose a topic (e.g. koalas, basketball, Mount Everest) . Write as many questions as you can think of relating to that topic.
• Make a mindmap of a topic you’re currently learning about. This could be either on paper or using an online tool like Bubbl.us .
• Read a short book or article. Make a list of 5 words from the text that you don’t totally understand. Look up the meaning of the words in a dictionary (online or paper).
• Look at a printed or digital copy of a short article with the title removed. Come up with as many different titles as possible that would fit the article.
• Come up with a list of 5 different questions you could type into Google (e.g. Which country in Asia has the largest population?) Circle the keywords in each question.
• Write down 10 words to describe a person, place, or topic. Come up with synonyms for these words using a tool like  Thesaurus.com .
• Write pairs of synonyms on post-it notes (this could be done by the teacher or students). Each student in the class has one post-it note and walks around the classroom to find the person with the synonym to their word.

• Explore how to search Google using your voice (i.e. click/tap on the microphone in the Google search box or on your phone/tablet keyboard) . List the pros and cons of using voice and text to search.
• Open two different search engines in your browser such as Google and Bing. Type in a query and compare the results. Do all search engines work exactly the same?
• Have students work in pairs to try out a different search engine (there are 11 listed here ). Report back to the class on the pros and cons.
• Think of something you’re curious about, (e.g. What endangered animals live in the Amazon Rainforest?). Open Google in two tabs. In one search, type in one or two keywords ( e.g. Amazon Rainforest) . In the other search type in multiple relevant keywords (e.g. endangered animals Amazon rainforest).  Compare the results. Discuss the importance of being specific.
• Similar to above, try two different searches where one phrase is in quotation marks and the other is not. For example, Origin of “raining cats and dogs” and Origin of raining cats and dogs . Discuss the difference that using quotation marks makes (It tells Google to search for the precise keywords in order.)
• Try writing a question in Google with a few minor spelling mistakes. What happens? What happens if you add or leave out punctuation ?
• Try the AGoogleADay.com daily search challenges from Google. The questions help older students learn about choosing keywords, deconstructing questions, and altering keywords.
• Explore how Google uses autocomplete to suggest searches quickly. Try it out by typing in various queries (e.g. How to draw… or What is the tallest…). Discuss how these suggestions come about, how to use them, and whether they’re usually helpful.
• Watch this video  from Code.org to learn more about how search works .
• Take a look at  20 Instant Google Searches your Students Need to Know  by Eric Curts to learn about “ instant searches ”. Try one to try out. Perhaps each student could be assigned one to try and share with the class.
• Experiment with typing some questions into Google that have a clear answer (e.g. “What is a parallelogram?” or “What is the highest mountain in the world?” or “What is the population of Australia?”). Look at the different ways the answers are displayed instantly within the search results — dictionary definitions, image cards, graphs etc.

• Watch the video How Does Google Know Everything About Me?  by Scientific American. Discuss the PageRank algorithm and how Google uses your data to customise search results.
• Brainstorm a list of popular domains   (e.g. .com, .com.au, or your country’s domain) . Discuss if any domains might be more reliable than others and why (e.g. .gov or .edu) .
• Discuss (or research) ways to open Google search results in a new tab to save your original search results  (i.e. right-click > open link in new tab or press control/command and click the link).
• Try out a few Google searches (perhaps start with things like “car service” “cat food” or “fresh flowers”). A re there advertisements within the results? Discuss where these appear and how to spot them.
• Look at ways to filter search results by using the tabs at the top of the page in Google (i.e. news, images, shopping, maps, videos etc.). Do the same filters appear for all Google searches? Try out a few different searches and see.
• Type a question into Google and look for the “People also ask” and “Searches related to…” sections. Discuss how these could be useful. When should you use them or ignore them so you don’t go off on an irrelevant tangent? Is the information in the drop-down section under “People also ask” always the best?
• Often, more current search results are more useful. Click on “tools” under the Google search box and then “any time” and your time frame of choice such as “Past month” or “Past year”.
• Have students annotate their own “anatomy of a search result” example like the one I made below. Explore the different ways search results display; some have more details like sitelinks and some do not.

• Find two articles on a news topic from different publications. Or find a news article and an opinion piece on the same topic. Make a Venn diagram comparing the similarities and differences.
• Choose a graph, map, or chart from The New York Times’ What’s Going On In This Graph series . Have a whole class or small group discussion about the data.
• Look at images stripped of their captions on What’s Going On In This Picture? by The New York Times. Discuss the images in pairs or small groups. What can you tell?
• Explore a website together as a class or in pairs — perhaps a news website. Identify all the advertisements .
• Have a look at a fake website either as a whole class or in pairs/small groups. See if students can spot that these sites are not real. Discuss the fact that you can’t believe everything that’s online. Get started with these four examples of fake websites from Eric Curts.
• Give students a copy of my website evaluation flowchart to analyse and then discuss as a class. Read more about the flowchart in this post.
• As a class, look at a prompt from Mike Caulfield’s Four Moves . Either together or in small groups, have students fact check the prompts on the site. This resource explains more about the fact checking process. Note: some of these prompts are not suitable for younger students.
• Practice skim reading — give students one minute to read a short article. Ask them to discuss what stood out to them. Headings? Bold words? Quotes? Then give students ten minutes to read the same article and discuss deep reading.

All students can benefit from learning about plagiarism, copyright, how to write information in their own words, and how to acknowledge the source. However, the formality of this process will depend on your students’ age and your curriculum guidelines.

• Watch the video Citation for Beginners for an introduction to citation. Discuss the key points to remember.
• Look up the definition of plagiarism using a variety of sources (dictionary, video, Wikipedia etc.). Create a definition as a class.
• Find an interesting video on YouTube (perhaps a “life hack” video) and write a brief summary in your own words.
• Have students pair up and tell each other about their weekend. Then have the listener try to verbalise or write their friend’s recount in their own words. Discuss how accurate this was.
• Read the class a copy of a well known fairy tale. Have them write a short summary in their own words. Compare the versions that different students come up with.
• Try out MyBib — a handy free online tool without ads that helps you create citations quickly and easily.
• Give primary/elementary students a copy of Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Citation that matches their grade level (the guide covers grades 1 to 6). Choose one form of citation and create some examples as a class (e.g. a website or a book).
• Make a list of things that are okay and not okay to do when researching, e.g. copy text from a website, use any image from Google images, paraphrase in your own words and cite your source, add a short quote and cite the source. 
• Have students read a short article and then come up with a summary that would be considered plagiarism and one that would not be considered plagiarism. These could be shared with the class and the students asked to decide which one shows an example of plagiarism .
• Older students could investigate the difference between paraphrasing and summarising . They could create a Venn diagram that compares the two.
• Write a list of statements on the board that might be true or false ( e.g. The 1956 Olympics were held in Melbourne, Australia. The rhinoceros is the largest land animal in the world. The current marathon world record is 2 hours, 7 minutes). Have students research these statements and decide whether they’re true or false by sharing their citations.

Staying Organised

• Make a list of different ways you can take notes while researching — Google Docs, Google Keep, pen and paper etc. Discuss the pros and cons of each method.
• Learn the keyboard shortcuts to help manage tabs (e.g. open new tab, reopen closed tab, go to next tab etc.). Perhaps students could all try out the shortcuts and share their favourite one with the class.
• Find a collection of resources on a topic and add them to a Wakelet .
• Listen to a short podcast or watch a brief video on a certain topic and sketchnote ideas. Sylvia Duckworth has some great tips about live sketchnoting
• Learn how to use split screen to have one window open with your research, and another open with your notes (e.g. a Google spreadsheet, Google Doc, Microsoft Word or OneNote etc.) .

All teachers know it’s important to teach students to research well. Investing time in this process will also pay off throughout the year and the years to come. Students will be able to focus on analysing and synthesizing information, rather than the mechanics of the research process.

By trying out as many of these mini-lessons as possible throughout the year, you’ll be really helping your students to thrive in all areas of school, work, and life.

Also remember to model your own searches explicitly during class time. Talk out loud as you look things up and ask students for input. Learning together is the way to go!

You Might Also Enjoy Reading:

How To Evaluate Websites: A Guide For Teachers And Students

Five Tips for Teaching Students How to Research and Filter Information

Typing Tips: The How and Why of Teaching Students Keyboarding Skills

8 Ways Teachers And Schools Can Communicate With Parents

10 Replies to “50 Mini-Lessons For Teaching Students Research Skills”

Loving these ideas, thank you

This list is amazing. Thank you so much!

So glad it’s helpful, Alex! 🙂

Hi I am a student who really needed some help on how to reasearch thanks for the help.

So glad it helped! 🙂

seriously seriously grateful for your post. 🙂

So glad it’s helpful! Makes my day 🙂

How do you get the 50 mini lessons. I got the free one but am interested in the full version.

Hi Tracey, The link to the PDF with the 50 mini lessons is in the post. Here it is . Check out this post if you need more advice on teaching students how to research online. Hope that helps! Kathleen

Best wishes to you as you face your health battler. Hoping you’ve come out stronger and healthier from it. Your website is so helpful.

Comments are closed.

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Information Literacy Instruction

• Exercises to Build Research Skills
• Formulate a research topic
• Find Information
• Evaluate Information
• Use Information
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Exercises Overview

Library instruction exercises.

The exercises below are designed for students learning to do research. They can be done in class or assigned as homework. They are in Word format so instructors who wish to use them can easily edit or adapt them. When appropriate, they contain an answer key, so instructors should look at the full handout and remove the answer key before sharing with students.

If you would like a librarian to come to your class to lead these exercises or if you would like an exercise customized for your subject area, contact your Library Liaison!

• Formulate a topic
• Find information
• Evaluate information
• Incorporate information
• Cite information
• Writing assignment formats
• Triangulating your research This exercise guides students with a broad topic to identify search terms and narrow their topic, arriving at a research question.
• Formulating a Research Question from a Broad Topic Students often begin their research (and writing) with a very broad topic. This means they waste a lot of time looking for resources that they will never use. Before they begin to research, it is ideal to have a focused question. This 10 minute assignment teaches them how to turn a very broad topic into a focused research question.
• Identifying and Refining a Research Topic Using Concept Maps This exercise is designed to help students think of words and concepts and see how they are related. They create a concept map of their topic, which may help them see ways to narrow their topic and arrive at a research question.
• Identifying and Refining a Research Topic Using Journalistic Questions Journalistic questions are a set of questions you can use to define your topic more clearly. This exercise will help student ask questions about their topic. Having specific questions to answer makes researching the topic easier when you get to that stage.
• Defining Search Terms Students will often try one or two search terms when using a database and assume there’s no information on their topic if it doesn’t work the first time. This exercise gets them thinking about synonyms and related words. This 15 minute exercise may seem simple, but I can almost guarantee that the next time they sit down at a database they will try multiple searches before giving up.
• Identifying Keywords In this exercise, students will practice identifying keywords that might be used to research their topic. The exercise has three parts. First, they will identify the keywords from sample research questions. Then they will brainstorm synonyms for those keywords, demonstrating the need to search using more than just one keyword. Finally, they will complete the exercise for their own research question.
• Information Source Comparison This activity helps students explore the strengths and weakness of Google, Google Scholar, Academic Search Complete and topic specific databases as information sources.
• Understanding Boolean Operators: AND, OR, NOT In order to apply your keywords to an effective search, you must be able to employ Boolean logic. Those operators are AND OR & NOT. The object of this exercise is to practice your use of those operators by looking at an everyday experience : Ordering food from a fast food restaurant.
• Creating Keyword Searches Using Boolean Operators In this exercise, students will practice selecting search terms and combining them using boolean operators in order to create an effective search.
• Popular, Trade or Peer Reviewed? Great hands-on exercise to teach students about the differences among the 3 types of publications. Students can read the differences in the provided example, but real learning takes place when they have to sift through the actual publications and write down differences. Can be tailored to use any three sources appropriate for your discipline.
• Analyze 4 types of sources This assignment does two things: 1) it makes students find 4 different types of sources rather than just search the Web; 2) it teaches students how to evaluate ALL information and compare and contrast different types of sources.
• Pin the News Source on the Fake News Continuum This activity asks students to research a variety of news sources and place them on a continuum to define their reliability.
• Evaluating Sources Process Cards This is a group activity in which students are given cards with a variety of sources on them. They evaluate the sources based on criteria such as "authority," "ease of creation," "time to creation" etc.
• Evaluating sources writing assignment Requires the student to answer a series of questions about a source they have found. These questions are also a good basis for writing the annotation for an annotated bibliography exercise.
• Article Analysis - upper level This exercise requires students to evaluate a scholarly article for not only its relevance to their research topic but also for its potential to help them find more sources via citation mining and keyword generation.
• Evaluating Web Resources Students choose one of three websites to evaluate. After evaluating the website they must make a judgment on whether it is good or bad for academic research and explain their decision. This assignment can be tailored to use websites related to your subject area. Just ask!

Introductory level - avoid plagiarism by properly using quotes, paraphrases and summaries.

• Evaluating quotes and paraphrases (100/200 level) Students are given a sample citation and 7 easy uses. They judge if the use is appropriate or plagiarism.
• Evaluating quotes, summaries and paraphrases Students are given a sample text and 4 summaries. They judge if the summary is legitimate or plagiarism.
• Quotes, Summaries and Paraphrases from the Purdue Owl This PDF from the Purdue Owl explains what each of these are, how to use them and concludes with a hands on exercise that requires students to summarize and paraphrase several sample original texts.
• Write your own quote, summary, paraphrase Given a single sample text, students are asked to write their own quote, summary, paraphrase for the instructor's evaluation. Can be tailored for any class.

Introductory level - how to integrate quotes, paraphrases and summaries

• Integrating quotes Given a single sample paragraph, students are asked to identify several key methods quotes are integrated into the paragraph.
• Analyzing how to integrate quotes and summaries This exercise has students analyze how and why scholarly authors have integrated quotes and summaries in order to help them learn smooth methods to use quotes and summaries in their own research.
• Analyzing supporting evidence An exercise that asks students to analyze how and why evidence is used in an existing scholarly article.

Introductory level - learning how and why to use sources

• Un-research Project This exercise helps students focus on why they choose sources to support their research.
• Is your paper well supported with evidence A quick, easy and visual exercise to help students determine if their paper arguments are well supported with evidence.

Upper level - synthesizing information

• Updating a literature review This exercise is appropriate to introduce the concept of a literature review and how to synthesize information in one.
• Mini-literature review assignment An introduction to literature reviews. Scaffolded instruction for how to approach your first literature review.
• Synthesis Matrix A beginner's matrix to help students begin thinking about synthesizing their sources.
• Advanced Synthesis Matrix A source synthesis matrix for advanced level writing assignments.

Create a list of sources with improper citations. Have the students attempt to locate the sources.  This should demonstrate to students how citations are used to track down sources and how frustrating it can be for their teachers and fellow researchers when they don’t provide adequate citations. Examples to use here could include books with multiple editions or books with very generic titles.

Breaking citations down: Develop a list of citations. Break these citations down (components: author, date, publisher, title, etc). Type or write them down on larger pieces of construction paper, cardboard, etc. You can utilize a variety of colors, shapes, sizes. Have students work as groups to assemble the parts (you can use pin boards, a wall and tape, magnetic boards, etc). This can easily be turned into a competitive game.

Selecting an Effective Writing Assignment Format

In addition to the standard essay, report or full research paper formats, several other formats exist that might give students a different slant on the course material or allow them to use slightly different writing skills. Here are some suggestions:

Journals. In-class journal entries can spark discussions and reveal gaps in students’ understanding of the material. Having students write an in-class entry summarizing the material covered that day can aid the learning process and also reveal concepts that require more elaboration. Out-of-class entries involve short summaries or analyses of texts, or are a testing ground for ideas for student papers and reports.

Letters. Students can define and defend a position on an issue in a letter written to someone in authority. They can also explain a concept or a process to someone in need of that particular information. They can write a letter to a friend explaining their concerns about an upcoming paper assignment or explaining their ideas for an upcoming paper assignment. If you wish to add a creative element to the writing assignment, you might have students adopt the persona of an important person discussed in your course (e.g., an historical figure) and write a letter explaining his/her actions, process, or theory to an interested person (e.g., “pretend that you are John Wilkes Booth and write a letter to the Congress justifying your assassination of Abraham Lincoln,” or “pretend you are Henry VIII writing to Thomas More explaining your break from the Catholic Church”).

Editorials . Students can define and defend a position on a controversial issue in the format of an editorial for the campus or local newspaper or for a national journal.

Cases . Students might create a case study particular to the course’s subject matter.

Position Papers . These projects ask students to research a topic from a variety of viewpoints, and then use that research to support their own perspective. Students can define and defend a position, perhaps as a preliminary step in the creation of a formal research paper or essay.

Imitation of a Text . Students can create a new document “in the style of” a particular writer (e.g., “Create a government document the way Woody Allen might write it” or “Write your own ‘Modest Proposal’ about a modern issue”).

Instruction Manuals . Students write a step-by-step explanation of a process.

Dialogues . Students create a dialogue between two major figures studied in which they not only reveal those people’s theories or thoughts but also explore areas of possible disagreement (e.g., “Write a dialogue between Claude Monet and Jackson Pollock about the nature and uses of art”).

Collaborative projects . Students work together to create such works as reports, questions, and critiques.

Summary papers These assignments ask students to summarize a key concept from the course, or a reading or set of readings.

Compare/contrast papers Students are asked to compare/contrast theoretical positions from key scholars, reading, methods, or procedures for completing a task, etc.

Reading responses Students are asked to respond to specific questions about course readings. These can take place in reading journals that you occasionally collect, or reading responses on a discussion forum (on Moodle or elsewhere).

Position response papers Students are provided with a position that they must then defend or refute using course concepts and outside research.

Disciplinary problem papers These projects ask students to make an argument for the best solution to a disciplinary problem.

Data analysis papers Students are provided with raw data (or asked to collect raw data themselves) that they must then analyze using a particular methodology from the course.

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Effective research assignments: home, communicate your expectations.

• Assess the quality of the sources your students cite as part of their overall grades, and explain clearly in your rubric how that evaluation will be made.
• Spell out your expectations regarding sources. Instead of asking for scholarly sources, for example, you could ask your students to "cite at least two peer-reviewed journal articles and two primary sources".
• Explain terminology and provide background regarding scholarly publishing. What’s peer-review? What are some differences between scholarly books and journal articles? When should one consult popular news sources? What’s a primary source?
• Clearly communicate which style manual is required.
• Include a policy on plagiarism in the assignment and discuss the purposes of proper attribution. Discuss examples: does paraphrasing another author’s ideas require a citation?
• Provide examples of topics that are appropriate in scope for the assignment at hand, and provide feedback to individual students as they begin to develop and refine their topics.

Design and test your assignment An effective research assignment targets specific skills, for example, the ability to trace a scholarly argument through the literature or the ability to organize consulted resources into a bibliography.

• Test the assignment yourself. Can you find the kinds of sources required? Are you required to evaluate the sources you find?
• Ask students for feedback on the assignment. Are they having problems finding relevant materials? Do they understand your expectations?
• If the assignment is particularly demanding, consider dividing a single research project into multiple assignments (outline, draft, final draft), each one focusing on a different aspect of the research process.

Ideas for alternative research assignments

• Assign an annotated bibliography in which students identify primary and secondary sources, popular and scholarly publications, and detect and comment on forms of bias.
• Ask for students to document the search tools they use (library catalog, article databases, Google, etc.) for a research paper and to reflect on the kinds of information they find in each.
• Provide a resource list or a single source from which students’ research should begin. Discuss the utility of known sources for identifying keywords, key concepts, and other citations to inform further searching.
• Assign students to prepare a guide for introducing their classmates to the essential literature on a given topic.
• Have students compile a glossary of important terms specific to a given topic in your discipline.
• Require students to edit an anthology of important scholarship on a specific topic and write an introduction explaining the development of the field over time.

Avoid these common mistakes

• Since many scholarly sources are available online, it can be confusing for students when “Internet” or “Web” sources are forbidden. It’s helpful to describe why certain sources (such as Wikipedia) may not be allowed.
• Make sure the resources required by the assignment are available to your students in the library or in library databases. 
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Research Assignment Design: Overview

• Student Learning Outcomes
• Evaluating Student Work
• Generative AI
• Critical Information Literacy

Prioritize your learning outcomes

Students can't do it all. Pick what to focus on. For the beginning researcher, research can be a complicated process with many steps to master effectively. Your assignment might want to prioritize some of those over others.

Students experience a greater cognitive load when researching because they lack domain knowledge. You can help students focus their energies by ensuring your assignment matches your priorities.

For example, to prioritize synthesizing arguments, design an assignment around reading and writing with sources, and limit the need for finding sources. To prioritize identifying the scope of research on a topic, require searching for sources.

How do I do this?

• Determine and prioritize  learning goals specific to the research process . 
• Imagine a student working through the assignment. Are there parts of it that demand a lot of work, but that don't match your priorities? If so, rethink the assignment.

Focus on the research and writing process

Prompts should address both the steps along the way (picking a topic, collecting data, synthesizing sources) and the completed assignment. When instructions focus only on the final product, students will view them as a checklist to complete.

For example, requiring a certain number of sources for a paper directs students' attention to the end product. Students will pick the first sources they find, rather than understanding the process of finding many possible sources, then selecting the best ones.

• Give clear and concise directions, with explanations and examples, about why you want something a certain way.
• Make learning objectives explicit, and provide feedback for each step of the research experience.
• Provide opportunities for students to reflect on their learning.
• Allow students time to explore and reframe as they research.
• Discuss how students will know they've found enough information.

Scaffold learning

Break down and explicitly teach the different aptitudes students need to be successful. Research can overwhelm students, especially those new to the process or discipline.

• Break your assignment down into smaller tasks to ensure that students reach learning objectives successively and successfully. 
• Approach this as an opportunity to help students develop research skills. Don't assume students already know how to do research. Learning is iterative, so even if they've had a library research session, a review is useful.
• Recognize the emotional toll of research and give students the time they need to experience the full spectrum of feelings, as part of the instructional design.
• Provide worksheets, handouts, or activities that help students navigate specific aspects of the research process. 
• Assist students over common stumbling blocks. What will get them past bottlenecks to learning in your discipline?

Create an authentic learning experience

Make your assignment relevant to real life experiences and skills. Students learn best and successfully transfer what they're learning when they connect with the assignment, feel the excitement of discovery, or solve challenges. Through disciplinary and experiential learning, students develop different perspectives from which to view the world.

• Encourage curiosity. Give students the chance to experience some of the messiness of research, while limiting how far off track they can get through periodic check-ins.
• Show students how to practice reading, research, and writing in your discipline. All these require interrelated, separate skills.
• Address how students can transfer knowledge and skills.
• Consider problem-based learning, have students examine real-world issues.

Need More Help?

Ways librarians can help.

• Discuss your learning objectives and options for assignments with you
• "Test-drive" your assignment to ensure students will be successful
• Identify why students struggle and how to help them
• Ensure appropriate resources are available
• Identify library instructional resources to link in Canvas
• Provide research instruction for your class
• Brainstorm ways to include critical information literacy into your assignment
• Research Assignment Stipend Support for your collaboration with a librarian on a new assignment.
• Research Assignment Stipend Selection Criteria Rubric for selection
• How to Write an Effective Assignment Harvard University Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

See Example Assignments

• Introductory Research Paper Prompt
• Executive Summary Assignment
• Next: Student Learning Outcomes >>
• Last Updated: Oct 25, 2024 4:02 PM
• URL: https://guides.smu.edu/research_assignments

Effective Research Assignments

Identify learning goals., clarify expectations., "scaffold" the assignment., test the assignment., collaborate with librarians..

• Assignment Ideas
• Studies on Student Research

Acknowledgement

These best practices were adapted from the handout "Tips for Designing Library Research Assignments" developed by Sarah McDaniel, of the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Many thanks to her for permission to reuse this resource.

See  Assignment Ideas  to explore different possible approaches beyond a traditional research paper. 

• What abilities would you like students to develop through the assignment?
• How will the learning goals and their importance be communicated in the assignment?

Your students may not have prior experience with academic research and resources. State (in writing) details like:

• the assignment's purpose,
• the purpose of research and sources for the assignment,
• suggested resources for locating relevant sources,
• expected citation practices,
• terminology that may be unclear (e.g. Define terms like "database," "peer reviewed"),
• assignment length and other parameters, and
• grading/evaluation criteria ( Rubrics are one way to communicate assessment criteria to students. See, for example, AAC&U's VALUE rubric for information literacy .)

Also consider discussing how research is produced and disseminated in your discipline, and how you expect your students to participate in academic discourse in the context of your class. 

Breaking a complex research assignment down into a sequence of smaller, more manageable parts:

• models how to approach a research question and how to manage time effectively,
• empowers students to focus on and to master key research and critical thinking skills,
• provides opportunities for feedback, and
• deters plagiarism.

Periodic class discussions about the assignment can also help students

• reflect on the research process and its importance
• encourage questions, and
• help students develop a sense that what they are doing is a transferable process that they can use for other assignments.

By testing an assignment, you may identify practical roadblocks  (e.g., too few copies of a book for too many students, a source is no longer available online).

Librarians can help with this process (e.g., suggest research strategies or resources, design customized supporting materials like handouts or course research guides).

Subject librarians can explore with you ways to support students in their research.

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Designing Research Assignments: Assignment Ideas

• Student Research Needs
• Assignment Guidelines
• Assignment Ideas
• Scaffolding Research Assignments
• BEAM Method

Assignment Templates

Research diaries offer students an opportunity to reflect on the research process, think about how they will address challenges they encounter, and encourage students to think about and adjust their strategies. 

• Research Diary Template
• Research Diary Instructions

Alternative Assignments

There are many different types of assignments that can help your students develop their information literacy and research skills. 

The assignments listed below target different skills, and some may be more suitable for certain courses than others.

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Designing Research or Inquiry-Based Assignments

Research or inquiry-based assignments are  those in which  students are required to find, analyze, and use various information sources to:

• Explore an issue
• Answer a question
• Solve a problem
• Create new knowledge

 Although they are common assignments, they are frequently sources of frustration for both instructors and students. 

Outlined below are helpful steps that you can take as you design your research or inquiry-based assignments. In addition, each section includes questions to consider or actions you can take that may help lessen some of the misunderstandings between students and instructors regarding research or inquiry-based assignments.

Identify Learning Bottlenecks 

As a start for designing effective research or inquiry-based assignments, it can be helpful to identify those places where students tend to get stuck, unable to perform specific tasks or move forward in their learning.

These can be referred to as learning bottlenecks .  

Ask yourself  

• Are there aspects of the assignment that significant numbers of students have struggled with in the past? For example, have you noticed that students tend to use inappropriate sources or struggle to cite the sources appropriately?  
• What are the specific steps that students must take to overcome the bottleneck(s)? What do they need to understand or be able to do? 
• Could students have any emotional bottlenecks related to the assignment or specific tasks within the assignment? For example, students may have had previous negative experiences with research assignments. Identifying and addressing fears or concerns related to these past experiences may be helpful.  

These recommendations are based on the Decoding the Disciplines model, developed by David Pace and Joan Middendorf. For more information on identifying and addressing learning bottlenecks, see  Decoding the Disciplines .  

Identify Core Assumptions 

You may understand the purpose and process for completing research assignments that are not clear to students. For example, you may expect students to actively engage in the conversation on their topic (e.g., advance an argument, make an interpretation, share their perspective), but may not directly convey this to students. You may make assumptions about what students already know about completing research assignments, which can influence the amount of guidance you provide to them. As a result, students may feel that they are being asked to meet expectations they didn’t even know existed or perform complex tasks with little guidance.  

Identifying hidden expectations and underlying assumptions that you have and making these clear to students can help avoid misunderstandings (e.g., “I didn’t know I was supposed to cite peer-reviewed articles”). 

Ask yourself

• Are there underlying expectations that I have about the purpose or process of the assignment that students might not be aware of?  
• Am I expecting students to approach research as an iterative, inquiry-driven process (rather than a process of compiling and summarizing information)?  
• Am I expecting that students will recognize scholarship as an ongoing conversation among scholars and researchers?  
• Am I expecting that students will use certain types of search tools or information sources?  
• Am I expecting that students will know how to identify credible, relevant, and appropriate information sources?  
• Am I expecting that students know how scholars use sources and why it is important to provide appropriate attribution?  

Use the Framework for Information Literacy 

The  Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education  (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2016) is a great resource you can use to identify potential learning bottlenecks. It highlights six core understandings about the purpose and process of research that are broadly shared among expert researchers, but that students may not yet have grasped. In addition, it outlines the skills (knowledge practices) and habits of mind (dispositions) that are important for novice researchers to develop.   

To use the framework

• Review the six core concepts and highlight those that you think may be contributing to the bottlenecks that students are experiencing.
• For the selected core concepts, review the related knowledge practices and dispositions in order to identify specific learning bottlenecks.

For more information on the Framework, see:  Information Literacy: Concepts and Teaching Strategies .

Consider Your Disciplinary Knowledge 

As you become more experienced, you develop knowledge about how to conduct research in your field. Without realizing it, this knowledge can influence the expectations you have for students. For novice learners, especially those outside your field, these discipline-specific expectations may not be obvious.   

• Who are the authorities in my field? What qualifies as an authoritative source? 
• What search tools or resources are commonly used in my field? Are there discipline-specific databases or highly cited journals?   
• What method of attribution is used in my field?  
• How might my disciplinary knowledge be contributing to the expectations I have for students? 
• Is it necessary that students are able to meet the standards of research that are common in my field? For example: Is it necessary that students use the attribution method used in my field? In courses with primarily non-majors, requiring a discipline-specific attribution method may add an unneeded layer of complication. 

These questions are based on Miller, S. D. (2018).

Scaffold Your Assignments

Completing a single large research assignment can be a challenge for students unfamiliar with academic research practices, especially when this assignment may account for a significant portion of a students’ grade.  

Instead, you may want to:

• Break your large research assignment into smaller, connected assignments.
• Model each part of the process for your students and provide examples.
• Provide feedback and opportunities for questions after each part of the assignment.

Incorporate Library Resources 

The Ohio State University Libraries offers various resources and services that students can use when completing their research assignments. To help your students make the most out of the available resources and services, we recommend you:   

• Subject Guides  
• Course Guides   
• Research Databases List  
• Copyright Basics  
• Citation Guide  
• AskUs    
• If one does not already exist, consider requesting a course-specific guide for your class. To request a course guide, contact your  Subject Librarian .  
• Confirm that the resources students need to complete research assignments are available. (For example, checking that the Libraries’ provides access to the database or journal you want students to use.)
• Link directly to available ebooks, journals, articles, and streaming videos in your Canvas course. For guidelines, go to  Linking to Library Licensed Resources  
• Check the number of students who can use e-resources at the same time. (For example, some ebooks allow only a limited number of concurrent users) 
• Consider incorporating content from the free, open-access textbook:  Choosing and Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research . For additional support, see:  Choosing and Using Sources: Instructor Resources .  

Leverage Library Resources

Instructor Resources at University Libraries  provides guidance on incorporating library resources to support student learning in your course. Explore topics such as information literacy, academic research skills, and affordable course content, and access “ready-to-share” instructional materials including videos, Carmen content, and handouts. 

Developing effective research or inquiry-based assignments can be challenging. But, don’t think you have to go it alone. The University Libraries provides support for instructors to develop meaningful and equitable research or inquiry-based assignments. For assistance, email  [email protected] . 

Some additional steps you can take include:  

• Have a colleague or student review your research assignment instructions and provide feedback. 
• Meaningful Inquiry
• Teaching Information Literacy
• Teaching through Writing   

Miller, S. D. (2018). Diving deep: Reflective questions for identifying tacit disciplinary information literacy knowledge practices, dispositions, and values through the ACRL framework for information literacy.  The Journal of Academic Librarianship , 44(3), 412-418.

Related Teaching Topics

Information literacy: concepts and teaching strategies, designing assessments of student learning, search for resources.

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• Designing Research Assignments

Faculty Toolkit: Designing Research Assignments

It's Complicated: What Students Say About Research and Writing Assignments from Project Information Literacy

How Librarians Can Help

Librarians are available to consult with faculty and instructors to create or revise effective research assignments and classroom activities that foster critical thinking, evaluation skills, and promote lifelong learning.

Librarians can help you:

• Understand students' research capabilities.
• Create, revise, or offer suggestions on your research-based assignments.
• Talk about alternatives to traditional research papers or presentations.
• Identify and discuss library resources suitable for an online class research guide
• Provide individualized training on library resources.

Provide Tools & Support

• Provide copies of research assignments to your librarian so we are better prepared to assist your students when they need help.
• Consider putting materials on reserve that will be needed by large numbers of students to ensure all students will have access to them.

Consider Alternatives to the Research Paper

• Explore the library as an "Ethnographer" (Library Discovery Tour not to be confused with a scavenger hunt)
• Generate a shared bibliography of readings (see " How to get students to find and read 94 articles before the next class ")
• Compare disciplinary perspectives on the same topic
• Find and compare articles on oil spills in the news and the scientific literature
• Read a short article from the popular press (provided by professor) dealing with results of original research. Locate the original research findings on which the article was based, discuss the relationship between the popular article and the original research, and critique the accuracy of the popular article
• Find facts to support or contradict an editorial
• Research the publications and career of a prominent scholar
• Compile an annotated bibliography
• Prepare a literature review
• Find book reviews on a text used in class
• Evaluate a web site
• Find and summarize recent news related to a class topic, discuss in class (one-time or recurring).
• Research a topic and present findings as a poster session for classmates or larger group.
• Research a topic or event using information published in different decades. Compare and discuss what changes occurred in the literature and why.

Tips for Designing Library Research Assignments

• Address Learning Goals Related to the Research Process . Consider what research skills you would like students to develop in completing the assignment and discuss with your students the importance of developing those skills.
• Be Clear about Your Expectations . Remember that your students may not have prior experience with scholarly journals, monographs, or academic libraries. Spend time in class discussing how research is produced and disseminated in your discipline and how you expect your students to participate in academic discourse in the context of your class.
• Scaffolding your Assignment Brings Focus to the Research Process . Breaking a complex research assignment down into a sequence of smaller, more manageable parts has a number of benefits: it models how to approach a research question and effective time management, it gives students the opportunity to focus on and master key research skills, it provides opportunities for feedback, and it can be an effective deterrent to plagiarism.
• Devote Class Time to Discussion of the Assignment in Progress . Periodic discussions in class can help students reflect on the research process and its importance, encourage questions, and help students develop a sense that what they are doing is a transferable process that they can use for other assignments.
• Criteria for Assessment . In your criteria for assessment (i.e. written instructions, rubrics), make expectations related to the research process explicit. For example, are there specific expectations for the types of resources students should use and how they should be cited? Research shows that students tend to use more scholarly sources when faculty provide them with clear guidelines regarding the types of sources that should be used.
• Test Your Assignment . In testing an assignment yourself, you may uncover practical roadblocks (e.g., too few copies of a book for too many students, a source is no longer available online). Librarians can help with testing your assignment, suggest strategies for mitigating roadblocks (i.e. place books on reserve for your students, suggest other resources), or design customized supporting materials (i.e. handouts or web pages).
• Collaborate with Librarians . Librarians can help you design an effective research assignment that helps students develop the research skills you value and introduces your students to the most useful resources. We also can work with you to develop and teach a library instruction session for your students that will help them learn the strategies they will need in order to complete your assignment.
• Make sure they know how and where to get help from librarians.
• Librarians will meet with students to help them develop their topics and teach them how to find and evaluate sources.

Some content is adapted from University of Wisconsin - Madison Libraries

Common Problems to Avoid

• Waiting until a couple days before the class to ask for an instruction session doesn't allow librarians adequate time to prepare and reserve a classroom.
• Sending (or bringing) an entire class to the Library for research time without notice. The Tioga Library Building is for Quiet Study.  In the Snoqualmie Building, there is a limited number of computer workstations and small group study spaces. The staffing at the Reference desk cannot adequately accommodate working with classes.
• Assigning Scavenger hunts - Roaming around the library looking for trivia is not research and is often seen as busy work by students that is disconnected from their research assignments.
• Be sure the library has the resources your students need!  Avoid requiring students to use resources the library does not own or have in your preferred format (e.g. print journal articles) and cannot obtain within a reasonable timeframe.
• Avoid having each student research the same topic.  This tends to stretch library resources too thin, especially when printed materials or limited connections to a key database are involved.
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Course Design Guide

• Information Literacy Instruction

Designing Research Assignments

• Selecting Resources
• Managing Reading Lists for Program Managers/Directors

Beginning college students are often unfamiliar with the research process and have not honed their ability to incorporate and build upon multiple information sources in a meaningful way. At the same time, research assignment prompts tend to focus on the details of putting together a research paper and don't always adequately encourage key information literacy concepts, such as the importance of evaluating sources or using sources in context-dependent ways. The suggestions below reflect best practices that are intended to promote the research skills students need to successfully navigate a research assignment. 

Considerations

These considerations are based on some common issues we see across CityU assignments. 

Align Resource Requirements with the Assignment Type (or Audience) 

It is important that your assignment requirements match the audience and/or assignment type. It can be tempting to require peer reviewed sources for all research assignments. However, depending on the level of student, field of study, or audience, scholarly or peer reviewed items may not be necessary or even possible to use. An example of a mismatched assignment might be a personal reflection that requires peer reviewed sources to support or a SWOT analysis where students can only use "scholarly" material. 

Avoid Arbitrary Resource Specifications

Students often contact the library when they encounter ambiguous or arbitrary resource requirements for a paper or project. Here are some phrases we see that can lead to confusion for students, as well as some ways to avoid said confusion.

"Don't Use Wikipedia"

While Wikipedia is not appropriate to cite in academic work, it can be useful in other contexts, like familiarizing yourself with a topic or looking for references to seminal works. Without context of appropriate use, students may just use another Internet resource that's potentially even less useful overall. 

• Instead: Provide instruction that explains the cycle of information and how different types of published information is produced and for what purposes. Expect students to evaluate all of their sources using a process, like those outlined in our Evaluate Information guide.

"Only use library sources" or "Don't use the internet"

This is very confusing for students because most journals and magazines are available on the Internet and academic libraries provide access to thousands of scholarly materials that are online. In addition, many substantive news and other content is either born digital or available both online and in print. Lastly, not every item found in the library is automatically credible or will be relevant to their project.

• Instead:  Consider a less general prohibition against using material found on the open Internet, leaving the possibility of using library resources and subscription databases. Place greater emphasis on evaluating sources - no matter where they're found - to ensure they're credible, as well as appropriate ways in which to apply sources.

"Only use peer reviewed sources"

Many students are unfamiliar with scholarly materials and don't understand what they are or how they should use them effectively. Additionally, as mentioned above, depending on the level of student, field of study, or audience, scholarly or peer reviewed items may not be necessary or even possible to use.

• Instead:  Provide instruction within the course as to why students should or should not use particular source types in the context of an established framework, such as the  BEAM method . Encourage the use of a  variety of sources and show them how to determine if they're acceptable. Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of particular sources for answering various research questions.

Make Assignments Relevant and "Doable"

Assignments should be relevant and "doable," both considering the knowledge students have gained throughout the course as well as what information is readily available. Some things to consider:

• Ensure your research or library assignment is closely related to your course content. 
• Make sure students understand your assignment. Provide check-ins or write example announcements in Brightspace that your instructors can use throughout a course that outline and emphasize certain assignment aspects.
• Be sure the library has the resources your students need! Avoid requiring students to use resources the library does not own, have access to or can otherwise can provide access to in a reasonable time frame (e.g. financial information for private companies).

We encourage you to try out your own assignments before finalizing them. Were you able to meet the assignment requirements? If not, were you able to work with a librarian to find what you need? How might you change the requirements to be more "doable"?

Understand Your Students' Research Skills

It is important to have realistic expectations of students' research abilities. While students are very good at finding things online, they are less adept at reading, summarizing, and evaluating the resources they locate or engaging in the academic conversation on a given topic when given little guidance. Additionally, many of them are novices in their chosen subject area and are unfamiliar with the conventions of the discipline.

We recommend that, in conjunction with research assignments, courses...

• Design courses to offer students time in class (either in person or as asynchronous learning activities) for focusing a topic and generating research questions.
• Break research assignments into manageable pieces with regular checkpoints. This can include things like short writing assignments, keeping research journals, close reading activities, annotated bibliographies, concept mapping exercises, or in-class and/or online discussions. 
• Focus on inquiry. Use scaffolded activities, like those detailed above, that allow students to engage deeply with the material and think about what sources do effectively, what purpose they serve, and how they relate to other sources or knowledge they've gathered throughout the course.
• Regularly provide instructions for where and how to find resources that meet course expectations.* Have students engage with example content.
• Encourage contacting a librarian early in the research process.*

Remember that the research process and information landscape is changing constantly. Even with some experience doing research, students are still developing their understanding of the processes and tools involved.

*Provide Support Options

Students are in the process of learning the research process. It is not a matter of if they will need additional research support but when. Encourage students to contact the library early in their research! Make sure they know how and where to get help from librarians. You can also provide specific library instruction of the the type that is outlined here:

• Course Design Guide: Information Literacy Instruction

Support Options

Collaborate with a Librarian

The CityU Library encourages program managers and/or SMEs to meet with a librarian at the beginning of the course design (or revision) process to work with you while developing your syllabus and assignments.

A librarian can help you:

• Develop learning goals for your research assignment. 
• Align assignment type and audience with resource requirements.
• Create scaffolded research activities or help you design assignment checkpoints.
• Identify and highlight appropriate support options   for your students, including those already available through our Research Guides or by creating new, course-specific support guides. For more about this option, please see: Course Design Guide: Information Literacy Instruction .

Portions of this guide were adapted from the following resources:

MJC Library & Learning Center. (n.d.). Designing research assignments . MJC Medesto Junior College. (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Campus Library. (n.d.). Teaching and learning at the Campus Library: Designing effective research assignments . UW Bothell and Cascadia College. (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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• Last Updated: Oct 23, 2024 11:29 AM

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