First year research and writing convergences.

Abstract

This convergence of English Composition and Library faculty instruction theory and practice expands theoretical similarities between two academic fields to enrich student learning. A talk show presentation assignment provides the flame to introduce first year students to basic information competencies. The location, selection, and evaluation of academic resources engage students as they learn to substantiate their rhetorical arguments. Students use these skills to gather information for this assignment and for additional assignments throughout the semester. Objective assessment indicates that students write better essays because of this engagement in the research and writing process.

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Our partnership between English Composition and Library faculty improves student performance in research, reading, and writing. Regina Clemens Fox, the English faculty, teaches critical reading and writing skills as first year students construct argumentative essays. Caroline Russom, the library faculty, teaches students techniques and strategies of working with information. Selection and use of information sources are integral components of a well-supported and provocative argument. We identified a common problem in our respective fields, the lack of student involvement, which our partnership successfully addresses. Fox recognizes increased student engagement and subsequent improved academic performance in the first year composition class. We attribute these improvements in student involvement and academic performance to our convergence of English and library expertise.

Although the long history of partnership between librarian and English faculty is beyond the scope of our discussion, it is important to note that many academics have written about their success. The beneficial effects of partnership have been a prevalent topic of discussion among rhetoric and English faculty in recent years. For example, Andrea Lunsford and Lisa Ede have coined the expression "dialogic collaborative mode" to describe the authorship process as interactive and collaborative instead of individual ("Rhetoric" 240). More recently, Lunsford and Ede address currant issues facing theories of writing programs, noting that collaborative research efforts surpass individual ones ("Some" 35). Librarians have also commented recently on the value of partnership with faculty from many different disciplines. For instance, librarians Connie Jo Ury, Joyce A. Meldrem and Carolyn V. Johnson, discuss the effectiveness of their academic outreach to form partnerships with university faculty. Similarly, high school instructors Lynn Handler and Nancy Niedziela note the benefits of librarian and English faculty relationships at the high school level. These are just a few recent examples of successful faculty/librarian partnerships.

These partnerships reflect a continuing trend of blending instruction across disciplines. As experts within the field of information access, retrieval, and evaluation, librarians have been actively partnered with faculty almost from the beginning of the profession. The extent of that partnership varies from the most insignificant library "tour" to in-depth, active collaboration in the pedagogical process. Larry Hardesty, in his study of teaching and librarian cultures, states that, "faculty must be involved for the success of bibliographic instruction" (33). The need for academics to integrate the access and utilization of information within specific academic disciplines has been increased by rapidly changing technologies and the resulting explosion of available information. Building upon Hardesty's bibliographic instructional approach, we find increased English faculty and librarian involvement helps create a basic instructional framework that enables students to effectively use information throughout their academic career. Within this new information era, how do English and library faculty form effective pedagogical partnerships? The initial effort rests with faculty of the English department. English faculty at California State University Northridge teach students to construct academic arguments. One of the most historically problematic aspects of composition known to rhetoricians is invention, where the writing begins. It is the step that many students struggle with most. Assimilation of researched sources is a crucial part of the invention process that must be linked with effective heuristic activities if students are to use such sources to form and substantiate their own opinions.

Fox encountered a major problem in teaching students to write an academic argument. While many students could follow someone else's argument in their own writing, and quote the opposing and supporting sources, they could not develop their own opinions. They were neither engaged with the material, nor developing carefully thought out ideas. Students at this stage in the writing process only have "many unworkable ideas--none of them well-formed propositions that can be argued in an essay" (Larson 127). As a composition instructor, Fox noted the lack of development in the ideas that many first year students expressed in their writing. This lack that students displayed brought together the expertise of library and English faculty and enabled us to collaboratively work with and empower first year students to formulate effective arguments. It became increasingly clear that with a more active involvement in the research process, students would find new approaches to developing ideas. Fox designed the talk show assignment, a heuristic device, to encourage thinking and spark interest about controversial topics. The talk show invites students to work together in the process of discovery and research and provides a tangible, relevant context to anchor the information that students find. The goals of this assignment are that students:

1. learn to locate and critically analyze information

2. become adept at identifying opposing sides of an issue and the groups or people that represent the opposing views

3. create thoughtful questions about issues to develop a strong thesis for a written essay

4. establish a pattern of researched writing as a basis for future scholarship.

The talk show assignment helps students develop these four competencies, which provide students with the foundation they need to write a well-supported and thoughtful essay.

Generally, the talk show takes about two weeks from start to finish. During the first week, students research and prepare presentations. During the second week, they engage in their talk show discussions. In the week that follows, students turn in their final 4-6 page researched essays based on their talk show topics. This assignment differs from a debate because while a debate confines students to stringent time constraints limited to only two opposing positions, the talk show assignment encourages students to engage in intellectual conversation with multiple points of view. To substantiate their talk show discussion, students need to research factual material, design provocative questions, and identify organizations or people that strongly support or oppose each other. This assignment builds on and goes beyond a debate exercise.

The typical English composition class size is between 21 and 25 students. Depending on the number of students in the class, Fox assigns students to groups of either four or five, based on their ability and interest in a variety of controversial topics. Timid students are placed in groups with the more assertive students who share similar interests. During those two weeks students have two library instruction sessions with Russom, which introduce students to the types of sources they will find in their research process. As students meet together, examine sources, and prepare a talk show presentation, they apply actual research methodologies presented in library lectures. The combination of library instruction and the talk show heuristic engages students in research and collaboration. Collaborative research activity helps students envision the many sides there are to issues as they explore their topics. Through their exploration, students will find and incorporate sources into an annotated bibliography. The best of these sources will in turn substantiate their final written essay on the talk show topic.

Library lectures add information competence to Fox's talk show heuristic. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) defines information competence, or information literacy, as the ability to recognize and act effectively to locate, select, and use information for specific needs (ACRL par. 2). Within the academic environment, the 1994 CSU Council of Library Directors' strategic plan, "Transforming CSU Libraries for the 21st Century," identifies information competence as a critical skill for all students (CSU IC Task Force, par. 1). The four goals of Fox's talk show mirror information skills that the CSU Information Competence Task Force discussed in 1995. Thus, the purpose of Russom's library instruction is to:

1. state a research question, problem, or issue,

2. determine the information requirements for the research question, problem, or issue

3. locate and retrieve relevant information

4. analyze and evaluate information

These four competencies demonstrate the convergence of Fox and Russom's pedagogical objectives.

Russom, the coordinator for first year English and Pan African Studies library instruction, frequently shares instruction goals with faculty as part of the library component planning process. For example, the talk show assignment requires students to orally present, without notes, their position on a current topic. Because sides are selected just prior to their presentation, students must prepare to address the issue in its entirety. Russom suggests topics and verifies the availability of library materials to support students' talk show presentations.

Before helping students formulate research questions for the talk show, Russom begins the library lecture series with an introduction of basic concepts and methodologies of academic research. As part of the introduction, Russom must identify the skill levels of the students. Esther Grassian and Joan Kaplowitz note information competence and computer skill levels of first year students are generally either novice or intermediate (155). Russom has observed that students will often blend skill levels in computer literacy and information competency. According to the Grassian and Kaplowitz model, most students with "Intermediate" computer literacy skills have email accounts (primarily commercial), are familiar with word processing software, and AOL, Yahoo, and Google as web search tools. "Novice" students in computer literacy have limited keyboarding skills and knowledge of web technologies. Students with Intermediate levels of information competence can locate print sources in a physical library and are familiar with at least one online database. Students at the "Novice/Beginner" level of information competency are unfamiliar with the concept of a physical library, and have not used online databases to locate information (156-157). Novice levels in one category are often blended with intermediate levels in another category. For example, students familiar with searching Google (intermediate computer literacy) appear unaware of standard research terminologies such as "database," "abstract," or "full text" (novice information competency).

Accordingly, Russom's introductory lecture concentrates on basic research concepts and strategies in a Website format found at <http://library.csun.edu/crussom/rcf03.html>. One link introduces a "Timeline of Information" <http://library.csun.edu/crussom/timeline.html> to illustrate the flow of information from an event to scholarly books. The "How to get an A" strategy highlights three types of research sources and leads directly to "Subject Encyclopedias," <http://library.csun.edu/crussom/ref.html>, a listing of over 2000 specialized encyclopedias. The acronym 'STAK' (subject, title, author, keyword) provides a short introduction to ways to search the library catalog. We circulate scholarly journals around the room so students can compare them to popular magazines. Russom connects the Works Cited or References list at the end of scholarly articles to student's own work as first year scholars. We conclude the lecture with a four-question electronic quiz. This was especially effective for keeping student attention focused during the lecture because the quiz provides credit towards their final course grade.

Students begin their second session in groups that correspond to their research topic. We review the quiz, and how to use reference sources and books. The next part of the lecture emphasizes the difference between academic and popular journals. Russom demonstrates search strategies in three full-text databases: CQ Researcher, InfoTrac, and Proquest; students follow along on their own computers. To encourage students to use these research skills, Fox requires students to activate their student University I.D. card through the library proxy server. Activation is a one time on site verification process preformed by Library staff that subsequently is updated automatically each semester. This enables students to access research databases from off campus. Russom stresses evaluation as an integral part of database searching. The evaluation of these sources is part of the annotated bibliography assignment distributed at the conclusion of the lecture. The final learning component handout explains the elements of a descriptive annotative bibliography.

The second library lecture is a working session as students prepare for their talk show presentations. Fox and Russom distribute a worksheet to members of each group to note search terms and results. We circulate, suggesting search strategies. As students are locating sources, Russom introduces additional specialized databases and sources for individual group topics. This session also includes correct MLA citation styles and a website MLA sampler <http://library.csun.edu/crussom/mlacit.html>. As students prepare their bibliographic citations they learn the connection between locating information and using that information in their essays.

Student essays that incorporate differing views on a topic, such as those they discover through research, are far more interesting to read than one-sided approaches. For this reason, we have chosen to employ a combination of dialogic, hypotactic, and paratactic methodologies to our researching and writing pedagogies. Richard Beach notes that a dialogic approach to teaching reading and writing can help students "entertain and interrogate multiple voices and stances in texts" which ultimately leads to self reflection (244). This kind of approach opens up new perspectives for students because it forces them to take into account the many conflicting views concerning a topic. It allows students to decide which views are most appealing, while encouraging them to at least consider alternative perspectives. Susan Jarrett suggests that a new rhetorical approach to writing is one that employs parataxis, an approach that incorporates several possible interpretations (178). It is a broader and more encompassing presentation of ideas than the traditional hypotactic approach, which privileges one interpretation over another. However, for the purpose of teaching students to write argumentative researched papers, we combine approaches by encouraging students to research all aspects and views of their topics (dialogic and paratactic), to take a stand on a given topic (hypotactic), and to present multiple viewpoints (paratactic). As long as students understand that their positions are dynamic and subject to change when new information is presented, we believe that prompting students to take a stand can be a positive learning experience. We also realize through our convergence that our composition and research pedagogies must also be dynamic, always changing to meet our students' needs.

Our collaborative partnership reflects the trend of information literacy that is department wide on our university campus. The progression from demonstrative bibliographic instruction to interactive collaborative library lectures grounded in standards of information literacy transforms lectures into lively and interactive sessions. Librarian expertise is an essential component of the first year college experience as students move from passive consumers to active evaluators of information. The development of a first year library lecture program for first year English students and English faculty is an ongoing process that requires a specialized focus in library instruction content, organization, and pedagogy. Lectures directly related to student assignments engage students and faculty in a collaborative environment. Enclosed in this space of method and inquiry, students, instructors, and library faculty benefit and learn from one another.

Our collaboration of library and English faculty has helped students discover and develop their own views about a variety of talk show topics, such as homosexual adoption, homosexual adoption, stem cell research, cloning, obesity and fast food, street racing, and traffic light video surveillance. The talk show assignment encourages student research and role-playing as students engage in stimulating, academic conversation, which produces thoughtful student writing. For example, three of four students began their assignment of obesity and fast food at low writing levels that ranged from D to C. The collaborative environment of the group, library, and composition classroom enabled students to discuss, research, and present their findings together to their peers. These students became so involved with their topic that the level of involvement and thoughtfulness spilled over into their writing. Student talk show grades for this group ranged from B- to A-. The final writing assessment, an objective portfolio reading by the English department faculty, produced grades ranging from B to A for the fast food and obesity essays. This is only one example; most of the students assigned to the talk show improved significantly. We attribute this improvement to the learning environment enhanced by our collaboration. Our partnership provides an introduction to first year student scholarly activity and enriches the perspectives of English and library faculty.

Works Cited

Association of College and Research Libraries. "Information Literacy Competency Standards" October 25, 2002. <http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilintro.html#ildef>. November 25, 2002.

Beach, Richard. "Writing About Literature: A Dialogic Approach." The Reading and Writing Connection. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1998.

California State University Information Competence Taskforce. "California State University Information Competence Assessment." February 20, 2002 <http://www.csupomona.edu/~kkdunn/Icassess/background.htm> November 25, 2002.

Grassian, Esther S. and Joan R. Kaplowitz. Information Literacy Instruction. New York: Neal Schuman, 2001.

Handler Lynn and Nancy Niedziela. "Jump-Starting the English Curriculum. Emergency Librarian. 25.1, (Sept/Oct 1997): 19. EBSCOHost. University Lib., Northridge, CA. 1 Sept. 2001 <http://www.ebscohost.com/>.

Hardesty, Larry. "Faculty Culture and Bibliographic Instruction: An Exploratory Analysis." Library Trends 44.2 (1995): 339-368.

Jarrett, Susan C. "Toward a Sophistic Historiography." Definitions and Boundaries. Eds. Covino and Joliffe. Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon, 1995.

Larson, Richard L. "Discovery Through Questioning: A Plan for Teaching Rhetorical Invention." College English 30.2 (1968): 126-134.

Lunsford, Andrea and Lisa Ede. "Rhetoric in a New Key." Rhetoric Review 8.2 (1990): 234-241.

--." Some Millennial Thoughts about the Future of Writing Centers." The Writing Center Journal. 20.2 (Spring 2000): 33-38.

Ury, Connie Jo, Joyce A. Meldrem, and Carolyn V. Johnson. "Academic Library Outreach Through Faculty Partnerships and Web-Based Research Aids." Reference Librarian. 67.68 (1999) 243-257.

Caroline L. Russom, Calif. State University Northridge Regina Clemens Fox, Calif. State University Northridge

Russom is a Senior Assistant Librarian. She coordinates library instruction for first year English and Pan African Studies composition classes. Fox, a Teaching Associate in the Department of English, begins doctoral studies at Arizona State University in Fall 2003.