Mastering Attribution

Abstract

This presentation explores the successes and the challenges with cross-campus collaboration and the development of an active learning instruction workshop for first-year students. This presentation serves as a follow-up from an ACRL Assessment in Action project and uses the data previously presented at the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco in 2015. Please find the abstract from that poster below:

Citation Master is a game-based learning approach to teaching students about the importance of academic attribution. This workshop does not focus on idiosyncratic, style-based rules, but instead focuses on the broader skills, philosophies, and ethics behind proper citation and good writing. We assessed the students’ ability to identify the need for citation through a pre and post-test writing prompt. Our goal was to understand if students had an increased understanding of attribution and a more sophisticated framework for understanding the process and ethics of academic writing. Our data supports our hypothesis that students lack a fundamental understanding not of citation mechanics, but of the essential philosophical elements underlying proper academic attribution.