C.  Recommended Prerequisite Skills and Knowledge:

Information Research Skills

Recommended Prerequisite #2: Successful completion of LIB 127 or equivalent preparation.
Directions: Read each of the LIB 127 Learning Outcomes statements below and rate your current skill and knowledge in each area at Week #11 exit from WR 123, using this rating scale:

5 = A or  Excellent;    4 = B or Very Good;     3 = C or Adequate;   2 = D or Poor;   1 = Failing;   0 =  No Experience or Don't Know

LIB 127: INFORMATION RESEARCH SKILLS OUTCOMES

___ Learning Outcome One) Demonstrate proficiency in identifying a topic for research, including narrowing or broadening a topic so that it meets requirements of specific research assignments. .

___ Learning Outcome Two) Create an effective and comprehensive research strategy for an assignment or topic that employs appropriate information resources, including:

--print and online reference materials
--books
--periodicals
--government documents
--statistical sources
--Internet sources
--student directed empirical research (surveys, interviews, etc.)

___ Learning Outcome Three) Conduct an effective and comprehensive research project that employs appropriate tools for locating information including:

--databases
--Internet directories and search engines
--online catalogs
--paper indexes

___ Learning Outcome Four) Demonstrate proficiency in searching appropriate databases for a research topic.  Proficient database searching should include familiarity with:

--Boolean commands
--truncation
--proximity operators
--field searching
--controlled vocabulary

___ Learning Outcome Five) Demonstrate proficiency at critically reading, analyzing, and evaluating information resources.

 LIB 127 Outcomes: http://web.cocc.edu/finney/outcomes.htm

D.  WR 123 Learning Outcomes:

Directions:  Read each of the WR 123 Learning Outcomes statements below and rate your current knowledge and skill in each area at Week #11 Exit from WR 123, using this rating scale:

5 = A or  Excellent;    4 = B or Very Good;    3 = C or Adequate;   2 = D or Poor;   1 = Failing;    0 =  No Experience or Don't Know

___ Learning Outcome 1. Create a search strategy  . . .

___that proposes a manageable research topic based on exploratory thinking and investigation;
___that establishes a clear direction and focus for the project;
___that employs a variety of resources available through the library (such as books, periodicals, government documents, on-line databases, and EBSCOHost), through inter-library loan, through the Internet, and/or through student-directed empirical research (such as surveys, interviews, and questionnaires); and
___that results in a thesis that the student develops and tests through the course of the research process.

___ Learning Outcome 2. Demonstrate proficiency at critically reading, analyzing and evaluating both primary and secondary sources in order to interpret and responsibly manage facts, statistics, inferences, expert opinions, lay opinions, value judgments, and empirical data. 

___ Learning Outcome 3. Develop a research system that avoids plagiarism and fairly represents sources by quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing with appropriate documentation.

___ Learning Outcome 4. Demonstrate proficiency in such integral research writing tasks as the summary, abstract, proposal, annotated bibliography, critical review of literature, and formal outline.

___ Learning Outcome 5. Revise and edit the research paper to meet college-level writing standards and to satisfy the student's rhetorical purpose and audience.

___ Learning Outcome 6. Develop awareness of differing citation and bibliographic systems from various academic disciplines and develop competence in one system most appropriate for a specific research-based academic paper.

___ Learning Outcome 7. Plan and manage the process of writing to incorporate the special concerns of research writing:

__converting notes, summaries and quotations into a text unified and organized by effective transitions and restatement;
__negotiating among the divergent voices of the sources while clearly conveying the student's own persona and tone;
__integrating a variety of documentary sources with the student's own thinking;
__effectively employing the recursive stages of drafting, revising, and editing; and
__maintaining a consistent work schedule that ensures the final draft is delivered on time.

___ Learning Outcome 8. Use writing to provide peers with alternative viewpoints and suggestions for revising and editing research writing.

___ Learning Outcome 9.  Analyze and evaluate one's own research writing, identifying strengths and weaknesses in the research process and product--and suggest some means of improving his or her practice of gathering, synthesizing, organizing, and presenting information.

WR 123 Learning Outcomes Approved by Humanities Dept. Composition Committee, rev. 4-14-99]