Class Summary:
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What was your favorite assignment? What was your least favorite assignment?
My favorite assignment that I did this semester was the personal interview. It was exciting coming up with my own questions that I was curious about and I ended up learning a lot of new information on my topic. Working through the process of selecting the right person to interview, creating questions, choosing the format I wanted, and citing it correctly was a useful experience, My least favorite assignment this semester was “Module 7: Main Quest 6 -- Finding Journal Titles w/ BrowZine”. This was particularly difficult for me because I struggled trying to learn how to use the database efficiently. My topic was also not the easiest to find information for so I had to get quite creative in my searches. I think this would’ve been easier if we had a previous adventure that worked with BrowZine so there was less pressure to figure it out, as well as complete the assignment in a timely fashion.
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What were you hoping to learn when you started UL100? What is one thing you learned?
One thing that I was hoping to brush up on when I started UL100 was how to navigate database systems and correctly cite. I came back from a year and a half break from college so taking this class my first semester back was a useful reminder for how to cite correctly and find reliable sources. I was able to apply what I learned in this class to my other classes so I am grateful that I took this class when I did.
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What is one question you still have about information literacy, researching, etc.?
One question that I still have about researching surrounds boolean logic search terms. I was able to get a good grasp on using them when we completed the worksheet, but I still feel like I don’t use them to my advantage as well as I could.
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What is one thing you wish we would have expanded on more in the course? (e.g. Were you hoping to learn about a specific database? Do you wish we did more with the citation managers? etc.)
One thing I wish we could have expanded more on in the course was how to use social media as resources.This isn’t something that I have done in other classes often, so going a little more in depth with some practice would’ve been helpful. I also wish we had more time to learn more about what each database are best used for.
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What is one thing you think should be changed in this course that will help improve the experience for future UL100 students?
One thing that I think that should be changed in the course that will help improve the experience for future UL100 students would maybe an intro video each week. It’s always nice to hear from the professor a little bit about what's going on in the upcoming week, maybe a demonstration if we are using a new tool, or just an update on what’s upcoming in the class.
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Finally, what is one piece of advice about conducting any kind of information search (academic or non-academic) that you would share with a student who has not taken this course?
One piece of advice I would share with a student who has not taken this course is to not be afraid to use your resources! If you don’t understand how to navigate a database, how to source correctly, or are having any trouble finding information on a topic, reach out to the professor for help or look online for tutorials. Doing some quick searches on my own, I ended up being able to answer a lot of the questions I had working through the course. Overall, it’s a very helpful class for someone to take during their college career.