Most of them had no idea what this even meant!! They had no idea how to use a reference library, had never seen the yellow pages and didn't have a clue how to use it, and had never read a local newspaper. Is this just a bit scary? Do we need to get back to teaching good old fashoined research techniques?I think this is a pretty urgent problem.
2007-02-25 09:05:32 · 11 answers · asked by helen p 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Teaching
It depends upon the academic level of the 'students'. Some courses are specifically designed for academically challenged youth.
By filling up college places with excluded pupils and benefit box tickers ,the college management ensure government funding and thus justify their salaries. The point here is that
the people you talk of will probably be as educated as they are ever going to be,so don't beat yourself up about their shortcomings.
2007-02-27 06:48:40 · answer #1 · answered by melv 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I teach research methods at a technical college this is the current problem: many libraries are going to electronic sources and databases. Students do not realize that these are above and beyond a simple internet search. They do not realize there is a world of research that is NOT on google. Many libraries no longer even have encylopedias, they opt for the online versions which can be updated at a fraction of the cost. Most journal subscriptions are online, not hard copy because then the library does not have to catalog or run the risk of theft of a journal or magazine. Even google has addressed this problem with www.scholar.google.com. It is up to the teachers to decide what they want. When I teach English I insist that they read at least two novels of their choice, and make them show me the books. I explain the actual novel is their primary source. I then make them research the authors and critical reviews which are all online but in educational databases, finally I ask them to find any other information that they can find on a regular search.
2007-02-25 10:21:46 · answer #2 · answered by fancyname 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Teaching a course on finding good information online would be the ultimate benefit. Online resources can be more recent and allow for "on the fly" updates/fixes. Print material is generally more accurate and respected but there's no way to "fix" them. So teaching students how to find accurate information online would be the ultimate reference material.
I taught a course at a local college and intentionally created a half dozen web sites regarding a certain topic that I assigned students to research. Most of the students came in with the fraudulent information I also put on these web sites. I'm not sure what I was trying to prove but it makes for a good anecdote.
2007-02-25 09:16:30 · answer #3 · answered by hatevirtual 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree, albeit colleges would have to make sure that they had all of the college libraries stocked every offline reference book that they would need for their assignments in each field of study. One major problem would be that this would incur horrendous costs versus obtaining the same information on academic databases such as www.jstor (dot) org absolutely for free. As long as reference libraries can consistently keep adequately both funded updated, I am in total agreement with you.
On a related subject, many drivers are so overdependent on their G.P.S. that they have found themselves not knowing how to drive anywhere without it. I.T. always comes with at least one severe drawback, as long as there are those who over depend on it to such an extent that they can not complete the same exact task without it.
2013-12-08 13:17:24 · answer #4 · answered by Jaguar 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The internet leads to so much abuse - people pass off work they have found as their own, they are lazy and do no work themselves (just look at the number of questions asked on here that are abviously someone's way of getting others to do their work).
At least non-IT research makes lecturers more confident that the student has done some work themselves.
2007-02-26 21:33:22 · answer #5 · answered by Queen of the Night 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good for them!
Not everything is on the web.
Your local Reference Library is free and I've always found them very useful.
2007-02-25 10:34:24 · answer #6 · answered by efes_haze 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the web is good but there is so much on it that is junk and untrue I feel all good colleges should teach how to research using all types of information, they should also teach one type of referencing where the information was obtained.
2007-02-25 09:22:41 · answer #7 · answered by mcspaner 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
eeeh i like ideas that students have to use ...say four- five references and only two of them can be online.
for a ton of professions....... most of the research and journal documents are full text and online.
2007-02-25 11:28:26 · answer #8 · answered by smartass_yankee_tom 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you need to work in a better college
2007-02-25 09:10:42 · answer #9 · answered by Lucy 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
why go back. embrace technology and use it. We're not going back to the "old way" anytime soon.
2007-02-25 10:33:19 · answer #10 · answered by just_curious 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋