$2.90
UNIV 104 Homework MT Aplia Developing Information Literacy Assignment solutions complete answers
1. Technology and learning online
We use the Internet to get the news, perform research, enjoy entertainment, and communicate. Its value as a tool for learning is undisputed, but using the Internet also creates new and unique challenges for students. Explore the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of the Internet by familiarizing yourself with the following definitions. Then apply what you know by answering the questions.
Make the Most of Technology and the Internet
The Internet offers numerous opportunities. Students can easily access the most current information. Information is now more widely available. An ever-increasing scope means that you can learn nearly anything on the Internet. Unlike with other forms of media, students can interact and respond to what they find on the Internet. All of these benefits are offered in a way that is affordable.
Identify and explain why the following situations are examples of good, bad, or ugly experiences on the Internet:
You cut and paste information from a website into a research paper and get caught plagiarizing. This is example of using the Internet because .
You have found a recent article that deals with your paper’s topic. This is example of using the Internet because .
Someone you met at a party joins your social networking page and starts making critical remarks about your behavior at the party. This is example of using the Internet because .
Even though most students attend courses on a traditional college campus, the popularity of blended courses and online learning continues to spread. Students on the information superhighway can benefit from an online learning experience if they know how. Read the following scenario, and help Jack to improve as an e-learner. As you read, think about whether this person needs to do a better job of controlling how, when, and how fast he learns.
Jack was about to log in and attend Introduction to Psychology when his computer crashed. He tried desperately to stop the attack, but eventually the screen went black. He bought the computer several years ago and no longer had a warranty. He tried calling the company’s tech support call center, but while pacing and listening to the company’s hold music, all he could think about was the fact that his favorite class was meeting right now, and for all the instructor knew, he was absent without an excuse. The idea that the instructor might think he skipped class made him more and more angry. He was so upset that he forgot there was a coffee shop just down the street that offered free access to a computer.
Jack needs to do a better job of controlling he learns.
How could he improve his approach to online learning?
Keep antivirus programs current, and have a technology back-up plan
Use each login session as a reminder to review, and communicate with the instructor and classmates
Create a productive learning environment, and use time management skills
You have discovered that you can use interlibrary loan and search for books in other university libraries. This is example of using the Internet because .
Your research paper suffers from a shallow perspective because you clicked around from article to article and never spent a lot of time reading one book-length source. This is example of using the Internet because .
You post photos while vacationing in Mexico and return to find that someone has broken into your apartment and stolen something valuable. This is example of using the Internet because .
Even though most students attend courses on a traditional college campus, the popularity of blended courses and online learning continues to spread. Students on the information superhighway can benefit from an online learning experience if they know how. Read the following scenario, and help Stella to improve as an e-learner. As you read, think about whether this person needs to do a better job of controlling how, when, and how fast she learns.
Stella is a social person. She has a lot of friends, and she likes to discuss what she’s learning. It helps her to hear herself explain course concepts out loud. But this approach to learning is proving harder online. Every time Stella logs in, she feels isolated and confused. Where was the class in terms of the syllabus? What pages were they supposed to have read? What did the third paragraph in last night’s reading assignment say anyway? As the course meetings continue, she feels her grasp of the subject slipping away. She wants to ask someone for help but worries that, because she’s never met these people in person, they won’t care about her or her needs.
Stella needs to do a better job of controlling she learns.
How could she improve her approach to online learning?
Create a productive learning environment, and use time management skills
Keep antivirus programs current, and have a technology back-up plan
Use each login session as a reminder to review, and communicate with the instructor and classmates
You just received the sixth rambling e-mail in which a classmate professes his or her love. This is example of using the Internet because .
You use the first website that comes up when you run a search, and it proves to be a bad source. This is example of using the Internet because .
You have e-mailed a leading authority on your paper topic, and this person has granted you an online interview. This is example of using the Internet because .
Even though most students attend courses on a traditional college campus, the popularity of blended courses and online learning continues to spread. Students on the information superhighway can benefit from an online learning experience if they know how. Read the following scenario, and help Jeff to improve as an e-learner. As you read, think about whether this person needs to do a better job of controlling how, when, and how fast he learns.
Jeff is taking a criminal justice course online so he can continue to work a full-time job. When he comes home to log on, his family is making dinner, and the living room is noisy. He watches a recorded lecture. Sometimes he has trouble hearing it. He has tried bringing his computer to work, but the manager has asked him to avoid using the computer for his personal business. His family members have said that they don’t mind if he comes home a little later. They can sense that he’s getting worried about his ability to keep up in the course. There’s a quiet coffee shop between work and home, and he might try logging on there with a set of headphones he got as a gift.
Jeff needs to do a better job of controlling he learns.
How could he improve his approach to online learning?
Create a productive learning environment, and use time management skills
Use each login session as a reminder to review, and communicate with the instructor and classmates
Keep antivirus programs current, and have a technology back-up plan
2. Develop information literacy
DISCOVER THE CONCEPT
You’ve been assigned a major research paper, and just thinking about all the work it will require fills you with anxiety. Take a deep breath and calm down. Developing information literacy will help you feel more comfortable and confident about research and writing. The following table goes over the five steps to becoming an information-literate individual. Click on each term to familiarize yourself with the information. Then answer the questions that follow.
Five Steps to Information Literacy
Determine the assignment
In this first step, you determine what the assignment requires of you. What have you been asked to do? How many pages do you have to write, and what other direction have you been given? You might find it helpful to ask yourself questions before you begin: “What problem am I solving?”, “What is the issue I need to address in this assignment?”, “What information do I need?”, “What do I already know?”, and “What else do I need to know?” Orient yourself and get a big-picture understanding of your topic by performing an Internet search on your topic (Note: While it is fine to perform an initial Internet search to gather information on your topic, do not depend on the Internet as your sole source of research). Refine your idea and narrow it down to something that you can accomplish within the given page limit.
APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Now that you are more familiar with the five steps to information literacy, imagine that you have been given this research and writing assignment:
We have been discussing how various writers and artists responded to the stark realities of the Spanish Civil War. Haunted by a dark premonition, the surrealist painter Salvador Dali created Soft Construction with Boiled Beans six months before the conflict even started. Another artist, Pablo Picasso, painted an 11-foot-tall and 25-foot-wide mural entitled Guernica, which depicts the bombing of a small town in the Basque countryside. In a paper of no fewer than seven and no more than ten pages, discuss these two artists and their reactions to the Spanish Civil War.
Remember what you learned about the first step in the process of information literacy. Consider this assignment, and select the question that will set you on the best path in terms of research.
What should I communicate to inform or persuade?
What information do I need?
Where can I find the information I need?
You have defined the assignment and located various items of research. Now, imagine yourself sitting at a desk with all of this stuff in front of you: magazine articles, journal articles, and maybe even a clip from a television interview on your computer. The time has come to select the sources that deserve to be in your research paper.
It’s important to develop an ability to think critically and make decisions about each source. Some of these judgments can be made based on the type of resource, while others will require an ability to assess the quality of the information and the character of the writer or speaker.
The source that fits the following description satisfies three of the five criteria for making decisions about research.
In the campus library, you have found a large encyclopedia on the history of modern art, and it contains passages on both paintings. It also includes short biographies of each artist. Because the book covers the entire history of modern art, it can only offer a shallow description of each painting, and the information is pretty general in nature. The tone of the writing is dry and academic, and the writer never discusses what he likes about the art. Instead, he focuses on the facts and how critics and the public reacted to each painting.
Check all that apply.
Accuracy
Currency
Objectivity
Coverage
Authority
You have judged each of the individual sources that make up the body of your research. Now you need to identify the best way to shape this research by selecting the best way to categorize the sources.
Think about the assignment and the example source that you just judged. Now, select the best way to organize the research for this paper.
Compare/contrast
Problem/solution
Topical
We have been discussing the profound impact that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had on the American consciousness. Review your notes and previous reading assignments. Then, in a seven-to-ten-page paper, discuss the changing character of the American civil rights movement before, during, and after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Remember what you learned about the first step in the process of information literacy. Consider this assignment, and select the question that will set you on the best path in terms of research.
Where can I find the information I need?
How will I give credit to my sources?
What is the issue I need to address in this assignment?
You have defined the assignment and located various items of research. Now, imagine yourself sitting at a desk with all of this stuff in front of you: magazine articles, journal articles, and maybe even a clip from a television interview on your computer. The time has come to select the sources that deserve to be in your research paper.
It’s important to develop an ability to think critically and make decisions about each source. Some of these judgments can be made based on the type of resource, while others will require an ability to assess the quality of the information and the character of the writer or speaker.
The source that fits the following description satisfies three of the five criteria for making decisions about research.
A man who worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has just published his account of his days leading up to the famous March on Washington and the “I Have a Dream” speech. This article was published in a nationally recognized magazine, and so it was fact-checked by a full-time editorial staff.
Check all that apply.
Accuracy
Authority
Coverage
Objectivity
Currency
You have judged each of the individual sources that make up the body of your research. Now you need to identify the best way to shape this research by selecting the best way to categorize the sources.
Think about the assignment and the example source that you just judged. Now, select the best way to organize the research for this paper.
Topical
Problem/solution
Compare/contrast
We have been discussing the spread of nuclear weapons from their development in 1945 through the Cold War and forward to the WikiLeaks release of classified diplomatic messages on the subject in 2009. In a paper of at least eight pages, describe the challenges that we currently face regarding nuclear proliferation, and offer at least one possible answer to this ever-increasing threat to our collective safety.
Remember what you learned about the first step in the process of information literacy. Consider this assignment, and select the question that will set you on the best path in terms of research.
Where can I find the information I need?
How will I use my research ethically?
What do I need to learn about?
You have defined the assignment and located various items of research. Now, imagine yourself sitting at a desk with all of this stuff in front of you: magazine articles, journal articles, and maybe even a clip from a television interview on your computer. The time has come to select the sources that deserve to be in your research paper.
It’s important to develop an ability to think critically and make decisions about each source. Some of these judgments can be made based on the type of resource, while others will require an ability to assess the quality of the information and the character of the writer or speaker.
The source that fits the following description satisfies three of the five criteria for making decisions about research.
You have found a website for a local nonprofit that argues passionately for an end to the production of nuclear weapons. There are numerous articles, and the site is updated daily by college students and resident experts. Several articles describe the history of nuclear proliferation, and the editors are meticulous in their accounting of the most recent changes in international law. The editors recently decided to add a section dedicated to explaining their opponent’s point of view. Now the site also includes a section called “Point / Counterpoint,” which allows visitors to click through an imagined round table conversation that covers a range of opinions from the leading voices on the subject.
Check all that apply.
Coverage
Accuracy
Objectivity
Authority
Currency
You have judged each of the individual sources that make up the body of your research. Now you need to identify the best way to shape this research by selecting the best way to categorize the sources.
Think about the assignment and the example source that you just judged. Now, select the best way to organize the research for this paper.
Compare/contrast
Topical
Problem/solution
3. Understanding sources of information
DISCOVER THE CONCEPT
When you conduct research, your instructors will expect you to use outside sources of information. It is common to use both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources refer to information gathered through direct, firsthand experiences. Conducting interviews and making observations are examples of primary resources. Secondary sources, on the other hand, refer to information collected by others and presented indirectly through books, articles, websites, and so on. The following table explains the differences between primary and secondary sources:
Sources of Information
To learn more about a specific concept, select the relevant tab.
Conducting interviews and surveys
When conducting an interview, you might talk in person with someone who knows about your topic, communicate with a person by phone, or e-mail someone the questions you would like answered about your topic.
Advantage: Enables you to learn about your topic from an expert.
Disadvantage: Involves a great deal of preparation: scheduling, preparing, conducting the interview, and following up.
Guidelines for conducting an interview:
(1) Schedule the interview: in person, by phone, or by e-mail.
(2) List the questions you want to ask.
(3) Provide background information about yourself and your research.
(4) Be polite during the interview.
(5) Listen carefully and take notes (or record the session).
(6) Be prepared to reword a question or ask follow-up questions.
(7) When you are finished, thank the person for his or her time.
APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Read the scenarios in the table, and decide whether they are examples of primary or secondary sources.
Dorothy consults a sociology textbook for information on gender socialization.
Frank is writing a paper on the 2004 tsunami. He contacts a survivor and asks her if she would be willing to meet with him to discuss her experience.
Ben performs an Internet search on great horned owls and finds a website dedicated to his topic. Sandy is writing a research paper on the social behavior of cats. She references an article from a scholarly journal.
Barbara visits a marine sanctuary and observes the tide pools. She takes a notebook and pen with her to record her observations.
Jeffrey looks up his topic, the California Gold Rush, in the encyclopedia.
What are the disadvantages of using books (reference and nonfiction) for research purposes? Check all that apply.
Certain authors might not be experts in their fields of study.
The information in printed books might be outdated.
Reference books typically contain only general information.
The information found in nonfiction books is likely to be specific and detailed.
Anne begins her research on Ottawa by looking up the Canadian capital in an atlas.
Travis takes a pen, notebook, and camera to an open-space preserve so he can observe hawks in the wild.
Carmelita is conducting research on DNA fingerprinting. She references an article from a scholarly journal.
Walt consults a biology textbook for information about cells.
Bernhard is writing a paper on sixteenth-century Dutch painters. He e-mails a set of questions to Dr. Beck, an art historian.
Hunter researches the sinking of the Titanic on a website specializing in maritime history.
What are the advantages of using websites and periodicals for research purposes? Check all that apply.
Magazine articles are not always written by subject matter experts.
Periodicals offer current, up-to-date information.
The Internet is a good starting point for the research process.
You can easily access a great deal of information on websites.
Herman consults a nonfiction book on criminal justice for his research paper.
Max goes to the zoo to observe the gorillas and collect data on their feeding habits.
Bert types history of animals in outer space into a web page on space exploration. He encloses the phrase in quotation marks to call up pages that contain the exact phrase.
Margaret wants to know about weather patterns that occurred in Nebraska during the Locust Plague of 1875, so she consults the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Rosemary has been tasked to write a paper about the Vietnam War. She interviews her grandfather, a Vietnam War veteran, about his experience.
Dirk is conducting research on the Japanese internment camps of World War II. He references an article from a magazine.
What are the disadvantages of conducting interviews or making observations for research purposes? Check all that apply.
Interviewing requires you to spend time preparing the questions you want to ask.
Certain topics might be difficult to observe firsthand.
Making an observation enables you to experience your topic for yourself.
You often must schedule an interview many weeks in advance.
4. Avoiding plagiarism
DISCOVER THE CONCEPT
Plagiarism is the act of using another source’s words, ideas, graphics, or other materials without consent. The following table highlights two common types of plagiarism:
Common Types of Plagiarism
Copying Text
Information is copied word-for-word from the original text. The writer fails to enclose the information in quotation marks and he or she does not provide credit to the original source. Study the following examples. (A) is a paragraph taken from an original article. In (B), the writer has plagiarized by copying a sentence word-for-word and failing to enclose the sentence in quotation marks and provide credit to the original source.
(A): “Distraction.gov points out that 34 states and the District of Columbia have banned handheld cell phone use while driving. According to the website, 12 of these laws were enacted in 2010 alone, after 5,474 people were killed on U.S. roadways and an estimated 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted driving.”
Source: “Statistics and Facts about Distracted Driving,” Official US Government Website for Distracted Driving, 2011, http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html.
(B): Distracted driving is a problem in every state across the nation. Distraction.gov points out that 34 states and the District of Columbia have banned handheld cell phone use while driving. The government must step in to protect its citizens by carrying this ban nationwide.
APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Complete the paragraph by selecting the best choice from each dropdown menu:
Plagiarism is defined as the act of using another source’s without consent. is one type of plagiarism in which the writer copies information word-for-word without enclosing the information in quotation marks and without providing credit to the original source. In another type of plagiarism, the writer paraphrases, or restates, information from an original source without providing a citation.
Read the following excerpts. (A) is a paragraph taken from an original article. In (B), the writer has plagiarized. Study the two examples and decide which type of plagiarism is being used: copying text, forgetting quote marks, or restating ideas without citing them.
(A) “Cell phones should be banned from schools because they promote cyber bullying. Cyber bullying refers to any bullying that takes place through e-mail, text message, or instant messaging. Cell phones make it easy for students who are motivated by anger, frustration, or malice to bully other students.
Source: “Cyber Bullying Statistics,” Bullyingstatistics.org. Stop Bullying, Harassment, and Violence, 2009, http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html.
(B) Cyber bullying is committed through e-mail, text message, or instant messaging. This kind of bullying is a very real problem on many school campuses.
In (B), the writer has plagiarized by:
Restating information from the original paragraph and failing to include a citation
Including information from the original paragraph without quotation marks and a citation
Plagiarism is defined as the act of using another source’s words, ideas, graphics or other materials the original source. is one type of plagiarism in which the writer takes exact words or phrases from an original source and includes them in his or her text without quotation marks. Quotation marks indicate that the text came from another source. He or she also fails to In another type of plagiarism, restating ideas without citing them, the writer paraphrases, or restates, information from an original source without providing a citation.
Read the following excerpts. (A) is a paragraph taken from an original article. In (B), the writer has plagiarized. Study the two examples and decide which type of plagiarism is being used: copying text, forgetting quote marks, or restating ideas without citing them.
(A) “Cell phones should be banned from schools because they promote cyber bullying. According to the i-SAFE foundation, an Internet safety education group, cyber bullying is alarmingly common among adolescents and teens, with one in three young people having experienced online bullying firsthand.”
Source: “Cyber Bullying Statistics,” Bullyingstatistics.org. Stop Bullying, Harassment, and Violence, 2009, http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html.
(B) Many students use their cell phones as tools to bully other students. According to the i-SAFE foundation, an Internet safety education group, cyber bullying is alarmingly common among adolescents and teens, with one in three young people having experienced cyber bullying firsthand. These statistics need to be changed.
In (B), the writer has plagiarized by:
Putting the information into his or her own words and failing to include a citation
Copying information word-for-word from the original source and failing to include quotation marks and a citation
Plagiarism is defined as the act of using another source’s without consent. is one type of plagiarism in which the writer paraphrases, or restates, information from an original source without providing a citation. In another type of plagiarism, the writer copies information word-for-word without enclosing the information in quotation marks and giving credit to the original source.
Read the following excerpts. (A) is a paragraph taken from an original article. In (B), the writer has plagiarized. Study the two examples and decide which type of plagiarism is being used: copying text, forgetting quote marks, or restating ideas without citing them.
(A) “Cell phones make it easy for students who are motivated by anger, frustration, or malice to bully other students. This is a trend that should concern every parent and educator.”
Source: “Cyber Bullying Statistics,” Bullyingstatistics.org. Stop Bullying, Harassment, and Violence, 2009, http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html.
(B) Cell phones make it simple for students who are angry, frustrated, or malicious to take out these feelings on others by bullying fellow students. Parents and educators alike should be worried by such incidents.
In (B), the writer has plagiarized by:
Copying a complete sentence word-for-word from the original source and failing to include a citation
Restating information from the original paragraph and failing to include a citation