Primary Sources
Faculty required the finding of primary sources to support arguments.
About
Having students work with primary sources can have a powerful effect on their understanding of how knowledge is created, how the past is filtered, and how to construct and analyze an argument. It brings them into contact with how real research is done, and so uncovers many skills that are central to their development as critical thinkers. Doing it well, however, means a commitment to personalized instruction so that individual students can be guided in their strategy and understanding.
The original study's data and analysis for "Primary Sources" can be found on this link.
What Faculty Have To Say
Strengths (8)
- Introduces real academic research
- Helps them see the gap between “facts” and “interpolations;”
- They learn important analytic protocols (identifying biases, weighing evidence, making arguments based on evidence, using sex, gender, and race categories to critique etc.)
- Improves outlining of arguments
- Improves their ability to construct their own arguments
- Improves their writing
- Reanimates the past
- Practices real world problem solving
Weaknesses (7)
- Students not prepared
- Big learning curve
- Requires teaching new skills
- Time consuming to explain how to do it well
- Need significant background knowledge to contextualize the sources
- Students need to be strong analytic readers to grasp the meaning of the texts or data
- Requires a lot of one-on-one with each student to construct and contextualize an analytic strategy
Pedagogy Usage
Bucknell faculty was asked their best estimate for how often in the semester they used Primary Sources and the average class time it took.
Average Duration: 18 min (mode=10)
Remote Suggestions
Remote learning opens up new areas and access, as most students are now online regulalry and have good computer skills. Many excellent primary sources can be found online, and BU librarians have created custom library guides for many classes. In addition, many historic artifacts, texts, and devices have ready-to-share videos by professional docents or tour guides allowing up close and personal access to these rarities. Consider asking our own Special Collections Department for help locating these resources. Students are also good searchers of the internet, so consider asking them to find good videos.
Resources for Additional Learning
Articles & Books
- They Say I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein.
- Teaching the Research Paper through Inquiry-Based Instruction. Sara Zeek http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ952028.pdf
- At Sea in a Deluge of Data, by Alison J. Head and John Wihbey: http://www.chronicle.com/article/At-Sea-in-a-Deluge-of-Data/147477/