Throughout my first semester at Emporia State University, I have been required to take Information Literacy and Technology. During this course I have acquired quite a bit of information about my research topic, donating blood. I am know able to tell someone the basic requirements that are needed to donate, how the process of donation works, and why I believe they should donate based on other people’s motivations as well.
I also learned how to find the best resources when doing a research project. I am not someone who researches easily because I do not enjoy spending a lot of time doing something that seems very basic. I used to take a long time to find credible sources and it usually required help from either a teacher or librarian. My first instinct is to always go to google when starting to find information on a topic and while this does give me instant results, they are not always the best ones. There are many great tools that can be used by students when researching thanks to the many advancements on technology, however we have to learn how to use them and this course teaches us how. I learned that databases with scholarly journals are much more reliable. Finding credible sources is not easy, but I learned how to properly evaluate them in order to find the best ones possible using the CRAAP test, which stands for currency, relevance, audience, authority, and reliability.
Overall, I believe this course should be required because it teaches valuable research skills through projects that not only educate us, but others as well. I now have the skills I need to better education and to achieve the most I can throughout the next three and half years.
I also learned how to find the best resources when doing a research project. I am not someone who researches easily because I do not enjoy spending a lot of time doing something that seems very basic. I used to take a long time to find credible sources and it usually required help from either a teacher or librarian. My first instinct is to always go to google when starting to find information on a topic and while this does give me instant results, they are not always the best ones. There are many great tools that can be used by students when researching thanks to the many advancements on technology, however we have to learn how to use them and this course teaches us how. I learned that databases with scholarly journals are much more reliable. Finding credible sources is not easy, but I learned how to properly evaluate them in order to find the best ones possible using the CRAAP test, which stands for currency, relevance, audience, authority, and reliability.
Overall, I believe this course should be required because it teaches valuable research skills through projects that not only educate us, but others as well. I now have the skills I need to better education and to achieve the most I can throughout the next three and half years.