Scaffolded research assignment analysis for a required first year course

Abstract

Roots of Contemporary Issues (HISTORY 105/305) is the foundational, required course for Washington State University undergraduates. All sections feature a term-length research project with scaffolded Library Research Assignments (LRAs) and a final research paper. This research study centered on when and how topic formation/thesis development, source selection, and citation skills develop across the LRAs and involved analysis of 445 randomly selected student cases spread across five years. The researchers examined source types and how often sources in the preliminary stages of research appear in final papers. Information is offered about how students use annotated bibliographies and outlines.