Define Smart Goal One (stated from the student's perspective):
Devising an effective research question: How can I design a research question dealing with 20th century U.S. history that is narrowly focused and based on a topic that’s engaging to me personally?
Define Outcomes:
Outcome One: I will choose a topic in 20th century U.S History on which to base my research question.
Outcome Two: I will narrow the topic to something that is of personal interest or particularly engaging to to me.
Outcome Three: After I've participated in the group exercise, I will formulate a question which is centered upon the relationship between at least two variables. That question, which should be of personal interest or particularly engaging to to me, will be used as the research question for my semester-long research project.
Define Smart Goal Two (stated from the student's perspective):
How can I identify at least three appropriate search terms based upon the variables I’ve included in my research question. Then, how can I search for those terms in the library catalog , Academic Search Premier database and popular tools like Wikipedia and Google?
Define Outcomes:
Outcome One: Using the research question I've developed along with my group, I'll identify three search terms that can be used to conduct searches in proprietary databases, catalogs and popular search engines.
Outcome Two: While evaluating the search results, I will look at bibliographic records and citations in an effort to determine whether subject terms/controlled vocabulary can be used for additional/alternative search terms.
Outcome Three: I will evaluate the results of my searches, determine whether I need to used controlled vocabulary terms and run additional searches using a combination of controlled vocabulary and their original search terms.
Define Smart Goal Three (stated from the student's perspective):
How can I use my knowledge of the subject, the keywords, and subject terms to come to conclusions about the types of resources I want and where I might find them – primary sources, scholarly journal articles, statistical data, etc.?
Define Outcomes:
Outcome One: By examining the information gathered through prior searches, my search terms and variables, I will further refine their understanding of the type of data I want – for example statistics, comparisons over time, etc.
Outcome Two: After identifying the type of information I need, I will identify potential sources for that type of information – primary source collections, news articles, scholarly journals, statistical sources etc.
Outcome Three: I will run additional, successful, searches in additional resources for specific data I am seeking.
Define Smart Goal Two (stated from the student's perspective):
How can I identify at least three appropriate search terms based upon the variables I’ve included in my research question. Then, how can I search for those terms in the library catalog , Academic Search Premier database and popular tools like Wikipedia and Google?
Define Outcomes:
Outcome One: Using the research question I've developed along with my group, I'll identify three search terms that can be used to conduct searches in proprietary databases, catalogs and popular search engines.
Outcome Two: While evaluating the search results, I will look at bibliographic records and citations in an effort to determine whether subject terms/controlled vocabulary can be used for additional/alternative search terms.
Outcome Three: I will evaluate the results of my searches, determine whether I need to used controlled vocabulary terms and run additional searches using a combination of controlled vocabulary and their original search terms.
Define Smart Goal Three (stated from the student's perspective):
How can I use my knowledge of the subject, the keywords, and subject terms to come to conclusions about the types of resources I want and where I might find them – primary sources, scholarly journal articles, statistical data, etc.?
Define Outcomes:
Outcome One: By examining the information gathered through prior searches, my search terms and variables, I will further refine their understanding of the type of data I want – for example statistics, comparisons over time, etc.
Outcome Two: After identifying the type of information I need, I will identify potential sources for that type of information – primary source collections, news articles, scholarly journals, statistical sources etc.
Outcome Three: I will run additional, successful, searches in additional resources for specific data I am seeking.
