Syllabus: ARTSSCI 3142 - Online Research and the Science Literature – Fall 2014
Instructor & Contact
Information:
Danny Dotson
[email protected] 614-688-0053 490B 18th Avenue Library
Office hours by appointment (email is quickest – place ARTSSCI 3142 at front of subject)
Course Info:
• 2 Credit Hours
• A-E grade scheme
• 7 Weeks online course in Carmen - 10/17/14 – 12/09/14
• No textbook required. All course material available via Carmen
• Internet access, Microsoft Word, and Adobe Acrobat Reader
• ARTSSCI 2120/120 as pre-requisite, or instructor permission
This online course, with students in engineering and the sciences in mind, will explore various aspects of doing
interdisciplinary research in the scientific literature. Students will get an in-depth feel for searching the literature of the
sciences by examining resources indicative to each as well as interdisciplinary search tools. The way scientists
communicate their findings to each other and the world is changing. By understanding the scholarly communication
process through scientific literature, students will gain better skills for finding scientific information and evaluating it for
appropriate use. This class will provide students with an understanding of the scientific literature as a means of advancing
their own science research.
Students will:
1. Recognize the purpose of resources in the sciences and engineering
2. Develop and employ effective search strategies in a variety of search tools in order to find relevant information on a
topic
3. Evaluate search results in order to choose the most relevant information resources for a topic
4. Use a citation database in order to explore the flow of information
5. Describe the availability of electronic and/or print full-text access for relevant items
• Information resources and research science/engineering and their life cycle
• Developing advanced search skills
• How scientists/engineers use free sources and tools (blogs, wikis, and preprints/eprints)
• Finding information about an interdisciplinary search topic
• Searching for government information, ebooks, theses/dissertations, and articles in advanced search tools.
• Explore the flow of information through citation searching
Requirements
Course Description:
Course Goals:
Course Elements:
Evaluation & Reflection:
You will have several short reflection quizzes. These will be based upon reading feedback to your assignments from the previous 2 modules
and also make comments on the assignments and activities from those modules. Reflection quizzes should be done BEFORE the module’s
other assignments. You may be asked in feedback (especially case studies) to do specific things in your reflection quiz – you will receive
points off if you do not. The Course Information area in Carmen has instructions on viewing feedback.
Grading Criteria:





It is your responsibility to keep up with course work, due dates, and information relayed in course emails.
Provide accurate, complete, and detailed responses.
Use quality search strategies (you are expected to make use of the advanced search strategies taught in the class).
All submitted assignments for this course should be your own individual effort.
Late assignments:
o Assignments are due on the date indicated at 1pm. Late assignments (submitted after 1pm on the due date, 7 days late maximum) will
receive 50% off of the total points received. Example: A score of 8/10 will be reduced to 4/10.
o Required assignments (see Course Outline and Schedule) must still be completed, despite penalties.
o All computer-graded assignments will be adjusted at the end of the course for lateness.
o If you are having questions/difficulties, contact me as soon as they arise rather than after you’ve passed deadlines. I encourage you to work
on assignments early and set aside plenty of time to work on them.
o No assignments may be submitted after 12/09/14 – this is the final deadline.
 Extra credit – points added to Capstone score:
o 20 points for submitting ALL assignments on time
o 30 points of extra credit questions
o 20 points for completing the in-course survey by the Capstone deadline
Point Value = Letter Grades:
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
93-100
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
60-66
0-59
925-1000
895-924
865-894
825-864
795-824
765-794
725-764
695-724
665-694
595-664
0-594
%
Points
E
Grade breakdown:
Assignment types
Quizzes (readings, presentation/practice)
Reflecting/Revising (instructor graded)
Worksheets
Case Studies (instructor graded)
Discussion (instructor graded)
Capstone (instructor graded)
Extra credit
# grade items
6
6
3
4
1
1
Part of Capstone Score
Points
160
60
70
260
100
350
+70
% of grade
16%
6%
7%
26%
10%
35%
Instructor graded
Computer graded
12
9
770
230
77%
23%
Module
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Discussion
Points
55
30
20
70
40
40
45
100
40
100
360
100
%
5.5%
3%
2%
7%
4%
4%
4.5%
10%
4%
10%
36%
10%
Discussion:
Scoring:
 All posts/responses must be on time, on topic, accurate, proper grammar/spelling, and must be detailed.
 Your discussion score will be posted at the end of the course
 70 points maximum (7 points each) per original post & 30 points maximum (5 points each) per response - one each per topic. 100
points total. Post/respond to extra topics to maximize your score. Examples:
More points
Post: Bob: Compendex found many good items on my topic. I particularly like the ability to limit only to
journals and use the limit options available after search to narrow down things a bit more. I think I’ll even
use one of these terms in future searches!
Response: Marsha: I really like the ability to easily do some of the limiting (such as focusing on journal
articles and a year range) before I see results. I especially like the language limiter...I only read English.
Fewer points
No points
Post: Bob: Compendex did a decent job Post: Bob: I like
of finding items on my topic. I like how it Compendex
searches.
Response: Marsha:
Response: Marsha: I used Compendex Me too!
too and liked the limit options.
See the Discussion under ACTIVITIES in Carmen to start posting. Avoid discussing topics which haven't been covered yet!
Topics and Due Dates:
Topics
1. Tell something about yourself (major, why you’re taking the course, etc.).
2. What search skill/technique did you learn about that was new to you?
3. Describe something important you took away from ONE of the articles (not the news article, give the title) you read.
4. There were 3 news articles choices for you to use to develop your search topic. Explain the reasons for your choice.
5. Why might a group of scientists choose to develop a wiki for a topic they’re researching?
6. Why are preprints useful?
7. Why would a blog written by a scientist be useful?
8. Compare science.gov to general web search engines like Google or Yahoo!.
9. For one of the article databases you used, describe what you like MOST and LEAST about it.
10. The search skill/technique you found most useful when searching article databases.
11. The type of activity (guided worksheets, Search Builder, tutorials, etc.) that best helped you learn a concept.
12. Is there a science-specific search tool you think would be good to include in this course? (Note: Tools like Google, Google Scholar,
Yahoo!, Academic Search Complete, and JSTOR are not science-specific search tools).
13. A mistake you made that resulted in your learning something.
14. An idea for a similar class that you think would be good.
15. Suppose you found an excellent article from 2000 and you found it in Web of Science or Scopus. Why is this a good thing?
16. Which search tools in this class were new to you? Which have you already used?
17. Describe an assignment that you think would benefit students in this class.
18. For the topic you searched in Modules 1-10, which tool do you feel gave you the most relevant results?
19. Which specific assignment did you find the most challenging and why?
20. Which graded assignment type did you like the most and which did you like the least?
Responses (Consider responding to someone around the same time you make a post)
Post during
Modules 1-4
Modules 5-8
Modules 9-10
Modules 1-10
Course Outline and Schedule:
* indicates completion required before moving to subsequent assignments. ** indicates perfect score additionally required. Items in bold are
instructor graded.
Module
1
Opens
12am
10/17
Closes
1pm
10/20
1,2
•
•
•
Course Introduction
Search strategies
Overview of scientific research
Course Info Quiz**
Overview & Search Skills Quiz
10
45
2
10/21
10/23
2
•
•
Select search topic
Search strategies
Reading (News) & Quiz
Case Study 1*
10
20
3
10/24
10/27
2,5
•
•
Reflection on Modules 1-2
Search strategies
4
10/28
10/30
1
•
7 Readings
Reflection on Modules 1-2
Case Study 1 Revision*
7 Readings Quiz
10
10
70
•
Discussion Topics 1-7 original posts due by 10/30 @ 1pm
Reflection on Modules 3-4
Reflection on Modules 3-4
5
10/31
11/03
Goals
2,5
Topics
Orientation and practice with:
• Science-specific search engine, E-books,
Theses/dissertations
Points
Module 5 Worksheet
10
30
40
6
11/04
11/06
2,3,5
Search for your topic in:
• E-book database
• Theses/dissertations databases
• Science-specific search engine
Case Study 2
7
11/07
11/10
2,5
•
•
Reflection on Modules 5-6
Article Databases Overview Quiz
Article Database Worksheet
(A,B, or C)
8
11/11
11/13
2,3,5
•
Reflection on Modules 5-6
Article databases orientation/practice
Search for your topic in article databases
Case Study 3
Discussion Topics 8-14 original posts due by 11/13 @ 1pm
10
15
20
100
9
10
11
11/14
11/18
11/21
11/17
11/20
12/08
2,4,5
•
•
Reflection on Modules 7-8
Citation Databases orientation/practice
Reflection on Modules 7-8
Citation Searching Reading
Quiz
Citation Databases Worksheet
•
Search for your topic in citation databases
Case Study 4
10
10
20
2-5
1-5
Discussion Topics 15-20 original posts due by 11/20 @ 1pm
Discussion responses due by 11/20 @ 1pm
• Reflection on Modules 9-10
Reflection on Modules 9-10
• Capstone Assignment
Capstone assignment
• Extra Credit
You will be asked to find a variety of resources on an
interdisciplinary topic along the same interdisciplinary area as
the topic you used in Modules 1-10. You will be using all the
tools you used in the previous required assignments. You will
be asked to choose appropriate resources from your search
results from each tool and describe them and why they relate
to your topic. Note the Capstone is about 1/3 of your grade.
100
10
350
Extra credit questions
30
Extra credit: Turning in
EVERYTHING on time
20
Academic Misconduct:
It is the responsibility of the Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish procedures for the
investigation of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term “academic misconduct” includes all forms
of student academic misconduct wherever committed; illustrated by, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and dishonest
practices in connection with examinations. Instructors shall report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the
committee (Faculty Rule 3335-5-487). For additional information, see the Code of Student Conduct
(http://studentlife.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp).
Disability Services:
Students with disabilities that have been certified by the Office for Disability Services will be appropriately
accommodated, and should inform the instructor as soon as possible of their needs. The Office for
Disability Services is located in 150 Pomerene Hall, 1760 Neil Avenue; telephone 292-3307, TDD 2920901; http://www.ods.ohio-state.edu/.