Supplementary Material Title: Syllabus for GRAD 5124: Research Skills for Graduate Students Course: GRAD 5124 - Research Skills for Graduate Students Target Audience: Graduate students at a college or research university Last Updated: 2017 License for Reuse: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Suggested Attribution Statement: “Course Syllabus for GRAD 5124: Research Skills for Graduate Students.” 2017. Course Syllabus. Reused / adapted from an openly licensed (Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) syllabus created for the GRAD 5124 - Library Research Skills course, University Libraries, Virginia Tech. In Supplementary Materials for "Sustaining Graduate Information Literacy Instruction: A Case Study of Best Practices" Book Chapter. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/89332 [Syllabus begins on Page 2.] Syllabus Text: GRAD 5124 Research Skills for Graduate Students Fall 2017 Virginia Tech Instructor: Add contact information Communication Email will be answered within two business days. To ensure a prompt response, it’s best to contact me directly via email, not via Canvas. Assignments will be graded within 7 days of the assignment due date. Course Information This course is intended to guide students to the resources appropriate to their research and the search strategies needed to access the information. Although this is a pass/fail course, students will be expected to participate in the interactive activities and assignments with each lesson. I strongly recommend that you work through the content each week, in the order that the content is presented, since the weeks build on each other. A key success factor for students in this course is the completion of weekly activities in the time frame listed below. Text There is no textbook for this course. All course information and documents will be presented on Canvas. Students will need broadband access to the Internet, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint, and the ability to access movie clips and audio lectures. A Flash player will also be needed (http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/alternates/#fp). Course Objectives: Having successfully completed this course, the student will be able to: · Integrate the ethical use of information and copyright issues appropriate to higher education into their research processes; · Interpret grant requirements and basics of data management; · Use relevant library resources and services; · Select and use appropriate citation management and other information organization software; · Construct effective search strategies for exploring scholarly literature; · Select and evaluate authoritative research resources; · Access and use theses and dissertation in different formats; · Examine the role of open access in scholarly communication; · Compare and contrast various strategies for measuring the impact of scholarly publications Methods of Instruction: Students are expected to work through the modules on a weekly basis. Each module consists of a written introduction, video, or audio clip or written documentation, and an activity to be completed by the student. Each module will have a completion date and the modules are consecutive and cumulative. Please work through them in order. All assignments will be linked into each modules. GRAD 5124 FALL 2017 SCHEDULE UNIT 1 · Module 1 (8/28-9/1): Introduction to the course · Module 2 (9/4-9/8): Ethics · Module 3 (9/11-9/15): How information is organized UNIT 1 DUE Monday, September 18, 2017 at 11:55 p.m. UNIT 2 · Module 4 (9/18-9/22): Basics of Data Collections and Grants · Module 5 (9/25-9/29): Choose Your Own Adventure · Module 6 (10/2-10/6): Citation Managers UNIT 2 DUE Monday, October 9, 2017 at 11:55 p.m. UNIT 3 · Module 7 (10/9-10/13): Creating Effective Searches · Module 8 (10/16-10/20): Core Subject Databases · Module 9 (10/23-10/27): Other Related Databases UNIT 3 DUE Monday, October 30, 2017 at 11:55 p.m. UNIT 4 · Module 10 (10/30/-11/3): Dissertations & Theses · Module 11 (11/6-11/10): Authorship and Related Issues · Module 12 (11/13-11/17): Measuring Scholarly Impact UNIT 4 DUE Monday, November 20, 2017 at 11:55 p.m. Final Projects DUE Wednesday, December 13, 2017 at 11:55 p.m. The Final Project The final project for this course will include three different components: 1. A reflection of what you have learned and how you plan to use this information 2. A research journal that documents your search strategies and results 3. A list of 25 references that you found through this course and that you intend to use in your future research Honor Code: Each learner is expected to abide by the Virginia Tech Graduate Honor System Pledge, as stated below. The quizzes, exams, projects, and activities are expected to be the learner's own work. The Graduate Honor System Pledge: I certify that all information given on this application is true and correct. I will abide by all rules and regulations of the university. I will accept the responsibility of the Honor Code of the university. I pledge I will not lie or cheat. I understand that violation of the Graduate Honor Code may result in severe penalties, including dismissal from the university. All graduate students sign this pledge, located on the university Graduate Admissions Application. GRAD 5124 COURSE POLICIES Grading This is a pass/fail course. Anything above 70% is considered passing. Anything below 70% will be considered failing. Students will be given the chance to correct and resubmit the assignment if the original grade is below 70%, and must submit the corrected assignment by the date designated by the instructor. Completion of the final projects (all three components) is required in order to pass the class. Late Assignments Late material will be accepted at the discretion of the instructor. Contact the instructor in advance of assignment due dates, if possible. Course Offering The GRAD 5124 course will only be offered during the fall semester in order to allow for maximum impact in the fall and the opportunity for course redesign in the spring. Enrollment It is departmental policy that sections with three or fewer students enrolled will be canceled. However, individual instructors maintain the right to make alternative arrangements, or continue to run the course with three or fewer enrolled students. Assignment Submissions The course is designed for enrolled students to complete readings and assignments on a weekly basis. The course is divided into units of three weeks. Completed assignments from these units must be submitted by the benchmark due dates listed in the syllabus. If completed assignments are not submitted by benchmark due dates, a zero will be awarded for these assignments. Students are encouraged to work with the instructor if they think they will be unable to meet a benchmark due date. In order to be granted an extension, students must contact their instructor prior to the benchmark due date. Instructor Follow-up If GRAD 5124 instructors are unable to reach a student after multiple attempts, departmental policy requires that the instructor contact the individual student’s graduate program coordinator or the Dean for Graduate Education. Incompletes Students who are unable to finish the course on time are able to request an Incomplete (“I”) grade. Students must follow the guidelines described in the Graduate Catalog (http://graduateschool.vt.edu/graduate_catalog/policies.htm?policy=002d14432c654287012c6542e38200a0). Departmental policy for the “I” grade is as follows. Students must submit a request and explanation for the “I” grade to their primary GRAD 5124 instructor, and offer a suggested timeline for finishing the course. Students must submit their request for an “I” grade by Reading Day (December 8, 2016) in order to have the request considered. Students are required to complete the course by the end of the spring semester of the academic year during which they began the course, or they will not pass the course. For 2016-2017, the cutoff date for completing the GRAD 5124 course is Wednesday, May 10, 2017.