Publication Date
Fall 2020
Abstract
The following case study adapted a library instruction course to support students’ ability to construct a thesis statement. Given at an urban junior college, the goal of the credit-bearing course is for students to acquire effective research strategies for finding reliable information and to develop information literacy skills. For this study, pedagogy divided thesis writing development over the course of several weeks in which students reviewed sample theses and the work of their peers, providing feedback to fellow students and revising their own work based on feedback from both students and instructors. The class section in this study utilized Blackboard instructional technology for both lessons and assignments, and did not meet face-to-face. In an effort to simulate active learning in a virtual environment, the instructors prepared a form of think-pair-share for students to review and comment on each other’s work. To review thesis statements, both students and the instructors utilized a set of questions aimed at examining the effectiveness of the argument. Results of the study will determine whether students improved thesis writing ability. It will also establish whether feedback, both from their peers and from instructors, helped students revise their thesis, and if think-pair-share was successful in an online environment.