How you can help students cite sources more effectively…
1. Give students some direction on how to evaluate sources. See resources on this at this site.
2. Pick a citation system: MLA, APA, Chicago style. (What is used in your field?) and
give students directions for it.
See good online directions for MLA, APA, Chicago style, and
CBE at this site.
3. Be aware of all the thinking skills that citing sources involves…
You need to understand a piece of writing in
order to paraphrase it.
You need to have a sense of purpose for writing
so you know what you are relating the source to.
4. Give students clear handouts on paraphrasing and plagiarism...for good handouts, see here. BUT you can't just give a handout and fix the problem...
You can’t just give a fifteen-year-old boy a manual and a 15 minute-lecture and expect him to drive well…Nor can you give your students a sheaf of complicated directions and a short impassioned lecture and expect them to cite sources effectively. (For a sense of what students may feel like when they look at citation directions, see the attached)
What you can do: create small practices that reinforce your daily lessons and allow students to practice citation skills in small increments. Have students use their textbook and other assigned readings from class...
| Assign short writing practices or drafts that allow students to develop their own thoughts on the topic before they find sources. This will give them a way to anchor their comprehension of the issue – and then relate source material to this anchor. |
| After a lesson on a specific concept, have students --alone or in groups -- practice paraphrasing the idea in writing. Discuss who really captured the essence of the point and how. Use this technique to reinforce your lesson: you’re teaching comprehension of concepts as well as paraphrasing. |
| After you get them to practice general paraphrasing,
have them paraphrase a concept from the book using correct in-text citation. e.g. (using MLA citation) According to John Kennedy, the concept of velocity in ecology produces different results in different countries (340). |
| Have them pick out a key quote from the assigned
reading, and set it up using the correct citation and then respond to it. e.g. (Using APA citation)… Jacobs and Smith (1998) argue that "single cells don’t function independently when in this situation" (p. 43). I thought this was an interesting idea because…. Have students do this on a 3x5 card to prepare for class that day. Collect them or use them as discussion starters. |
Bibiography/Works Cited lists
This is hard. I tell my students that creating a list of sources at the end of your paper is like creating a really really complex chocolate soufflé recipe with 18 different steps. You need to learn to follow complicated directions.
Ideas for helping students…
| If you have the time in class, have a day where every student brings in a source that they will be using. (Students using websites should print out the website.) Have students work in a group with the citation directions to come up with a bibliography. These directions are hard, so have students do it in groups for support. |
| Have students turn in a draft of their list of references ahead of time. Give them points for this. Circle errors and suggest that they edit it. |
| Petition Rosemary Adang to have the writing tutors put on a workshop on Citing Sources at the Writing Center. Rosemary and her tutors are exploring the idea of hold group workshops on common problems. |