Breaking the Ice: Introducing First-Year Writing Students to “Scholarship as Conversation”

abstract:This article offers a case study of using a flipped, synchronous virtual workshop to introduce first-year writing students to the “Scholarship as Conversation” frame of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Before the workshop, students completed an asynchronous Preventing Plagiarism Tutorial that introduced them to paraphrasing and citations to develop a foundation for the workshop discussion. In the workshop, librarians used the Cephalonian method to introduce students to “Scholarship as Conversation.” To provide a real-world example of scholarly discourse, librarians cotaught the workshop with a faculty member who self-identifies as a Filipina American and whose research specialty is in Asian American cultural studies, which coincided with the course theme for the week. Workshop evaluations showed that students responded favorably to the presentation style. Learners expressed an awareness of the “Scholarship as Conversation” concept and the role that citation plays.