The document discusses problems with students' writing skills in the digital age and proposes solutions to improve digital literacy. It notes issues like poor essay structure, referencing, and an inability to effectively search for and evaluate online sources. The proposed solutions include integrating writing assignments into core modules with feedback, teaching efficient search strategies, building vocabulary, evaluating site credibility, understanding citations, and providing clear guidelines. The goal is to explicitly teach digital skills that are assumed but often not learned, like searching, evaluating sources, and avoiding plagiarism.

1. “Search, citation and
plagiarism: skills for a digital
age have to be taught!”
N. Sivasothi
Department of Biological Sciences
http://delicious.com/sivasothi/buzzed2012
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2. Problems with writing
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3. Problems
with writing
• Emails without subject body, structure or
polish
• Poor essay structure in first-year exams
• Poor structure, argument, clarity and
referencing in hons thesis drafts
• Lack of synthesis in hons exam essays
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4. Writing solutions
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5. Writing solutions
• Integrate into 1st year core module:
• 3 x 24-hour essays
• Weightage of first two essays: 2.5% (make
mistakes without paralysing grades)
• Motivated TAs work with 12-15 students
• Provided Written and Oral feedback
• Papers typically covered in red ink and
highlighting but students prepared by learning
outcome
• 3rd essay = 10% of grade, marked by lecturer
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6. Writing solutions
• 1st year elective (animal behaviour)
• Blog Post (10%)
• 2nd year core module (ecology):
• Field reports with corrections (2.5% x 2)
• Personal statements (2.5%)
• blog posts (5%)
• Elevator pitch (oral; 2.5%)
• Project Report (20%)
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7. Module blog
Many
examples of
citation
overtly
inserted
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8. From 2011, Facebook
Citation
example
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9. More problems
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10. New problems surface
• Depth of sources poor or excessive
(problem worse in blogs)
• Inability to cite (no mimicry of papers or
module blog)
• I was out-googling them!
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11. 11

12. Wikipedia entry
is not a primary
source; and not
the current
version!
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13. 13

14. Why am I out-googling my
digital native students?
Sneak out
during IM
Text
chats with
students; find
answer and
return
3 minutes to find a reference
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15. Why am I out-googling my
digital native students?
Research student
literature search:
12 missing relevant
papers in 30 mins
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17. Not just us!
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18. Not a unique problem
“Why kids can’t search,” by Clive Thomson. Wired, Nov 2011.
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19. Digital native
≠ digital savvy
• “High school and college students may be “digital
natives,” but they’re wretched at searching.”
• “In a recent experiment at Northwestern, when
102 undergraduates were asked to do some
research online, none went to the trouble of
checking the authors’ credentials.”
• In 1955, we wondered why Johnny can’t read.
Today the question is, why can’t Johnny search?
“Why kids can’t search,” by Clive Thomson. Wired, Nov 2011.
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20. The problem identified
• “the ability to judge information is almost
never taught in school.”
• “... by the time kids get to college,
professors assume they already have this
skill.”
“Why kids can’t search,” by Clive Thomson. Wired, Nov 2011.
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21. Perhaps nothing has actually changed
• In the old days, the effective users too were
not the majority.
• How many read the sources their
professors cited extensively.
• The old search skills are still useful today,
its just that the library got larger.
• Does the non-digital native have an
enhanced appreciation of the internet?
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22. 2007
Smartphones and more resources on the net -
c’mon, some upgrading is in order!
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23. Digital Literacy
Solutions
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24. ‘Digital’ literacy
• 1. Introduce basic google tips:
• modifiers
• scholar
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25. http://delicious.com/sivasothi/buzzed2012
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26. Efficient search basics
• ministers
pay cut
-singapore
-sg
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27. Efficient search can get intense!
• -inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:"index of"
• +("/ebooks"|"/book") +(chm|pdf|zip)
• This looks for an index of ebooks in
specific formats.
• Rarely needs to be used.
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28. Better search results
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29. Digital literacy
• Whet
their
appetite
for more:
challenges
and tasks
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30. Digital literacy
• e. g. Googleguide.com
by Google fan Nancy Blachman
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31. Get comfortable!
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32. Digital literacy
• 2. Vocabulary:
• Layman versus scientific names, e.g. otter
versus Amblonyx or Lutrogale; latter leads
to Otter Specialist Group webpage; local
webpages etc.
• Specific terms:
• e.g. concussion vs traumatic brain
injury; latter leads to a NIH
Information Sheet
• Skin flap vs patagium - big difference!
Even more so in Google Scholar.
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33. Digital literacy
• 3. Site credibility
• Domain names (edu, gov vs org or com)
• Examine the About pages - who is the
page authored by?
• KKK page on MLK
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34. Digital literacy
• 4. Knowledge of resourcess
• E.g. Tree of Life Web Project
http://tolweb.org/tree/
• Arkive (Wildscreen, UK)
http://www.arkive.org/
• WildSingapore (Ria Tan, Singapore)
http://www.wildsingapore.com/
• Animal Diversity Web (U Michigan
Museum of Zoology)
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu
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35. Digital literacy
5. Understanding Citations
• "Raptors in Southeast Asia," by Yong Ding Li, 2011. Nature Society
(Singapore) Bird Group & Southeast Asian Biodiversity Society. 45p.
• Friess, D. A & E. L. Webb, 2011. Bad data equals bad policy: how to
trust estimates of ecosystem loss when there is so much
uncertainty? Environmental Conservation, published online: 14 Mar
2011.
• “Surprising discovery: dung-dwelling frogs,” by Kerensa McElroy.
Cosmos Online, 26 June 2009.
• “Lyssa zampa, the tropical swallowtail moth, returns,” by N,
Sivasothi. Habitatnews, 10 Jun 2010. Accessed 05 Jan 2011: http://
habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/index.php?entry=/nature/20100609-
lyssa_zampa-returns.txt
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36. Digital literacy
5. Understanding Citations
• The components have meaning (not window
dressing)
• Examine sources (domain name, about page,
journal)
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37. Digital literacy
5. Understanding Citations
• Primary source versus secondary source (source
of data?)
• Still, it's okay to jump start with Wikipedia,
just go to the source!
• E. g. Flying and Gliding animals: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Flying_and_gliding_animals
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40. Digital literacy
5. Understanding Citations
• Helps to eliminate “plagiarism”
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41. http://www.cit.nus.edu.sg/plagiarism-prevention/
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44. 2011/2 Sem 1 profile
• 200+ essays
• 10% flagged (i.e. about 20)
• Flagged essays are evaluated individually
• 1.5% some indication of plagiarism
(zero marks)
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45. Digital literacy
6. Understanding permissions
• Creative Commons
• The “Inbetweeners”
• “All rights reserved” (no
rights)
• “Public Domain” (full rights)
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46. Digital literacy
• 7. NUS Digital Library proxy
• http://
www.nature.com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/
nature/journal/v415/n6869/full/
415279a.html
• “Open sesame!” (many discovered this
only in Year 2)
• Works with NLB - JSTOR too!
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47. JOURNAL PAPERS
Papers will be cited in some lectures.
Broader perspective and specific examples.
I won’t go overboard since this is an introductory course.
Be able to express the main points in your own words
(summary).
“Hey sesame!” URL
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53. Digital literacy
8. Provide Guidelines
• Spell it out! Mimicry doesn’t work?!
• On-going documentation with Google
Docs
• Permalink in IVLE
• Improved every year based on questions
by students and writing performance
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58. Don’t get glib
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59. Are we asking the right questions?
“Kids can’t search because the questions we
are asking are not big enough. Let’s stop patting
ourselves on our backs for our critical thinking
superiority.”
- Google Blogsearch useful for finding opinions
“Why kids can’t search (maybe we need to think of seeking?” By
Alan Levine. Cogdogblog, 09 Nov 2011. http://cogdogblog.com/
2011/11/09/why-kids-cant-search/ (accessed 05 Jan 2011)
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60. Next AY
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61. To introduce in 1st year module
• 250 students in 10 groups.
• Tasked to research and blog about the
identity, biology and distribution of a wild
animal in Singapore.
• Examine reach, views and comment.
• Peer-review of posts and literature cited.
• Comment in lectures.
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62. Unconference!
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63. Epic fail!
“Three of my former 3rd
year research students
independently shared the
Starbucks voucher scam
on Facebook this past
October!”
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