for readers, it’s about the text, not the dictionary

Posted in First Year Comp, General - 10 December 2007 - No comment

For Students, Its About Courses, Not Subjects – Chronicle.com

Probably everyone who teaches knows this: In a course, interest is driven by the framework of the course, not necessarily interest in the general topic. Why is this surprising? In the middle of a movie, I’m more interested in the movie than product placement or Johnny Depp’s personal life.

December 10, 2007
For Students, Its About Courses, Not Subjects

Students aren’t interested in online information gateways about subjects. They’re interested in information related to their courses. That’s the message this week from ACRLog, the blog for academic and research librarians, as the blogger Steven Bell attempts to counsel professors and librarians on ways to reach out to students.

He cites a recent study in the journal Portal, in which Oregon State University librarians found that students were much more interested in information if it was linked to a course they were taking. Topic-oriented information collections were much less compelling. —Josh Fischman

A course is an apprenticeship in a discipline. It’s after the course that I’d hope students find an interest in information related to the (now free-floating) subject.

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