Independent work of students is an integral part of the educational process. During their years of study at a college or university, students receive various types of assignments that aim not only to expand their knowledge of the subject but to develop many useful skills. The most important of these skills are conducting your own research and developing information literacy. Therefore, it is important to approach each task responsibly. And here it will be considered how such an assignment affects the development of research and information literacy skills.
Understanding resource types and finding them
Having received the task of preparing an essay or report on a certain topic, the student must, first of all, find literature and resources to get information about the problem. Therefore, completing the assignment helps him learn to distinguish what types of resources there are. These can be books, articles, theses of conferences, and reports. And he should be able to search for trusted resources online. Find relevant online libraries, databases with journals and articles, required articles on the professional profiles of leading researchers, etc. In these searches, the student learns to recognize different types of resources and use them. By completing a small task, over time, the student will apply this skill during real research.
Writing skills
The next task of each assignment is the development of writing skills. No scientific research can do without them. Of course, having received only the first task, a student cannot demonstrate a high level of writing skills. Therefore, he always has the opportunity to turn to an assignment expert on EduBirdie for help and get good written work. This work can serve as a good model for subsequent writing assignments, and the student will certainly improve his writing skills with each such assignment. And after graduating from college or university, he will be ready to write his work.
Critical thinking skills
Another advantage of independent work is the development of critical thinking. This skill is definitely required for information literacy. After all, it is difficult to say how much various information there is now. And not all of it is correct and reliable. Therefore, the student's task is to find exactly the right information, to be able to analyze it, and to express his own attitude to the opinions of the authors, to agree with them or to deny them.
Citations and bibliography
When writing the assignment, the student must be able to correctly quote the opinions of other researchers. It teaches us to avoid plagiarism and fosters academic integrity. No serious research and information literacy can do without these skills. In addition, working with literature, the student learns to correctly compile a bibliographic list and gets acquainted with popular citation styles such as APA, MLA, etc.
Conclusion
Each student's independent assignment is designed to develop research skills and information literacy. It helps develop critical thinking, data analysis, writing skills, the ability to work with literature, etc. Such an assignment can rightfully be called a mini-research. And the skills acquired during its implementation will be useful for further solid research.