Ideas for Gospel Integration by Toni Pilcher

Gospel Quotes Storehouse

principessatoni — 2023-11-07 15:56:26 UTC

Our TAs collected conference talks and BYU speeches that discuss information literacy skills. They have highlighted key points here in this document. I pull these into my lessons all the time!

Faith in an Uncertain Research Process

principessatoni — 2023-11-07 16:29:42 UTC

There is often a lot of uncertainty for students in the research process. They want to find quick and easy answers to their research questions, but neither academic nor moral information is created in such a way. Students can get easily frustrated by disagreements and contradictions among sources--but gospel methodology can help!

Remind students that they can apply faith and hope to the research process as well as in their daily lives. Faith helps us trust that there will eventually be answers to our questions, even when the research (or our life experience) only shows uncertainty. We can persist in gathering more sources and even write papers that don't have conclusive answers.

Openness to New Information

principessatoni — 2023-11-07 16:36:55 UTC

Many students pose research questions with an answer already in mind. You can encourage them to use gospel methodology to be more open-minded about their topics!

The concept of continuing revelation suggests that God has more information yet to reveal to us. By believing and hoping in continuing revelation, we accept the heavenly invitation to rethink what we know--even about secular subjects. God wants us to seek and accept new knowledge, especially when we believe we already have all the knowledge we need!

There are lots of scripture stories about people who learned to see the world in new ways. Consider using the story of Paul's conversion, Alma the Younger's conversion, or Joseph Smith's First Vision to highlight the need for openness.

Agency in Library Instruction, part 1

principessatoni — 2023-11-07 16:59:03 UTC

Help students use the gift of agency in library instruction by designing learning activities that encourage students to reflect on the reasons behind their research choices. Awareness of their reasoning increases their agency because they can see the influences that affect them. For example, you could lead a discussion with questions like these:

How did you choose your research topic?
Why did you choose those search terms or that search strategy?
Why did you choose or not choose to read that source?
How did you choose what database to use?

Agency in Library Instruction, part 2

principessatoni — 2023-11-07 16:59:19 UTC

Help students use the gift of agency in library instruction by designing learning activities that highlight the consequences (both good and bad) of certain research choices. Students can make better decisions if they know the consequences. For example, you might demonstrate what happens when you type in the full research question into a database or when you don’t save a source into a citation manager like Refworks. You might also demonstrate how to narrow a topic well or how to create a good search strategy–and show the consequences of doing so!

Agency in Library Instruction, part 3

principessatoni — 2023-11-07 16:59:34 UTC

Help students use the gift of agency in library instruction by designing learning activities that allow students to build confidence in their research skills. You might start with easy skills and then introduce harder skills later when students know they can tackle them. For example, you could start by inviting students to conduct a basic search for sources, then introduce Boolean operators and search terms, then introduce filters. At each stage, you could correct mistakes and give students practice so they can gain confidence. When they have had time to develop that skill, then you move on to the next one.

Agency in Library Instruction, part 4

principessatoni — 2023-11-07 16:59:48 UTC

Help students use the gift of agency in library instruction by designing learning activities that invite students to change and adjust their research practices. A flexible research process can be a sign of a student using their agency. For example, you can demonstrate a flexible research process by showing an authentic (and messy) database search or by showing how your own research topic develops and changes over time.

Navigating Darkness and Light

principessatoni — 2023-11-13 22:09:43 UTC

I use this image to ask students to indicate where they are when it comes to their research: in the darkness or closer to full light? The forest here is presented in different levels of light. Remind them that Christ is the light that shines in all things, and that he can shine light on their research.

Invite Humility

principessatoni — 2023-11-13 22:11:52 UTC

Invite humility by sharing how everything is possible (even secular things) because of Jesus Christ. As Elder Richard G. Scott said, “Humility … germinates the seeds of personal growth.” You might share this video "Because of Him" that quickly shows how much we can trust in Christ, even in our research.