Information Literacy Project Overview The goals of the research project are to: • Develop your knowledge of communication theory beyond class discussion. • Develop your ability to identify and assess relevant information sources. • Increase your familiarity with library and Internet resources, especially for studying communication. • Improve your ability to synthesize and articulate your thoughts in writing, following accepted academic conventions. There are two parts to the information literacy project. The first part is the selection of a topic for your project from the list of theory choices. The second part involves learning about the theory through reading and research, and then synthesizing the information you located through your research in a written document. Evaluation The literacy project will be evaluated on an A-E basis. The primary criteria of evaluation are the content of the project, the identification and use of sources, appropriate source citation and technical requirements. The information literacy project grade is worth 90 points toward, or 15% of, your final grade. For this portion of the information literacy project, you will use your research and critical thinking skills to synthesize information about a communication theory and then write, design and produce a written document. The document you produce should be an encyclopedia-style entry based on the research you conducted outside of class. Your task is to produce a summary of the theory for a general audience that may have no background in studying communication or communication theory. Your document should have content similar in kind to the chapters of the course textbook. You can think of your final product as an abbreviated chapter. Research Task Your task is to learn about and then explain the communication theory you selected for your project. In accomplishing these objectives, you need to identify and incorporate several kinds of information sources, including academic journal articles, relevant books and relevant websites. Introduction to Communication Theory (A COM 265X) Page 3 The evaluation of your project will include the accuracy and quality of your explanation of the communication theory, an evaluation of the appropriateness and usefulness of the sources you located and incorporated, appropriate source citation and an evaluation of the technical requirements of your document. Directions & Requirements 1. Learn about the theory by undertaking research, using both library and internet resources. 2. Collect information relevant to a encyclopedia-style entry concerning the communication theory you chose. In your document you must use the following kinds of sources: • 1 book or reference source. • 2 academic journal articles. • 2 websites relevant to your project (either authoritative or popular, but not Wikipedia). These are the minimum number of sources for the project. You are welcome and encouraged to use additional sources. • While not required, you may include an image or graphic, or suggest links to multimedia sources, e.g. a video clip on YouTube. 3. Draft an encyclopedia-style entry, and design and produce a written document to be turned in for the project. Your entry must include the following, but not necessarily in this order: • Summary of the theory you are choosing. • Identification of the tradition and communication context in which the theory falls. • Identification of the theory`s approach to knowing and an explanation of its development, key words and their definitions. • Discussion of empirical support for the theory. § This may include descriptions of tests of the theory or descriptions of applications/uses of the theory. • Discussion of criticisms of the theory. • Direct quotes from scholars and paraphrasing with in-text citations in APA format. § No block quotes! • Include both in-text citations as well as a complete reference list in APA format. • Your written document should be between 1000 and 1500 words. § Your document should use headings, subheadings and page numbers. All of your sources should make a relevant connection to the theory you are working with. All sources must be cited in-text as well as in a reference list placed at the end of your written document.