COMM115–Intro to Information Literacy
Module2Forming Effective Searches
This Assessment is part of the homework category worth 20% of your grade.
Deadline
See Tracking Calendar.
Completing this Assessment will help you to meet the following:
Course Outcomes
- Develop effective search strategies to construct efficient search queries.
Directions
As outlined in the lecture, there are various types of strategies and tools that students can use to develop search phrases to find exactly what they need without mining through hundreds of results.
In this assignment, you will develop a search phrase to best locate the information posed in the prompt. Then, using at least 50 words for each search scenario, explain why you picked this approach. Finally, perform the search in question and evaluate the results. In at least 50 words, explain if your search results were what you expected and why or why not this was the case.
Example: You want to find information on the President Teddy Roosevelt.
Search Phrase developed: “Teddy Roosevelt” president
Strategy: I chose this strategy because using quotation marks around the name Teddy Roosevelt will ensure that both pieces of the name are searched for together. When quotation marks aren’t used, results showing the first name and the second name will all show up, which will populate many results unrelated to Teddy Roosevelt such as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Search Results:
History: https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/theodore-roosevelt
History: https://www.history.com/news/teddy-roosevelt-legacies
Analysis: Yes, these search results were what I expected to see based on my search. The results reflected my usage of the quotation marks as sites that discussed Teddy Roosevelt’s role as president were returned first. All of the sites included both Teddy Roosevelt’s name as well as the word president.
- You want to find information on Buffalo, NY but not anything related to the Buffalo Bills football team.
- Develop and document a search phrase that you would use in a search engine to find this information.
- Explain why you chose this strategy using at least 50 words.
- After performing the search yourself, document the first 2-3 result entries that were returned. Analyze if the search results were what you expected using at least 50 words.
- You want to find information on recipes for stuffed peppers that do not include rice.
- Develop and document a search phrase that you would use in a search engine to find this information.
- Explain why you chose this strategy using at least 50 words.
- After performing the search yourself, document the first 2-3 result entries that were returned. Analyze if the search results were what you expected using at least 50 words.
- You want to find videos about astronomy only on YouTube.
- Develop and document a search phrase that you would use in a search engine to find this information.
- Explain why you chose this strategy using at least 50 words.
- After performing the search yourself, document the first 2-3 result entries that were returned. Analyze if the search results were what you expected using at least 50 words.
- You want to combine the search for both woodworking and welding.
- Develop and document a search phrase that you would use in a search engine to find this information.
- Explain why you chose this strategy using at least 50 words.
- After performing the search yourself, document the first 2-3 result entries that were returned. Analyze if the search results were what you expected using at least 25 words.
- You want to find information related only to gestational diabetes.
- Develop and document a search phrase that you would use in a search engine to find this information.
- Explain why you chose this strategy using at least 50 words.
- After performing the search yourself, document the first 2-3 result entries that were returned. Analyze if the search results were what you expected using at least 50 words.
| COMM115 – Effective Search Strategies Assignment Rubric | |||
| Exceeds Expectations | Meets Expectations | Needs Improvement | |
| Search Phrase Development 40 Points | 35-40 Response accurately identifies a search phrase indicator that applies to each scenario listed in the assignment. The full search phrase is documented. | 21-34 Response identifies a search phrase indicator but isn’t the best fit for the scenarios listed in the assignment. The full search phrase is documented but may be misguided in its strategy. | 0-20 Response attempts to identify a search phrase indicator for the scenarios listed in the assignment; however, more development and understanding of the search phrases is needed. |
| Explanation of Strategy 30 Points | 27-30 Explanation of strategy statement is sound in its approach and development. The explanation for each scenario listed is created using at least 50 words. | 21-26 Explanation of strategy statement is mostly sound in its approach but could use additional development. The explanation for each scenario listed is created using less than 50 words OR is under-developed. | 0-20 Explanation of strategy statement is lacking in detail or is misguided/incorrect in its approach. The explanation for each scenario is created using less than 50 words. |
| Discussion of Search Results 20 Points | 15-20 Search results are documented and the top 2-3 results are provided. A well-written analysis of the results based on the findings of at least 50 words is documented. | 9-14 Search results are documented and the top 1-2 results are provided. An analysis of the results based on the findings is included but connections are not made between the search results and the findings OR the analysis is less than 50 words. | 0-8 Search results are documented, but the analysis of the results is lacking detail and connection to the chosen search strategy OR the analysis is less than 50 words and underdeveloped. |
| Spelling & Grammar 10 Points | 9-10 There are0-1 minor errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation. | 6-8 There are 2-3 errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation. Errors do not distract reader. | 0-5 There are more than 4 errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation that take away from the reader’s experience. |