What is LIT?

The LIT: Your Guide to Research and Writing at Western is designed to help students improve their academic literacies by strengthening students' research and writing skills. Included are modules on how to get started with a research assignment; how to effectively locate and evaluate resources; how to analyze, interpret, and incorporate sources into written assignments; how to draft, revise, and edit written work; and how to correctly document and cite sources.

LIT is set up as modules that can be done all at once or as assigned to support your in-class teaching and research-based assignments.

LIT has Changed! If you have used LIT in the past, you will notice some changes. This document will show what is new and how the modules changed.

If you have questions about the content of LIT or how it can be used in your course curriculum, please contact Elizabeth Stephan at elizabeth.stephan@wwu.edu.

LIT Modules

LIT is divided into six different modules. You can use the links below (click on images) and have students go through each LIT module on their own.

If you would link to embed LIT into your Canvas Class and use the Canvas Quizzes, use the LIT Canvas Module.

It includes links to the LIT modules and the quizzes. Quizzes will automatically be included in your grade book. You can also use LIT in whatever order you want (e.g., have students complete the Virtual Tour first).

You can find help on importing the LIT Canvas Module into your Canvas Class here.

If you need help managing LIT within your Canvas Class, please email CanvasHelp@wwu.edu.

Benefits of LIT

LIT starts at the front door of the Western Libraries and introduces students to the physical and virtual options available to them. It then takes students through the research and writing process from understanding the assignment to developing a research strategy to analyzing and applying the sources found.

LIT consists of six modules that can be taken all at one or spread out throughout your course. Each module contains hands-on learning tools and includes a graded quiz that can be loaded directly into Canvas and your Canvas grade book. Because it is self-guided, students can return to it as many times as necessary.

Lower-Division Students (100-200 Level Classes)

Upper Division Students (300-400 level courses)

LIT starts at the front door of the Western Libraries and introduces students to the physical and virtual options available. It takes students through the research and writing process from understanding the assignment to developing a research strategy to analyzing and applying the sources found.

LIT can be used as a supplement to research-based writing assignments. You can direct students to specific modules of LIT that can be used to supplement your research projects.

Students will learn to:

Develop research and inquiry skills with an emphasis on library research tools.
Develop simple and complex search strategies.
Read complex scholarly sources.
Construct a thesis and synthesize sources into their assignment.
Identify and analyze academic research and apply the content to the writing process.
Learn to revise and edit their writing.
Understand the ethics of documenting and citing their work.

Students can review:

Research skills that can be helpful to their assignments.
How to read and interpret academic writing.
Advanced writing strategies (e.g. rhetorical moves) to better advance their argument.

Use this Reading & Writing Student Guide to see how LIT modules can be used to guide your students through the research and writing process. This guide is based on the Integrated Research-Writing Workshop series. If you would like more information on the series, please contact Shevell Thibou.

Benefits of LIT
Scenario	Solution
Straight out of the Box (no modifications): Professor Smith teaches an introductory, lower-division course designed for freshmen and he requires students to complete a research project. He wants students to learn some introductory research and writing skills as well as the services offered by the Libraries and the Learning Commons, but cannot afford to use class time for library visits.	Solution: Professor Smith chooses instead to ask students to complete the LIT modules by assigning it through his Canvas course and opting to include the quizzes tied to each module. He assigns the modules to mirror the steps of the research assignment, and student quiz scores and completion dates appear in his grade book. Students can complete the tutorial independently, by the assigned dates. Student scores on the quizzes indicate what concepts and skills his students did and did not grasp to better inform what he covers in class.
Specialized (minor modifications): Having used LIT in her lower-division courses, Professor Chen wants to use LIT again for her junior-level research methods class. However, she decides that some of the modules are redundant because she covers this same content in class.	Solution: Professor Chen decides to assign only three of the available LIT modules to her students. That way, her students can review which tools and services are available at Western Libraries and the Learning Commons, while not duplicating in-class material. Professor Chen opts to include the quizzes with scores but doesn’t want the scores to affect students grades. Because she groups her assignments and weights each group in the grade book, she groups the LIT quizzes but weighted them at 0%. This allows her and her students to see the scores without having them affect final grades.
Flexible: Professor Frances teaches an upper-division course every Spring Quarter. Many of the students who take her course are experienced and accomplished undergraduate scholars. However, she is interested in having her students review available tools and services at Western Libraries and the Learning Commons, but doesn’t want the students--many of whom may have completed LIT in previous classes--to feel as though they are required to demonstrate that they know the content yet again.	Solution: Professor Frances makes the LIT Tutorial available through her Canvas course as extra credit. That way, students have the opportunity to refresh their skills but are not required to repeat the tutorial if they have completed it in a prior class.