ENGAGING AND MOTIVATING UNDERGRADUATE SCIENCE STUDENTS IN A WRITING WORKSHOP DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE INFORMATION LITERACY AND PROFESSIONAL LEVEL COMPETENCE

Information literacy-based exercises provide students with a professional-level conceptual framework and skill set to effectively access and use relevant literature sources. Included in those exercises are lessons designed to help students evaluate the validity and authority of individual literature sources. Peer review of preliminary outlines and first drafts of manuscripts connects students to the common themes and fosters a collaborative classroom culture. Various exercises such as "writing an effective title" promote professional-level aspirations. The end product of each semester is a set of 4 spiral-bound volumes that includes individual assignments such as review articles and research proposals. The knowledge that they can append their own writings to resumes for job searches or submit their work to a campus-wide writing competition provides additional motivation for students.