Lesson Summary: The Why, What and How of Creating Citations
Target Learners: Grade 11 and 12 high school students taking any online course requiring a formal research project
Purpose: The purpose is to have students recognize why it is important to cite sources and to learn the proper format for an MLA citation for various electronic sources, modified here to include the URL. Requiring the inclusion of the URL makes it easier for the instructor and other students to visit and verify the referenced sites.
Although not traditionally thought of being a particularly exciting topic, properly citing sources is important for any formal research situation and is something students will use throughout their academic careers. By creating an interactive online lesson, the goal is to increase interest in this topic so students have a better chance of actually retaining and using the information.
This lesson helps to address motivation gaps, the “why do I have to do this?” by showing the importance of knowing the source of information and reminding them that their citations will be assessed. However, the primary function of the lesson is to address knowledge gaps, detailing what a citation is and walking students through the steps of creating a formal citation. Students get an opportunity to practice finding the information required on actual websites as well as putting the information in the proper format.
Note: Only electronic sources are covered in this lesson, as my experience has been that online high school students use these types of sources almost exclusively.
Context: This will be one lesson embedded as part of a high school online course with a dedicated online teacher and with other students taking the course during the same semester timeframe (i.e. same approximate start and end dates).
Prior to this lesson, students should already know which types of information require a citation. For instance, common knowledge does not need to be cited. Following this lesson, students should review how to create an in-text citation and the formatting required on a Works Cited page.
Learning Objective: By the end of this lesson, students will be able to properly create citations for a variety of online resources for a Works Cited page in MLA format, modified to include the URL.
Required Resources: Internet access: Activities will work best on a PC, but other devices can also be used. All required resources are built directly into the website.
