Faculty Guide for CECS and Mathematics

Before inserting any resource links in your communications with students, especially in your Canvas courses, be sure to use the URL Converter Tool below. In order for links to journal articles, ebooks, and streaming videos to work off campus they need to include Library authentication in the URL (students will then be prompted to login with their UM-Dearborn uniquename and password - see Off-Campus Link Tool page for more details).

To create your link, copy the "Permanent URL" NOT THE URL FROM THE ADDRESS BAR into the box below, hit the "convert link" button and it will return a link you can insert in your course materials.The trickiest part of this is finding the "Permanent URL" (see this link for help with that).

To request a purchase please email me or fill out the Course Support Form.

In addition to using OER resources, using Course Reserves for your class is a great way to help improve student access to textbooks, which supports student success and retention. 

To place course materials on reserve for your students, fill out the online Course Support Form (the same form is used for research sessions and purchase requests but feel free to fill out only one section at a time). When you fill out the form, please remember:

1. Select a loan period  
2. Provide the library with any personal copies that you want to have on reserve If you would like to put your personal copy of books or DVDs on Course Reserve, please indicate in the notes field on the form that you would like the books back at the end of the semester.
3. If materials that you need are not already owned by you or by the library, we will try to obtain them, following these collection development guidelines. For more information, or to search for items currently on reserve, visit the Course Reserves page.

I am available to work with you to design research skills sessions around the specific skills students need to be successful on your research assignments.

Some skills that I have worked with students on in the past include (in order of increasing complexity):

• Using the library and the variety of resources available here
  • General Introduction to what is available through the Mardigian Library and how to gain access
  • Analyze and evaluate sources for their usefulness in specific circumstances
  • Identifying the different uses for Google Vs. Summon
  • Identifying peer-reviewed articles and explaining what "peer-review" means
• Advanced database searching
  • Finding scholarly sources in the library's collection
  • Finding specialized information, such as datasets
  • Using technical standards
• Understanding and working through the research process
  • Developing a focused research question
  • Creating proper citations (in IEEE style) and avoiding plagiarism
  • Using citation management tools
  • Use of sources to build reasoned technical writing
• Technical writing
  • annotated bibliography,
  • literature reviews,
  • white papers,
  • technical papers, 
  • theses/dissertations,
• Thesis and Dissertation formatting
• Publication
  • Editing their own work
  • Identifying predatory publishers
  • Finding the right journal
  • OER Publishing
• Career support
  • Professional Development and CE resources
  • Mentor and job searching resources

Email me at aseipke@umich.edu to book a research skills session for your course. I will work with you to create a research skills session and a companion course guide to teach students the research skills and resources they need to be successful on your particular assignments or we can work together to determine the best way to merge these skills with your content. 

The research skills education sessions follow evidence-based best practices to maximize student motivation and learning. Research skills sessions should take a hands-on learning approach. With my Bachelor of Science degree in Education and a background as a classroom teacher, I am very experienced in using background research and writing as a means to teach other subjects. 

Through these sessions the students will:

• learn transferable research skills that they will use throughout university and in their careers
• develop more effective critical thinking skills
• learn to use higher quality sources for their research projects or papers
• produce higher quality projects or papers
• gain self-confidence in their research skills
• become more confident and independent researchers

Sessions should be:

• directly tied to course research assignments (we can work together to find the best point of connection)
• scheduled at point of need, as close as possible to the time when students are beginning their research
• held in a setting where each student is able to use a computer in real time to facilitate hands-on learning (we have classrooms and laptop sets available for booking in the library if you wish)

Faculty should:

• attend sessions with their students
• request sessions at least 14 days in advance
• forward an assignment copy and provide feedback on the course guide once I publish it
• collaborate in the development of sessions and actively participate in them

I have already created a departmental guide for each department CIS; ECE; IMSE; MATH; and ME which I will use to co-locate resources (databases, eBooks, Journals, Professional Organizations, and links to other information) that I think will be helpful to students and faculty in each department. Please feel free to email me with suggestions of things to add or if you discover a problem with any of the resources or links.

There are also subject guides that I have created around topics that are of cross-disciplinary interest such as: Writing Your Paper in CECS and Math, and Information Sources for Engineers and Mathematicians. For the full list of guides that I currently have turned on, see my libguide home page.  Please feel free to email me with suggestions for topics that may be of interest cross-disciplinarily or with additions or issues with these pages as well.

The most abundant guides I create are in connection with specific courses. All the course guides that were in use when I started in this role, as well as all the ones which I have created, are now indexed within the Class Pages: Course Guides for CECS and Mathematics page to allow for a cleaner interface. Creating a guide for your class is part of my process for developing an instructional session, but you can also request a page to stand alone without an accompanying session. This page can be used to co-locate the specific databases, eBooks, or web links your students will need for your class' research assignments or to provide access to a prerecorded skill session or my slides so that students can practice a skill at their convenience or review it at a point-of-need. Please email me if you would like to work with me on building a page to fit the specific needs of your class.

Please check your email for our Advanced Research Skills for Faculty session announcements! We plan to host a session each semester with skills for faculty such as: Grant Writing, Writing Data Management Plans, Using Citation Tools, Using Open Education in your Classroom, and Spotting Predatory Publishers. 

The Mardigian Library licenses videos for you to use in your courses!

• You can add links to online streaming videos to your course Canvas sites
  • to make sure your links work off-campus, follow the instructions for creating off-campus streaming video links
• To embed a Kanopy video in your course Canvas site, follow the instructions in the library's Embedding Kanopy Streaming Video in Canvas tutorial
• For help with finding or licensing a video you need for your class please fill out the Course Support Form.

According to the UM-Dearborn Campus Policy for Commercial Videos, faculty may also show a commercial video without a public performance license when ALL of the following conditions are met:

• The film or video is chosen by the instructor
• It is shown in a face-to-face setting in a classroom
• The content of the video is directly related, and of material assistance, to the teaching of the course
• It is an integral part of the class session (it helps to include it in the course syllabus)
• The showing is limited to students officially enrolled in the course
• The film or video is lawfully obtained (i.e. not illegally downloaded)

Other ways you might incorporate videos into your courses:

• Linking: One of the best options for helping students access online video content is to link to the source, when the source video is publicly available for viewing on a reputable site.  For instance, posting a link in Canvas to a YouTube video is an efficient, noninfringing way to direct students to a video. 
   
• Public domain: If a video is in the public domain, you are free to upload that video to Canvas for your students to access, stream, or download. Videos produced by the U.S. government or videos for which copyright has expired are common examples of videos in the public domain. Currently, motion pictures produced and exhibited more than 95 years ago are in the public domain. The public domain status of newer films are more difficult to determine. You can reach out to copyright@umich.edu if you have questions about whether a particular film is likely to be in the public domain.
   
• Creative Commons or Other Licenses: If the video you want to use has a Creative Commons or other license, you should be able to use the video within the constraints of that license. It is important that you look at the license you are relying upon to make sure that you are comporting with its terms. 
   
• Fair Use of Short Clips: Short clips of a film can be used as a fair use for a variety of reasons, including criticism, comment, teaching, scholarship, or research. The fact that you are using the clips in an educational context, while important, is not enough to establish a fair use.  Fair use analyses can be complicated, so there is always some risk when you are making this kind of assessment.  Using only as much of a film/video as you need to to make your point and making sure that you are using only a fraction of the original are important elements to making a fair use. You can reach out to copyright@umich.edu if you have questions about how to make fair uses of clips in your course. For more information about Fair Use, see Fair Use FAQ (part of the Copyright and Course Websites guide at U-M).
   
• Personal Accounts: Using a personal streaming account (Netflix, Amazon, etc.) to screen share a film in an online class may put you in violation of your terms of service. Most streaming services have detailed membership agreements that do not allow streaming outside of personal viewing. Generally, using a personal account to show a film in class would not be allowed, but the provider's terms of service may give greater detail into this question.