Lesson Plan: Getting Comfortable with Citations
Biology
Objective
To familiarize students with citation formats and encourage discussion about references and citation
Estimated Time
20 minutes
Work Completed Before Class
None
In Class
Write a full, correct citation (in your chosen format, for a reference in your field) on the whiteboard and ask students to derive the basic citation format from that reference. They can write it down individually or call it out while you take dictation on the board. The calling-out method is often most effective, as students actively correct one another or collectively figure out an answer. For instance, you might write:
- Martens, J. A., Laprade, L. & Winston, F. (2004). Intergenic transcription is required to repress the Saccharomyces cerevisiae SER3 gene. Nature, 429, 571-574.
Your students might derive something like this:
- Lastname, first initial., lastname, first initial. (year). Title. Journal, issue number, page range.
Possible discussion topics: Why do we cite? (This answer will vary by discipline.) What is the function of this particular kind of bibliographic entry? How do you choose which format to use? Why is it important to format consistently?
- Hand out the first page of a reference in your field (for instance, another journal article) and have students produce a correctly formatted bibliographic entry for that reference. It is usually most effective for students to write down the citation individually, then use the same dictation method as before, while you write it on the whiteboard.
Jessie Stickgold-Sarah
Developed at Brandeis University through a grant from the Davis Educational Foundation