1. Empowering students to
critical thinking
Eli Heldaas Seland and Solveig Kavli
LILAC April 25 2014

2. “…to equip students of Generation N* with
adequate and relevant tools for academic
writing, and enhance their consciousness
regarding critical reading and evaluation of
sources.”
*as in Network, used about persons born after 1980 (Feiertag and Berge, 2008, p. 457).

3. • Presentation of the site Søk & Skriv
• Boosting students’ self-esteem
• Academic skills; reading and critical thinking
• What is new?
• User statistics
• Exploiting Søk & Skriv
www.sokogskriv.no/en/

4. www.sokogskriv.no/en/

5. Empowerment
• Self-confidence vs self-esteem
• Students as experts of their own research
• Taking charge of one’s own project
• Sense-making is individual

6. Articulating requirements
• Transition
• What do we expect from students?
• Ethical guidelines

7. Reading and critical thinking
• Do students know how to read?
• Surface vs deep approach to reading
• Objectives for reading
• Reading techniques
• Dialogue between text and reader
• Contextualisation

8. • http://sokogskriv.no/en/reading/ways-of-
reading
http://sokogskriv.no/en/reading/ways-of-reading

9. Source evaluation
“Evaluate the sources for your thesis carefully.
Take a stand on the sources you have chosen
and explain why you rely on these particular
sources.”
http://sokogskriv.no/en/sources-and-references/

12. What is new?
• Reading
• Expanded section on writing
• Open dialogue with users
• Teachers’ guide (Norwegian only)

13. Numbers from Google Analytics March 2014

14. Summing up the statistics
• Most used: Sources and referencing
• Increased use of Writing
• Least used: Reading and Searching

15. Exploiting Søk & Skriv
• Embedding the tutorial in teaching
• Infrastructure
• Teachers’ guide
• Study groups

16. References
Andrews, R. (2010) Argumentation in Higher Education: Improving Practice through Theory and Research. New
York: Routledge.
Bean, J. C. (1996) Engaging ideas: the professor’s guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active
learning in the classroom. San Francisco, Calif., Jossey-Bass.
Dervin, B. (1999) On studying information seeking methodologically: the implications of connecting
metatheory to method. Information Processing and Management, 35, pp. 727-750.
Feiertag, J. and Berge, Z. L. (2008) Training Generation N: how educators should approach the Net Generation.
Education + Training, Vol. 50 Iss: 6, pp. 457 – 464. Available from:
<http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1740424> [Accessed November 8 2013].
Hermida, J. (2009) The importance of teaching academic reading skills in first-year university courses. Available
from: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1419247 [Accessed April 3 2014].
Kuhlthau, C.C. (2004) Seeking meaning: A process approach to library and information services. 2nd ed.
Westport, CT., Libraries Unlimited.
Ransdell, S., Kent, B., Gaillard-Kenney, S. and Long, J. (2011) Digital immigrants fare better than digital natives
due to social reliance. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42, pp. 931–938. Available from:
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01137.x/full> [Accessed October 21 2013].
Rienecker, L., & Stray Jørgensen, P. (2012) Den gode oppgave – håndbog i opgaveskrivning på videregående
uddannelser. 4. utg. Frederiksberg, Samfundslitteratur.
Søk og Skriv. Available from: <http://www.sokogskriv.no/en > [Accessed april 2014]

17. -Thank you-
Contact information
solveig.kavli@ub.uib.no
eli.seland@nhh.no
Visit us at:
www.sokogskriv.no/en/