Let’s explore a current trend in your chosen career field! If you need help as you go, reach out to your instructor, ask a librarian [webpage], or [email protected] [email]! You will perform their own research on trends in their field of study, and then ask a Gen-AI tool to do the same, summarize and compare the results of each. (Signature Assignment)
Step One: Find background information
Learning doesn’t stop when you graduate—to stay up to speed in your profession, you’ll need to keep up with trends and issues in your field. You need research skills for lifelong learning. This assignment will guide you to explore trends as you practice some important research skills that will not only help you perform at your best on your assignments in college, but will set you up to stay current in your future career.
- Take a moment to explore the library’s concise guide to using Gen-AI in research and writing [webpage].
- Do your own research on the open web to explore some authoritative webpages [webpage], videos, etc. that describe trends, discoveries, or issues in your field of study. List three of the trends that you discovered on your own. Include a list of links to the site(s) that you used to make your list.
- Choose a Gen-AI tool and ask it to summarize 3–5 top trends or issues in your field of study.
- Provide a screen capture or a link to the Gen-AI tool’s responses.
Step Two: Explore scholarly research in the library
Now you will choose a trend, discovery, or issue that particularly interests you, and do a deeper dive to find out what other professionals in your field of study are saying about it. Scholarly publications are a conversation between professionals with similar interests! The APUS Trefry Library subscribes to thousands of scholarly publications for you to access as a student (and as an alum), so we will practice using its powerful search tools in this activity. Good research starts with good keywords. Whether you are searching the open web or our APUS Trefry Library, the words you type in the search box are what determine how relevant your results will be!
- Take a moment to read a brief FAQ from our library about choosing effective keywords [webpage], then ask your Gen-AI tool to suggest some good keywords for you to use to search in a library database.
- Enter the keywords that you found above in the library’s Everything search box. Take some time to explore your search results – try some filters [website], click some subject headings [webpage], access full text [webpage], etc.
- Provide a screen capture of your first page of search results.
- Use the “citation” option in the database [webpage] to create citations [webpage] for those three sources and paste them below.
When you have completed both tasks in Step One and Step Two above, submit your completed template to the Week 5 Assignments area.
Submission Instructions
- Save a copy of the attached template [Word Doc] to the file you uploaded. It includes instructions for this guided activity, along with spaces to write or paste your answers to the questions.
- Once you have filled out your template, please upload it to the Week 5 Assignment area. Please ensure that your files are in Word (.doc) or PDF (.pdf) format.
- Submit a completed template document using your own ideas and writing except where prompted to ask Gen-AI.
- Must include a heading with your name (first and last), the course number and section, the date, and instructor’s name.