For a FYW150 course, one approach to including a research and information literacy component is to task students to investigate a case study related to the class topic. The attached prompt provides an example research project related to capital punishment.

Challenges FYW students tend to encounter are

• Library research: be sure to schedule a session with the library instructors and ask them to point students to the right databases to find research for their case studies.
• Powerpoint presentations: without guidance and scaffolding, they tend to be general
• Transitions: students are asked to write a narrative essay, and often require help writing effective transitions. Scaffolding in this genre and this particular skill can be needed.

Here is the prompt as a PDF document: Capital Punishment Case Study Research