On their own terms

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how first-year students conduct everyday life research and how, if possible, their everyday research skills can inform information literacy instruction in higher education. Very few studies in information literacy emphasize existing knowledge that students bring with them to college; instead, the emphasis tends to fall on deficits in students’ academic research skills. Strengths-based approaches or asset-based approaches as found in the literature of psychology and education provide a basis for exploring this direction in information literacy education. Design/methodology/approach The research used a phenomenographic methodology, interviewing 40 first-year students from two large universities, a medium-sized university and a community college. Findings The qualitative study suggests that first-year students are capable of using information purposefully to learn or research interests that have sparked their curiosities. They are also capable of reflecting on the ways that their investigations fulfilled their purposes, resulted in unexpected outcomes or made them consider their issue in a new light. These existing capacities provide promising starting points for strengths-based approaches to information literacy instruction. Practical implications Dialogue with students about prior research experiences enables teaching librarians to plan engaging, authentic information literacy curriculum that acknowledges existing strengths. Originality/value This study provides a valuable contribution to empirical evidence of student research skills prior to entering higher education and suggests connections between those skills and the ACRL Information Literacy Framework. In addition, the study provides a case for strengths-based education, activating students’ prior knowledge to learn and create new knowledge. Authors have presented at Library Instruction West, July 2018.

Investigating Nontraditional First-Year Students’ Epistemic Curiosity During the Research Process: An Exploratory, Mixed-Methods Study

“…Similar to the results of this study, in a recent phenomenological study of first-year students, researchers found that ob- taining relevant sources sparked students' curiosity and encouraged them to dig deeper to continue their research. 38 In another recent study, researchers found that students were excited and passionate about topics that were relevant to their lives and that they were better able to establish a work/life balance when they chose a topic to which they had a personal connection. 39 Though the students were excited about their topics, feelings of anxiety and frustration were still apparent as they searched.…”

Promoting Equity in Education: Lessons from Ghanaian Education Policy Texts

“…This theoretical frame is antithetical to 'poisonous pedagogy' (Miller, 1982;Cotton, 2013) where students and their identities are treated pejoratively. Critical pedagogy slights the banking and the battery methods of education as a colonialist approach to knowledge production (Ilett, 2019;Kocevar-Weidinger et al, 2019) that is prevalent in inherited formal education practices in ex-colonies where certain individuals are viewed as more knowledgeable, superior, and privileged than others. As postulated by Freire (1972:46-47) critical pedagogy depicted the colonialist approach in terms of authoritarian classroom relations in which:…”

Shaping Effective Readers: An Investigation of Faculty Perceptions and Pedagogies

“…This exercise and the one above take into account what students already know, something Kocevar et al determined to be especially important. 42 Another in-class example of teaching reading strategies comes from Leuzinger and Gallo, who have used the theory of Reading Apprenticeship in library instruction sessions, specifically to teach how to effectively read search results. 43 By reading aloud search results, librarians can demonstrate to students their thought process in choosing specific results.…”