Research is a Verb: Exploring a New Information Literacy-Embedded Undergraduate Research Methods Course

Abstract

This presentation introduces a potential solution to widespread and longstanding concerns about undergraduates’ research, writing, and critical thinking skills: a new activity-based, discipline-specific research methods course. The presenters explore course design, course-embedded information literacy learning, course effectiveness evaluation, faculty-librarian collaboration, and the role of reflection in teaching and learning.Cette communication présente une solution potentielle aux préoccupations répandues et de longue date concernant les habiletés de recherche, de rédaction et d'analyse critique des étudiants universitaire de premier cycle : un nouveau cours de méthodologie de recherche basé sur des activités et adaptée à la discipline. La présentation portera sur la conception de cours, des activités pédagogiques favorisant la maîtrise de l'information, l'évaluation de l'efficacité du cours, la collaboration entre professeurs et bibliothécaires et le rôle de la réflexion dans l'enseignement et l'apprentissage.***Full paper in the Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science***

Best methods for evaluating educational impact: a comparison of the efficacy of commonly used measures of library instruction

“…This leads to an important issue in indirect assessment: students may not be excellent self-judges of their own skills [57]. Even when students acknowledged that their searching methods were chaotic and inefficient, they still felt that they had achieved success and were adept researchers [11]. This is indicative of the "satisfied but inept" phenomenon described by Plutchak [62].…”

“…At the same time, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) called for an increased emphasis on IL through its Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education [5]. The associated literature described the adoption and practical implications of the ACRL Standards and other IL criteria, as well as subsequent IL tests such as Project SAILS or institution-specific IL tests [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The library literature has also deliberated the educational viability of stand-alone IL tests, IL courses, and IL workshops; curriculum-integrated instruction; the pros and cons of online training; and the like [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32].…”

“…One of the more interesting findings was that students focused on end-resulfs and end-products (assignments), rather than on the information retrieval process itself. The authors commented that students, particularly those with weak skills, were not aware of the requirements for improved IL skills [11]. This leads to an important issue in indirect assessment: students may not be excellent self-judges of their own skills [57].…”

“…Polkinghorne and Wilton [11] described a political science research skills course in which students' reflections on their information search skills and a variefy of course artifacts were reviewed. The analysis of these artifacts provided a window into students' perceptions.…”

“…Of these ten, one implemented both pre-(formative) and post-instruction (summative) evaluation. The more current literature includes more articles describing parallel formative and summative evaluation activities like pre-and post-instruction written tests or affective surveys [8,9,11,[36][37][38][39]. In a well-rounded evaluation system, both formative and summative assessments are essential.…”