CELEBRATING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
AT YORK UNIVERSITY
Insights into Students’ IL Skills & Future Directions for Instruction
AGENDA
1. What & How
□ Activity: How do you celebrate Undergraduate
Research (UR)?
2. IL Abilities: What did we learn?
3. Looking forward
□ Activity: ACRL IL Framework and IL Award
Questions
1. UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FAIR
What is it? How did we do it?
OUR JOURNEY
IL Award
Student eJournal UR Fair
DEMOGRAPHICS
Social Sciences
Humanities
Health
Sciences
Environmental Studies
Fine Arts
THE FAIR AT A GLANCE
GENERAL INFO
Applications : Accepted (2:1 @ A or higher)
Mostly upper level, although…
The number of IL applications is increasing
4400$That’s a lot of award money
100%Total success!
~57 participants
7+ awards
And a lot more faculty, family, and friends
2016
WHY CELEBRATE UR?
○ Strategic priority ○ Institutional profile○ Profiles library role○ Experiential education ○ Students’ writing, presentation and IL skills○ Scholarly publication and dissemination ○ Career goals and/or graduate school ○ Growing trend in higher education
(Jones & Canuel, 2013; Hensley, Shreeves & Davis-Kahl, 2014)
BONNET ET AL.Contributes unique findings to what is known about the apprentice undergraduate researcher.
MAIN STUDIES
ERIAL / PIL StudiesStudied undergraduate students at large.
ERIAL / PIL
Undergraduate students are:
○ Digital natives○ Pragmatic and self sufficient○ Rarely use new sources○ Lack Boolean understanding○ Seek faculty help ○ Rarely seek librarians’ help
BONNET ET AL.
Apprentice undergraduate researchers are:
○ Not just about grades○ Invested in research○ Use wide range of sources and tools○ Ability to critically evaluate sources○ Rely on librarians’ research help
HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE UR?Activity 1: On a sticky note write your institution and how you celebrate undergraduate research?
ACTIVITY 1: HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE UR?
2. IL ABILITIES What did we learn from our study?
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
PRIMARY GOALS
To investigate high achieving students’ IL skills:
○ strengths○ gaps○ similarities to other studies○ IL and reference help significance
IL AWARD QUESTIONS
IdentifyDescribe strategies that you used to search for relevant resources for this research project.
For example, outline why you chose specific databases or other search tools/engines available at the library or beyond it, provide examples of keyword searches used, and approaches you applied to develop or refine your search strategies as your research progressed etc. Please be as detailed as possible.
EvaluateDescribe strategies that you used to select the relevant types of resources for this research project and explain how this may have influenced your decision to use them.
(i.e. relevance, currency, authority, purpose/point of view, scholarly vs. popular, peer-reviewed, primary vs. secondary sources etc.).
ServicesHow did you use library services and/or library resources for this research project?
(i.e. Did you consult with a librarian or archivist? Did you use the library catalogue to find your resources? Did you use virtual library help? Did you attend library drop-in sessions or library classes? Did you use LibGuides/Research Guides? What new library services and /or resources did you learn about in conducting this research project?)
“
I used Google Scholar for articles I could not retrieve easily from York’s databases.
HOW STUDENTS SEARCHED
Students seldom demonstrate that they understand Boolean.
KEYWORDS & BOOLEAN
Students’ ability to critically think about information is evident. Students are influenced by the fact that
assignments call for scholarly sources (Ganley, Gilbert, & Rosario, 2013).
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT INFORMATION SOURCES
Students ability to think critically about information is evident.
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT INFORMATION SOURCES
“As a first year student, I was very confused on how to use library services. My professor arranged a session where a library representative came to one class to lecture us on
research skills...I believe this session was extremely important to me as I felt I could tackle the research paper easily.
LIBRARY ROLE IN HELPING WITH RESEARCH
ROLE OF ILDid IL and/or research help play a significant role in terms of students’ performance on IL award submissions?
CHI SQUARE TEST
Ranking Yes IL/Reference Help
No IL/Reference Help
Good 31 8
Average 22 14
Poor 7 11
TOTAL 60 33
p = 0.01
SUMMARY OF OUR FINDINGS
Strengths GapsIn Common With Other Studies
Rarely use new sources PIL/ERIAL
Self-sufficient PIL/ERIAL
Seldom demonstrate Boolean and subject heading understanding
PIL/ERIAL (Head, 2010; Duke & Asher, 2012; Kolowich, 2011)
Seek library help Bonnet et al., 2013
Ability to critically evaluate
Bonnet et al., 2013; Ganley, Gilbert, & Rosario, 2013
Lack understanding of publisher role Jones & Canuel, 2013
3. LOOKING FORWARDFuture implications
IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION
○ Avoid library jargon (i.e. library catalogue)○ Discovery Layer○ Librarian reference and IL is beneficial ○ Flipped classrooms○ Intentional integration of IL threshold
concepts ○ Embedded librarians to foster higher order IL
skills
ACRL IL FRAMEWORK
Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.
THRESHOLD CONCEPTS
Authority Is Constructed and Contextual
Information Creation as a Process
Information Has Value
Research as Inquiry
Scholarship as Conversation
Searching as Strategic Exploration
(Souce: http://silenceandvoice.com/)
“...I accessed tools like the “Oxford Dictionary of National Biography” to find
background information on important authors of travel handbooks...
I quickly discovered, though, that these databases were more
suitable for natural sciences students, and that I was looking at
the politics of the environment, not the science of it.
...I critically analyzed my primary sources to create my
own argument, and contrast it to what other scholars had said
earlier...I needed to critically analyze a variety of different
texts, so that I could hear different voices and
perspectives.
...many authors also mentioned important books Victorians would use when they travelled...This intrigued me and I started looking for the actual sources mentioned by the
secondary source authors.
AWARD WINNERS ABILITIES RELATIVE TO THRESHOLD
CONCEPTS
Information Creation as a Process
Authority is constructed and contextual/Scholarship as conversation
Research as Inquiry
Searching as strategic exploration
IL AWARD QUESTIONSActivity 2: Thinking about the ACRL IL Framework, what questions would you develop for an IL Award?
CONCLUSION
Celebrating URWe heard from you and you heard from us on how we celebrate undergraduate research. In our experience collaboration is key!
Research QuestionsWe took a closer look at high achieving students’ IL strengths and weaknesses, and implications of our findings for future IL instruction.
Role of ILIs IL instruction on target? Yes, according to our research, IL instruction and reference is making a difference to students’ IL abilities. Librarians should focus on targeted and strategic teaching
IL FrameworkWe looked closer at the IL abilities of award winners relative to the ACRL IL Framework and its constituent threshold concepts.
IL Award QuestionsWe asked you to think about the threshold concepts while developing IL Award questions.
Next StepsWe’ll take your feedback to develop new IL Award questions and continue to analyse IL abilities of high achieving students to further understand implications for instruction.
REFERENCES
○ Bonnet, J. L., Anderson Cordell, S., Cordell, J., Duque, G. J., MacKintosh, P.J., & Peters, A. (2013). The Apprentice Researcher: Using Undergraduate Researchers' Personal Essays to Shape Instruction and Services. portal: Libraries and the Academy 13(1), 37-59.
○ Duke, L.M., & Asher, A.D. (2008). The Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future [CIBER Briefing Paper]. College Libraries and Student Culture (Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 2012), 80; CIBER. Retrieved on July 21, 2015 from:http:// www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20140614113419/http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/reppres/gg_final_keynote_11012008.pdf
○ Foster, N. (2014). Information Literacy and Research Practices. Ithaka S+R. Retrieved from:
http://www.sr.ithaka.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/SR_Briefing_Information_Literacy_Research_Practices_20141113.pdf
○ Ganley, B.J., Gilbert, A., & Rosario, D. (2013). Faculty and Student Perceptions and Behaviours Related to Information Literacy. Journal of Information Literacy 7(2), 90.
○ Head, A. J., & Eisenberg, M. B. (2009). Lessons Learned: How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age. Project Information Literacy Progress Report. Retrieved on October 31, 2014 from: http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2009_finalv_YR1_12_2009v2.pdf
○ Head, A. J., & Eisenberg, M. B. (2010). Truth Be Told: How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age. Project Information Literacy Research Reports. Retrieved on June 1, 2015 from: http://projectinfolit.org/images/pdfs/pil_fall2010_survey_fullreport1.pdf.
REFERENCES
○ Hensley, M. K., Shreeves, S. L., & Davis-Kahl, S. (2014). A Survey of Library Support for Formal Undergraduate Research Programs. College & Research Libraries 75(4), 434.
○ Hofer, A. R. & Townsend, L. & Brunetti, K. (2012). Troublesome Concepts and Information Literacy: Investigating Threshold Concepts for IL Instruction. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 12(4), 387-405.
○ Jones, J., & Canuel, R. (2013). Supporting the Dissemination of Undergraduate Research: An Emerging Role for Academic Librarians [proceedings]. The Association of College and Research Libraries Conference: Imagine, Innovate, Inspire. Retrieved on May 17, 2014 from: http://www.ala.org.catalog.wblib.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2013/papers/JonesCanuel_Supporting.pdf
○ Kolowich, S. (August 22, 2011). What Students Know. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved on October 24, 2014 from: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/22/erial_study_of_student_research_habits_at_illinois_university_libraries_reveals_alarmingly_poor_information_literacy_and_skills.
○ Meyer, J., & Land, R. (2005). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning. Higher Education, 49(3), 373–388.
THANK YOU!
Any questions?
CREDITS
Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources for free:
○ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival○ Photographs by Unsplash○ Backgrounds by SubtlePatterns
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