research as inquiry: improving student engagement in their research papers
TRANSCRIPT
RESEARCH AS INQUIRY:IMPROVING STUDENT
ENGAGEMENT IN THEIR RESEARCH PAPERS
Laura Fox, Professor of English
Gina Calia-Lotz, Librarian
Harford Community College
WHO’S HERE?
“I LEARNED THAT RESEARCH IS NOT ABOUT FINDING SOURCES THAT SUPPORT MY THESIS BUT IN
FACT FINDING SOURCES THAT DEVELOP MY THESIS. I WAS ALWAYS TOLD THE OTHER WAY AROUND, AND I THINK THIS IS WHY I GAINED A LOT OF INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC.” – STUDENT
THE PROBLEMS Students do not have strong theses, making
papers weak.
“Report” vs. “Research/Analysis.” Students do not know how to analyze, wanting the “right,” immediate answers from Google.
Students don’t understand/accept that they must READ to get ideas about what to SAY in their papers.
Students have trouble integrating sources & citing in-text. Problems with plagiarism.
Students not understanding WHY they are doing
FRAMEWORK FOR INFORMATI0N LITERACY
RESEARCH AS INQUIRY“Research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers in turn develop additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field.” (Association of College & Research Libraries, Framework for Information Literacy for
“CLASSROOM ASSIGNMENTS THAT FOSTER INQUIRY TAKE STUDENTS OUT OF THE RELATIVELY PASSIVE ROLE OF FACT-GATHERERS AND
PLACE THEM IN MORE ACTIVE ROLES OF QUESTION-FORMULATORS AND KNOWLEDGE-MAKERS.” (CHAPPELL ET AL, 1994)
“I FEEL COMFORTABLE BEING A
SCHOLAR BECAUSE I LEARNED TO ASK QUESTIONS AND DO RESEARCH TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS.” – STUDENT
SCHOLARSHIP AS CONVERSATION“Communities of scholars,
researchers, or professionals
engage in sustained
discourse with new insights
and discoveries occurring
over time as a result of
varied perspectives and
interpretations.”
(Association of College &
Research Libraries, Framework for Information Literacy for
“STUDENTS NEW TO COLLEGE […] ARE FREQUENTLY UNAWARE OF
THE PRIOR CONVERSATION IN WHICH A SOURCE THEY ARE USING HAS SOUGHT TO PLACE ITSELF.” (CHAPPELL ET AL)
“I NOW KNOW THAT SCHOLARLY SOURCES ARE NOT AS INTIMIDATING AS THEY SEEM.” –STUDENT
ACTIVITY: SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH STUDENT RESEARCH PAPERS MIRROR WHAT WE’VE FOUND?
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO TEACH THE CONCEPTS OF “RESEARCH AS INQUIRY” AND/OR “SCHOLARSHIP AS CONVERSATION”?
COURSE REDESIGN
LIBRARY INSTRUCTION HAVE LONG BEEN SHAPED BY A PARADIGM IN WHICH FACULTY PRODUCE THE QUESTIONS[…], LIBRARIANS TELL STUDENTS WHERE TO FIND THE ANSWERS, AND THE RESULTING TERM PAPERS DEMONSTRATE THE WRITERS’ RETRIEVAL AND SUMMARY SKILLS.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE STUDENT’S ROLE IN ALL THIS AS THINKER AND WRITER IS MINIMAL.” (CHAPPELL ET AL)
“YOU HAVE TO TAKE YOUR TIME AND ACTUALLY READ A COUPLE
SOURCES. MY VIEW HAS TOTALLY CHANGED.” –STUDENT
ENG. 101 COURSE RE-DESIGN
Classes conducted using active-learning, hands-on activities
Gina would attend and “co-teach” in a few classes
First Class: Discussion on “what is a scholar?” Students welcomed as “scholars” in the academy.
Students wrote down five things they expected from college – created learner-centered environment.
ENG. 101 COURSE RE-DESIGN
Writing sample centered around scholarship and academic research. All papers centered around becoming an expert, a “scholar in training.”
One class devoted to reading scholarly articles.
Essay 1: Topic generation. Students compare possible topics to decide which would make for a better formal research essay.
Essay 2: Research Process. Based on the “Research Logs.” Centered on conducting background research to refine topics/theses. Graded product: meta-analysis of students’ research process.
Essay 3: Formal Research Essay
INQUIRY WORKSHEETS
“WE ARE NOW HIGHLY CONSCIOUS OF THE LIMITING NATURE OF ‘FINDING SOURCES’ AND THE NEED
TO SHIFT OUR DISCOURSE AND ACTIVITIES TOWARD ‘LEARNING MORE ABOUT.’” (HOLLIDAY & ROGERS, 2013)
“INQUIRY WORKSHEETS”Process-oriented approach
Students read and respond to article quotes from the get-go. (“Scholarship as Conversation.”) Guided questions help trigger students’ critical thinking, ideas about what they might say in their papers.
Students who had taken transitional/developmental writing: Fall 2015: <15% Spring 2016: 75%Spring 2016 students seemed to value the inquiry worksheets even more highly than had the fall 2015
“I FEEL LIKE THESE MAKE OR BREAK YOUR ESSAY. WITHOUT DOING THESE, THE PREPARATION NECESSARY FOR THE ESSAY IS IMPOSSIBLE AND MAKES FOR A
HORRIBLE PAPER. DOING THE DIFFICULT THINKING PRIOR TO THE ESSAY WAS A LIFE SAVER.” – STUDENT
“WHEN IT COMES TO ACADEMIC RESEARCH, YOU HAVE TO PUT IN A
LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT. YOU CANNOT JUST WING IT.” – STUDENT
SMALL GROUP EXERCISE:
COMPLETE INQUIRY WORKSHEET
“I DON’T SEE AN ESSAY PROMPT AS
JUST ANOTHER ESSAY BUT A WAY TO EXPAND MY KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUBJECT.” --STUDENT
“MY JOB, AS A LIBRARIAN, MAY BE A LITTLE LESS ABOUT PUSHING DATABASES AND THEIR CONTENT AT STUDENTS, AND A LITTLE MORE ABOUT HELPING STUDENTS
CONCEPTUALIZE WHAT TO DO WITH THE INFORMATION THAT IS SO READILY AVAILABLE.” (FRIEDMAN & MILLER, 2016)
INQUIRY WORKSHEETS: STUDENT COMMENTS
“I liked how they were set up even though it may have been extra work, they really help in organizing the quotes and how they will be used in the essay.”
“They were definitely helpful. When I went to write my paper I had everything written out.”
“Those were helpful but also a pain, though they gave us an even deeper insight into the paper.”
“They were time consuming but they did help me truly understand the quote I was picking.”
“I actually liked them. It made the 3rd essay so much easier because my thoughts were all together.”
FORMAL RESEARCH ESSAY: STUDENT COMMENTS
“I loved writing this essay! A great synthesis point and expression of personal opinion.”
“I enjoyed this one because it actually required original thought and creative writing skills.”
“Formal Essay was a lot easier than I thought because by the time we got there, we had already mastered our topics and knew so much about it.”
“It was a fun paper to write and taught me a lot about effective sources.”
“I wasn’t very stressed for it because we did extensive work prepare for it.”
“This was one of my favorite essays I’ve ever had to write, mostly because I got to pick any topic I wanted.”
“It was a lot of work, but I felt I learned a lot about my topic and the expectations of college papers.”
RESULTS Value of the library databases – they really got it! Most of the sources students used came from the Library’s databases. More high-quality sources both semesters!
Students seeing connections between Eng. 101 and other classes they are taking. This had not happened before!
MORE RESULTS
Students scored higher than in most semesters since Fall 2011 on “Draws inferences from and establishes relationships between evidence and the thesis.” (67% Satisfactory in fall 2015; 69% in spring 2016)
Conferences with students were more FUN, more interesting. Students had better topics and were more invested, more engaged.
Students extended their thinking, getting outside the box, questioning some of their ideas.
MORE RESULTS
Students didn’t tire of their topics the way they sometimes have in the past. Laura thinks the key was the emphasis on becoming “experts.”
Didn’t spend as much time on the drudgery of MLA style.
Fewer instances of plagiarism! Students were working on their papers from the beginning, less desperate to get papers done last minute. More invested in their topics and their work.
“THE SEARCH STRATEGY, LIKE THE RETRIEVAL SKILLS APPROACH[…] MAKES NO PROVISION FOR A RESEARCHER TO ARTICULATE QUESTIONS IN DIALOG WITH THE MATERIALS FOUND, NO PROVISION FOR REDEFINITION AND REFINEMENT OF
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM[…] THE STEPS FROM THERE TO PLAGIARISM OR SOMETHING CLOSELY RESEMBLING IT ARE SMALL ONES.” (CHAPPELL ET AL)
IMPLICATIONS FOR:
English 101/freshman composition?
Writing across the curriculum?
Library/information literacy instruction?
Other?
HOW HAVE YOU REVISED OR MIGHT YOU REVISE LESSONS OR ASSIGNMENTS TO BETTER TEACH RESEARCH SKILLS?
WHAT SUGGESTIONS DO YOU HAVE FOR US?
REFERENCES
Chappell, V.A., Hensley, R. & Simmons-O'Neill, E. (1994). Beyond information retrieval: Transforming research assignments into genuine inquiry. Journal of Teaching Writing 13(1&2).
https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/teachingwriting/index
Elmborg, James K. (2003). Information literacy and writing across the curriculum: Sharing the vision. Reference Services Review 31(1): 68-80. doi: 10.1108/00907320310460933
Fister, B. (1993) Teaching the rhetorical dimensions of research. Research Strategies 11(4): 211-219.
Friedman, S. & Miller, R. (2016). Launching students towards source-based writing: An introduction for librarians. C&RL News 77(4):198-201. http://crln.acrl.org/
Holliday, W. & Rogers, J. (2013). Talking about information literacy: The mediating role of discourse in a college writing classroom. portal: Libraries and the Academy 13(3): 257-271. doi: 10.1353/pla.2013.0025
West, Q. (2013). Information literacy cooperation by design: Review of a guided