Framework for Introductory Research Skills Class

Literature Review and Proposal

In their first year or so of their undergraduate education, new students are expected to perform and conduct research at a higher level than previously required. They are asked to position their research within a framework of ethics that many will not have come into contact with previously. They will be asked to defend their choices of resources and to explain their purpose and authority. They will also be asked to conduct basic levels of original research, at least on the level of review and synthesis, they they will likely not have done while in secondary school. As a result, undergraduates must begin to understand their place within an academic and scholastic universe. They are asked to conduct themselves within an ongoing conversation with professionals, professors, and their peers, which creates a unique opportunity for information literacy education within the university system. For this paper, I am going to focus on the application of the ACRL Informational Literacy Frames of "Scholarship as Conversation," "Research as Inquiry," and "Searching as Strategic Exploration" to the context of undergraduate education and the role the university library can play in that education.

I chose these three frames because of their interconnected nature, especially when conducting independent research. "Research as Inquiry" focuses on the iterative generation of questions. As research is conducted, new lines of inquiry open up and ask to be explored. "Scholarship as Conversation" focuses on the idea that knowledge is not a consumable resource but a conversation to participate in. Finally, "Searching as Strategic Exploration" encourages mental flexibility and discovery while conducting research. Hozier states that a more traditional approach "may lead to a fundamental misunderstanding for students that "finding sources" is also about 'finding a right answer.'" (2017, p. 8) All three of these frames focus on the participatory and iterative nature of research and learning.

The academic library is uniquely situated to help new undergraduate students understand this framework to conduct better, more thorough, more interesting, and more ethically sound research. Most academic libraries are already helping students in these areas through classes, writing labs, and more. 

In 2016, Dempsey and Jagman conducted a study of first-year DePaul students enrolled in an academic skills class. The study sought to examine how first-year students interacted with their new academic library by giving them an assignment to find information within the library and write about their experiences. The task was broken into three parts. First, the students were to think of an item, which represented the students "joining the scholarly conversation." (pgs. 94-95) Through this, they learn to value their own interests and opinions. Second, they are to search the library catalog, which represents strategic exploration. Finally, they are to go to the library and find their resource, since "Research as Inquiry" highlights the acts of "persistence, adaptability, and flexibility" as well as "seeking appropriate help." ("Framework," p. 18) Students then reflected on their work with instructors. They discussed the impacts of a structured first experience within the academic library and how they can utilize that experience to teach the students about information literacy. Dempsey and Jagman concluded that "this analysis demonstrates that an independent learning activity, when coupled with reflection, effectively exposed first-year students to a number of concepts in the IL framework." (2016, p. 100)

Working specifically with the frame of Scholarship as Conversation, Hosier sought to address how learning outcomes can be better structured to address the ACRL Information Literacy Framework. In their role as instructional librarian, Hosier had begun with three learning outcomes. They are: "1. Students will be able to identify the role of a scholarly article in the research process... 2. Students will be able to recognize the function of common elements of a scholarly article," and finally "3. Students will be able to distinguish between a scholarly article and a non scholarly article." (2017, p. 11) Though they may be effective in teaching some facets of research, these learning outcomes don't promote the idea of "Scholarship as Conversation." Instead, they suggest that information is something to be analyzed and consumed. These learning outcomes also go against the frames of "Research as Inquiry" and "Searching as Strategic Exploration" since they describe the act of research as a one-way process instead of an iterative, evolving, and participatory experience. To merge these learning outcomes with the frame of "Scholarship as Conversation," Hosier came up with the following outcomes. 

"1. Students will be able to describe the scholarly article as a piece of an ongoing scholarly conversation in which a variety of perspectives may be represented and meaning must be negotiated

2. Students will be able to recognize the common building blocks of a scholarly article in order to become an effective and efficient reader of the scholarly conversation

3. Students will be able to distinguish between scholarly articles and other types of contributions to the scholarly conversation in a search for information by using their knowledge of the role scholarly articles play in the scholarly conversation and the common characteristics resulting from that role." (2017, pgs. 12-14)

Instead of focusing on identifying authoritative research, they frame the act of research as something participatory. It also recognizes that there will be contributions to the conversation that do not generally fall within the purview of academia and that these voices can also be valuable and valid within certain contexts. It encourages the student to find different perspectives and approach the problem from different angles instead of finding the first authoritative source. As Keener states, "we must understand scholarship as conversation: It assumes participation from all sides and—at its best—is inclusive and welcoming of all viewpoints." (Keener, 2019, par. 8)

New undergraduate students should be encouraged to explore and to ask questions. A Socratic process may help teach some of the frames. Jacobson and Gibson recommend that students examine standard practices within the academic field and discuss why these practices are the norm. One possible question reads, "Some scholars now put preprints or even late-stage drafts of their work online in order to solicit comments from other scholars in the field. Why might they do that?" (2015, p. 108) Another possible question reads, "When writing scholarly articles, authors include a literature review section in their articles. Why would they do that? What do these sections mean to you as a budding researcher?" (2015, p. 108) Questions like these not only teach the frames directly but also demonstrate that the students' opinions are essential within a scholarly context.

The Framework frequently refers to the process of research as a conversation, as iterative, and as a form of exploration. One of the most important common features of the three frames of "Scholarship as Conversation," "Research as Inquiry," and "Searching as Strategic Exploration" discussed in this essay is their participatory nature. Students are not tasked with finding a particular piece of information but rather with exploring a concept from various viewpoints and allowing their questions and opinions to be shaped by new information. By finding new ways to teach introductory research and library skills, adjusting learning outcomes, and asking students open-ended questions about their experiences with the research process, academic librarians can incorporate the ACRL Information Literacy Framework into undergraduate instruction.

Works Cited

Dempsey, P. R., & Jagman, H. (2016). “I Felt Like Such a Freshman”: First-Year Students Crossing the Library Threshold. Portal (Baltimore, Md.), 16(1), 89–107. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2016.0011

"Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education", American Library Association, February 9, 2015. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework (Accessed June 27, 2021)

Hosier, A. (2017). Creating learning outcomes from threshold concepts for information literacy instruction. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 24(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10691316.2017.1246396

Jacobson, T., & Gibson, C. (2015). First Thoughts on Implementing the Framework for Information Literacy. Communications in Information Literacy, 9(2), 102–110. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2015.9.2.187

Keener, M. (2019). The Conversation of Scholarship. Serials Review, 45(3), 140–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/00987913.2019.1646089

Lesson Plan

Lesson Title:

Brainstorming Research Questions Through Search

Topic: 

How to use Dominican University Library's Database to help generate a research question

Audience: 

First-year undergraduate students

Lesson Objectives:

1. Learn how to generate a strong research question

2. Learn how to use basic search techniques, like Boolean search and filtering

3. Understand that the research process is flexible, exploratory, and iterative.

Information Literacy Frames:

Research as inquiry

Scholarship as conversation

Searching as strategic exploration

Resources / Websites / Databases:

https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/how-to-write-a-research-question

https://libraries.indiana.edu/sites/default/files/Develop_a_Research_Question.pdf

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/sites/164/2016/10/Formulating-Your-

Research-Question.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6322175/

https://history.fas.harvard.edu/files/history/files/research_question.pdf?m=1459176775