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Title	Beyond searching for sources : using research data to explore the intersections between information literacy and composition instruction
Creator	Armstrong, Annie Insua, Glenda Lantz, Catherine
Contributor	Workshop for Instruction in Library Use (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Date Issued	2016-06-01
Description	Our four-librarian research team embarked on a multi-pronged assessment project to study the behaviors of first-year students completing an in-depth research paper for an English composition course. By collecting student bibliography assignments at multiple stages of the course, assigning online research journals at four strategic points, and conducting open-ended interviews at the end of the semester, we sought to gain a holistic and nuanced understanding of how students pursue the research process. Our data analysis revealed several intersections between what is traditionally seen as the librarian’s instructional sphere and what is considered the domain of the composition instructor. While students seemed proficient in finding scholarly sources, they often struggled to evaluate, interpret, and integrate these sources into their research papers. Students’ persistent struggles to utilize sources prompted librarians to consider deficits of the current instructional model and consider the costs of a bifurcated approach in which librarians primarily focus on finding sources and composition instructors emphasize how to integrate sources into research papers. Would increased collaboration and overlap in content coverage strengthen student understanding of key research concepts related to both information seeking and synthesis of sources? Could a more blended approach in which there is less delineation between finding sources and incorporating them into products of scholarship (aka research papers) lead to greater student success? In this presentation, we will discuss our findings, engage participants in an active discussion focused on exploring and challenging traditional instructional domains, and demonstrate how librarians can leverage the results of research studies to initiate meaningful conversations and collaborations between librarians and faculty.
Genre	Presentation
Type	Text
Language	eng
Date Available	2017-01-31
Provider	Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI	10.14288/1.0305689
URI	http://hdl.handle.net/2429/58351
Affiliation	Non UBC
Peer Review Status	Unreviewed
Scholarly Level	Faculty
Rights URI	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
AggregatedSourceRepository	DSpace

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BEYOND SEARCHING FOR SOURCESUsing research data to explore the intersections between information literacy and composition instructionAnnie Armstrong, Glenda Insua, Cathy LantzUniversity of Illinois at ChicagoCONTEXTUniversity of Illinois at Chicago Public, urban, research 1 institution Minority majority17,511 undergraduates8,114 graduate students3,007 professional students416 continuing education students29,048 totalPhoto by Annie ArmstrongLIBRARY INSTRUCTIONFirst-year writing programStudents required to take English 161225 instruction sessions (meat and potatoes of our program)7 full-time librarians, 3 part-time librariansQUESTIONSHow do our first-year students learn the research skills they will need to be successful college students?  Are library instruction sessions making an impact? What can we change about instruction to make a more meaningful and sustained impact?OUR STUDY Research habits of first-year studentsSTUDY DATA4 sections with same professor70 annotated bibliographies & bibliographies from final papers4 research journals (278 total; 56 completed all 4)9 student Interviewsdata (scrabble) cc: @justgrimes https://www.flickr.com/photos/notbrucelee/8016192302DATA ANALYSISCreated rubric for annotated and final bibliographies  Rubric Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (RAILS) Looked for types of sources used, quality of sources, variety, etc.Coded research journalsStill coding interviewsRESULTSScore category Annotated bibliography Final bibliography Percent changeQuality of sources 2.84 2.51 -11.62%Variety of sources 2.40 2.47 2.92%Annotations 2.39 NA NACitation accuracy 2.40 2.09 -12.92%RESULTS0123456Reference Sources Books Articles Websites OtherTypes of sources used Annotated Bib Final BibSTUDENT CHALLENGES“Picking the right ones and pulling out the correct lines, information, etc. will be the problem.”“I felt the most challenging part of the process was determining which articles to use in my paper and what information to pull out from each article.”“Knowing what to look for was hard. Then, once I figured out what I needed to look for, I couldn’t understand what I was reading.”“The most challenging thing is to infuse the knowledge and information from my sources with my own ideas.”INTERSECTIONS Exploring common groundDISCIPLINE SIMILARITIESFister (1992) saw many similarities between comp and IL:Skills-based, rather than content-basedAttempt to make academia make sense to newcomersInterdisciplinary natureProcess-orientedWE FEAR THE SAME THINGSI experienced a nightmare vision…students were everywhere…[and] they were all writing RESEARCH PAPERS…When the students were not talking, they were transcribing sections of encyclopedia text into the text of their own writing, into their notebooks. I knew they were writing research papers because they were not writing at all—merely copying. I imagined, then, that they saw their purpose as one of lifting and transporting textual substance from one location, the library, to another, their teachers’ briefcases. Not only were they not writing, but they were not reading: I detected no searching, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, selecting, rejecting, etc. No time for such reading in the heated bursts of copying that interrupted the conversations. The horror. The horror. -Kleine (1987, as cited by Fister, 1993)WRITING INFORMATION LITERACY“Information literacy informed by work in rhetoric and composition would help yield a more situated, process-oriented literacy relevant to a broad range of rhetorical and intellectual activities.”-Norgaard (2003)“…any literacy is always an embedded or situated cultural practice conditioned by ideology, power, and social context.”PROFESSIONAL GUIDELINESACRL’s Framing the Framework Series (2015) •Maid & D’Angleo mapped IL Framework to CWPA Outcomes Statement•Witek & Grettano mapped IL Framework to CWPA’s Framework for Success in Postsecondary WritingTHRESHOLD CONCEPTS OF WRITING STUDIES1. Writing is a social and rhetorical activity2. Writing speaks to situations through recognizable forms3. Writing enacts and creates identities and ideologies4. All writers have more to learn5. Writing is (also always) a cognitive activityAdler-Kassner, L. & Wardle, E. (Eds.). (2015) Naming what we know: Threshold concepts of writing studies. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado Press.IN PRACTICE What can we do?FINDING OVERLAP: WHO TEACHES WHAT?Library Instruction Composition InstructionOUR MODELLibrary Instruction                 Composition InstructionIncorporating SourcesDatabasesRhetorical AnalysisKeywords Topic DevelopmentSource Evaluation   Critical ReadingSearch StrategiesCitation FormatInterlibrary Loan Writing a Thesis   Finding Full TextMEETING WITH INSTRUCTORSQuestions Asked:•Where do students get stuck?•What kinds of sources do you require?•What challenges do students have incorporating sources?•What have you noticed about student citation skills?INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK“Hit-and-run” quoting as opposed to building a “quotation sandwich”Difficulty paraphrasing sourcesTrouble comprehending sourcesPatchwork research rather than meaningful engagement with sourcesRampant citation errorsSTEPS TAKENOffered drop-in “research clinics” and additional library sessions at pivotal points in the semester Bolstered  English 161 LibGuide to represent more aspects of the research process Shared findings with first-year writing director and instructorsSurveyed comp instructors regarding library instruction programNEXT STEPSShare findings with library instruction team and plan group work on research guide, supplemental activities and learning objectsArticulate willingness to collaborate on teaching skills outside of our traditional/habitual rolesDevelop and promote menu of instructional activities focused on reading, analyzing, paraphrasing, and citing sourcesAssess new activities, learning objects, and programmatic changes, reporting back to and continuing the conversation with instructorsFINAL THOUGHTSBuilding relationships and assessing new approaches both take timeWhat has worked for you?  Minor tweaks?Major overhauls?QUESTIONS Comments?

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