scholarly journals Undergraduates Have Difficulty Distinguishing Formats Based on Discovery Tool Search Results

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Diana K. Wakimoto
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Journal ◽  
Thesis Statement ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Small Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Local Results

A Review of: Gewirtz, S. R., Novak, M., & Parsons, J. (2014). Evaluating the intersection between WorldCat Local and student research. Journal of Web Librarianship, 8(2), 113-124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2014.877312 Abstract Objective – To evaluate the usability of WorldCat Local for undergraduate students conducting research. Design – Usability study. Setting – Two small, liberal arts colleges in central Minnesota. Subjects – 13 undergraduates (7 females and 6 males). Methods – To simulate an authentic research process, researchers created a thesis statement and a list of materials students needed to find using WorldCat Local. The students were video recorded and instructed to use the “think aloud” protocol as they worked through the list of materials to find. Researchers analyzed the recordings and evaluated the efficiency of the students’ searching processes using a rubric with scores from 1 to 5. Main Results – Students were able to find books relevant to their topic, but had difficulty in identifying a book that their college library did not own. Students had more difficulty finding current scholarly journal articles and encyclopedias. Additionally, students had trouble distinguishing different formats in the results list. Conclusion – The WorldCat Local results interface confused students, especially when they tried to determine the types of materials found (e.g., article, book, etc.). The students showed little understanding of relevance sorting and facets, although they did attempt to use them while searching. Despite the difficulties, the colleges will keep WorldCat Local as their discovery tool while exploring alternative options. The researchers suggest the need for future research to confirm their findings and determine what changes to the discovery tool interface would be most beneficial for the users.

“The Classics Tuning Project”: Competencies, Value and Visibility of the Classics at Small Liberal Arts Colleges

2019 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-505
Author(s):  
Clara Hardy ◽  
Lisl Walsh ◽  
John Gruber-Miller ◽  
Sanjaya Thakur ◽  
Angela Ziskowski
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Small Liberal Arts Colleges

scholarly journals Independent Searching During One-Shot Information Literacy Instruction Sessions: Is It an Effective Use of Time?

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Willson
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Search Time ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Class Time ◽  
Information Literacy Instruction ◽  
Thesis Statement ◽  
Effective Use

Objective – To test the assumption that giving students time to research independently during a one-shot information literacy instruction (ILI) session, combined with scaffolding, is an effective pedagogical practice and a good use of class time. Methods – The study was conducted at a student-focused, four-year undergraduate institution with 8,500 full load equivalent students. Following brief, focused instruction in 10 different ILI sessions, first-, second-, and third-year students in 80-minute one-shot ILI sessions were given time to research independently. The librarian and instructor were present to scaffold the instruction students received. Students were asked to track the research they did during class using a research log and to fill out a short Web survey about their preparedness to do research and the usefulness of the ILI session. Results – Students agreed to have 83 research logs and 73 Web surveys included in the study. Students indicated that they felt more prepared to do research for their assignment after the ILI session and rated individual help from the librarian as the most useful aspect of the instruction session. Students did not rate independent time to do research as valuable as anticipated. Examining the research logs indicated that several things are taking place during the ILI session, including that students are demonstrating what was taught in the session in their searches, that their searches are progressing in complexity, and that students are using feedback from previous searches to inform the formulation of search queries. While students appear to be putting independent search time to good use, many students’ articulation of their thesis statement remains poor and searches continue to be fairly simplistic. Conclusions – This study gives evidence that giving independent research time in ILI sessions, with scaffolding, is an effective use of class time. The study also demonstrates that the majority of students are able to use what is taught during classes and that they are using class time effectively, though searching remains fairly simple. The focus of ILI sessions is on skill development, and future research should be on integrating IL into the curriculum to develop more complex skills and thinking needed in the research process.

2008 APSA Teaching and Learning Track Summaries—Track Three: Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Inequality

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (03) ◽  
pp. 615-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus D. Allen ◽  
Kea Gordon ◽  
Lanethea Mathews-Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Classroom Environments ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Critical Areas ◽  
Inequality In Education

The participants in the Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Inequality track represented a great deal of diversity themselves and included faculty and students from a rich variety of research institutions, private liberal arts colleges, and community colleges. While participants engaged issues and strategies in each of the three substantive areas—diversity, inclusiveness, and inequality in education (DIIE)—the bulk of our conversations focused on diversity and inequality. Topics included curriculum and course content issues, negotiating institutional support for DIIE, challenges of student recruitment and retention, and negotiating power relationships and identities among different kinds of student populations both within and outside of the classroom. This summary reviews four sets of questions that the group addressed and that point to critical areas rich for future research and reflection. In brief these are: (1) How can we simultaneously promote learning about difference and learning about ourselves? (2) How can faculty develop a range of strategic pedagogies and classroom environments in order to avoid some of the challenges inherent in teaching about DIIE? (3) How can we move beyond narrow understandings of diversity that limit the concept solely to a category of identity, neglecting the ways in which diversity and inequality are categories of analysis, processes, and indicative of power relations? (4) What steps are necessary to more fully integrate DIIE across the political science curriculum?

College Admissions in Twenty-First-Century America: The Role of Grades, Tests, and Games of Chance

2007 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
REBECCA ZWICK
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
College Admissions ◽  
Class Rank ◽  
College Selectivity ◽  
Campus Diversity ◽  
Admissions Policies ◽  
Games Of Chance ◽  
Small Liberal Arts Colleges

In this essay, Rebecca Zwick confronts the controversy surrounding the use of standardized tests in college admissions. She examines the degree to which the SAT and its lesser known cousin, the ACT, limit access to college, particularly for racial and ethnic minorities, and considers two alternative admissions policies that do not involve tests: class rank admissions systems and admissions lotteries. She finds that these initiatives carry their own controversies and have little impact on campus diversity. Zwick notes that some small liberal arts colleges have deemphasized tests and have achieved some success in increasing campus diversity while maintaining high academic standards, but highlights the difficulty of replicating these policies at large institutions. Her analysis sheds light on the ongoing tension between maintaining college selectivity and promoting equal opportunity.

The Exposure of Undergraduate Students to Human Factors/Ergonomics Instruction

1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 470-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Martin ◽  
Michael S. Wogalter
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
Human Factors And Ergonomics ◽  
Doctoral Institutions ◽  
The U.S

The present study examined the availability of human factors/ergonomics courses to students in the U.S. Fifty schools were selected randomly from each of four categories of universities and colleges (Research I and II, Doctoral I and II, Masters I and II, and Baccalaureate/Liberal Arts I and II). Only one human factors/ergonomics (HFE) course was found in the sample of liberal arts colleges and only 10% of the master's universities had such a course. Of the doctoral institutions 62% had no HFE courses and 44% of the research institutions had no HFE courses. The possible reasons for these results are discussed as well as some possible actions that might be taken within the context of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society's strategic plan to ameliorate this problem and expose students in higher education environments to the field, not only for the students' benefit but also for the discipline.

scholarly journals Entomology at Small Liberal Arts Colleges

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-109
Author(s):  
Kirk Larsen ◽  
Carrie L. Hall ◽  
Daniel R. Howard
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Small Liberal Arts Colleges
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document