Boosting Student Research Competencies through Collaborations

You're Not Alone:Using Collaborations to Increase Student Research Competencies CURTIS FERREE, REFERENCE,ELECTRONIC RESOURCES LIBRARIAN KAMALA KIEM, NEW STUDENT PROGRAMS JACKIE KREMER, REFERENCE AND OUTREACH LIBRARIAN SALLY O’DRISCOLL, ENGLISH FACULTY GLENN SAUER, BIOLOGY FACULTY LAURA WEBER, REFERENCE AND INSTRUCTION LIBRARIAN

Introduction Cross-campus collaborations can be used to increase student research skills • Classroom level: Embedded librarian in core English class • Program level: Partnership between Instruction Librarians and Biology department for research instruction • Campus-wide level: Collaboration between librarians and First Year Experience on Academic Integrity

Get Creative… • Use the provided worksheet to brainstorm ideas for collaboration on your campus…

Collaborations with ClassesSally O’Driscoll, Ph.D., EnglishCurtis Ferree, Library • The Problem: • Need to provide specialized research help, supplemental course materials, and contexual resources for students in a team-taught pilot course. • Background: • Gateway to Literary and Cultural Analysis Pilot Course • This course comprised 4 sections of students and was team taught by 4 professors. All students and professors would meet in the multimedia room at the Library for most classes, with occasional smaller breakout sessions. There were many extracurricular and special events associated with the class, such as author visits and fieldtrips to NYC. Students mostly upperclassmen and/or English Majors.

Collaborations with Classes cont. • Solution: • Embedded Librarian • Attends all classes and special events • Prepares weekly online course guide for supplemental materials • Prepares contextual presentations highlighting library resources • Provides research consultations as needed

Collaboration with Classes cont. • Results: • Research guide accessed 809 times during Fall Semester • Several research consultations with students • Increased access to class material gave librarian greater understanding of course assignments and expectations

Collaboration with Classes -- Revision • English curriculum revised-pilot format not feasible • Continued the next fall as a 100 level course • Part of “core” curriculum • Two sections instead of 4 • Both sections meet together 10 times per semester—Librarian attends joint meetings • Mixed results • Students struggled with theory • Fewer research consultations • Final research papers lacking • Online guide accessed only 283 times

Class Revisions cont. • Revised class structure based on new student demographic • Largely first and second year students • Non-majors • Supplemental materials not utilized • Research instruction needed to be more formalized/point of need • Restructured Course Guide • Added two formal instruction sessions • Annotated bibliography assignment

Class Revision cont. • Results • Guide accessed 662 times • Final papers • Built in assessment • Collaboration necessitates talking about what is working and what is not • Access to quantitative data (course guide hits) • Get to compare two sets of students

Questions? CURTIS FERREE, CFERREE@FAIRFIELD.EDU SALLY O’DRISCOLL, SODRISCOLL@FAIRFIELD.EDU

Collaborations with DepartmentsGlenn Sauer, Ph.D., BiologyLaura Weber, MLIS, Library • The Problem: • First-year Biology students lack the skills necessary to conduct scholarly research in the sciences and write a literature review. • Background: • BI 171 General Biology II (Majors) • This introductory course for biology majors covers biochemistry, energy utilization, anatomy and physiology, and the structure and function of plants and animals. Students receive hands-on experience with a broad range of topics and techniques in the accompanying laboratory. Three lectures, one lab. Four credits

Collaborations with Departments, cont’d… • The Solution: • Library instruction sessions for all BI 171 Peer Learning Groups! • 2 Instruction Librarians • 3 days, 9 sessions…50 minutes each • Groups of 8-10 students with their Peer Leader • 2010: 71 students • 2011: 90 students

Understand the physical space and library services • Develop a research topic and search terms • Find a book and background materials • Find articles in a general and literary databases • Understand basic Boolean searching • Create a citation, avoid plagiarism • Identify characteristics of a scholarly article Prior Knowledge Basic library knowledge from Freshman Library Program:

Identify components of a scientific research article • Understand the peer-review process • Identify subject-specific databases • Conduct advanced searches including citation chasing • Find full-text scientific research articles in science databases • Understand how to request items through interlibrary loan Skills added from BI 171 session: Peer leaders encouraged to participate

Supplemental Online Guide • #of Hits: • 2010: 698 • 2011: 317 (so far…)

AssessmentBrief online anonymous surveys…

Assessment cont’d… What did you learn today that you didn’t already know? Peer Leaders wished they had learned this material in their first year. “How to find articles specifically for biology related material. Also learned about peer-review process.” Peer Leaders learned something new in the sessions. “I learned about how to search for biology articles and the specific ways to look up an article. It was very helpful. I am happy I came. ” Anecdotal Evidence “How to navigate the databases and look up the articles/the references of articles.”

Future plans… • Spread awareness in Biology department • Make sure all students are aware of upcoming research assignment • Make sure material covered is sufficiently different from EN 11/12 sessions • Continue to encourage Peer Leaders to participate • “In the Disciplines”… collaborations with other departments for library instruction

Questions? • Contact Information: • Glenn Sauer, gsauer@fairfield.edu • Laura Weber, lweber@fairfield.edu

Collaborations Across the University ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: ENCOURAGING A FRANK DISCUSSION KAMALA KIEM AND JACKIE KREMER

What’s the Problem?What we want is for our student researchers is for them to care deeply about their work; find, evaluate, and engage with complex sources; perform ethical studies; and present accurate findings. Are we there? • 74% of high school jrs./srs. report one or more instances of test cheating in the past year.59% report an infraction involving plagiarism.McCabe/Katz (2009) • (36%) said that downloading a paper from the Internet was not a serious cheating offense, and (19%) said it isn’t cheating at all. Common Sense Media (2009)

35% of teens with cell phones admit to cheating at least once with them. 65% of all teens say others in their school cheat with them. • Only 41% of teens say that storing notes on a cell phone to access during a test is cheating and a “serious offense.” (23%) don’t think it’s cheating at all. • Similarly, only 45% say texting friends about answers during tests is cheating and a serious offense, while 20% say it’s not cheating at all. Common Sense Media (2009) IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY CHANGES?

Identifying partners to collaborate with • Background /explanation of FYE Program • Why FYE Program? How Can We Work Together?

FYE Lesson Plan Four Components: • Assigned Reading- Bill Taylor’s “Academic Integrity: A Letter to My Students”, plus Fairfield U Honor Code • Guided Questions during class • Activities during class • Reflective Journal Entry as follow-up assignment

FYE Lesson Plan Bill Taylor’s “Academic Integrity: A Letter to My Students” Four Possible Guided Questions, example: Prof. Taylor says that one of the most difficult aspects of academic integrity is challenging other students who are not living up to expectations. If you were in a situation in which a classmate was not living up to his or her responsibilities, how would you address it? Why would this be difficult? What is at stake—for you, for them, and for the class?

FYE Lesson Plan Three Possible Classroom Activities, example:Break students into 4 groups. Have each group come up with a list of common reasons for and scenarios when students are dishonest. Have each group rank the list by most common reasons. Each group should pass their list to another group and ask them to “solve” their problem by coming up with alternative actions. Example : Run out of time so buy a paper off Internet. Solution: Plan academic work weekly, using phone to set reminders.

FYE Lesson Plan Reflective Prompt as follow-up:After reading Professor Taylor’s letter and Fairfield U’s Honor Code, what does academic integrity mean to you? How will you apply it to your Fairfield University experience and to your personal values? Can you image challenges you will be facing and think through solutions?

Assessment Student Assessments “Students were really enthusiastic about the topic. We read various cheating scenarios, all which they have likely encountered throughout their educational experiences, and asked for their feedback.” “The reading was eye-opening and very accurate in terms of situations I have gone through that I can relate to. It was an extremely good way to start off class” Mentor Feedback “The discussion on academic integrity went very well- we spoke of our own dishonesties, that of our peers, and even that of professors. The discussion was very animated and many students participated by telling stories from their high schools.” “It taught me about how important academic integrity is to a student’s lifestyle. For example the letter says how would you want to be operated on by a doctor who cheated their way through medical school? This opened my eyes to how serious this issue actually is and its importance.”

Questions? KAMALA KIEM KKIEM@FAIRFIELD.EDU JACKIE KREMER JKREMER@FAIRFIELD.EDU

Boosting Student Research Competencies through Collaborations