U RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
OBJECTIVES |
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES |
1. Determine the nature and extent of the information needed |
a. Identify and develop a topic into a manageable focus b. Identify a variety of types and formats of potential sources for information |
2. Access needed information efficiently and effectively |
a. Construct and implement effectively designed research strategies using appropriate methods or information retrieval systems b. Retrieve information using a variety of methods and systematically manage the information and its sources |
3. Evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporate selected information into his or her knowledge base |
a. Evaluate information and its sources using appropriate criteria b. Identify main ideas and their potential relevance, summarizing and synthesizing key ideas |
4. Individually or as a member of a group, use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose |
a. Apply new and prior information to the planning and creation of a product or performance b. Communicate the product or performance effectively and clearly to others |
5. Understand many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and access and use information ethically and legally |
a. Acknowledge sources and use information following the conventions of a particular discipline b. Demonstrate an understanding of university policies regarding plagiarism, academic integrity, and use of campus networks and information resources |
To establish a common language across the curriculum for faculty and students, the student learning objectives are simplified into five research questions.
THE FIVE RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
The goal of U Research in the upper-level disciplinary courses is to reinforce and reiterate information literacy and research competencies in a disciplinary context, and to make them relevant and applicable to the problems that the student might encounter in the workplace or in postgraduate education.
U Research Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs):
SLO 1a. Identify and develop a topic. Defining and focusing the topic can be the most difficult part of research, and it is often an ignored part of the research process. Undergraduates may not possess the experience or knowledge to frame a topic within the larger context of the discipline. A well-focused topic or research question serves as a GPS for the rest of the research process; without it, students often end up submitting paper that is an unrelated compilation of paraphrased information from various sources.
SLO 1b. Clarify expectations regarding types and formats of sources that are needed.
SLO 2a & 2b. Access information. Students should be familiar with general library databases by the time they take the first U Research course in the major. Now is the time to introduce them to the professional journals, the disciplinary databases, and the professional terminology of the discipline.
SLO 3a. Evaluate information for credibility. With information being readily available over the web, it is crucial that students understand how to evaluate the credibility of a resource. This is arguably the skill that will be the most transferrable to other problem solving situations in academia, the workplace, and in lifelong learning.
SLO 3b. Summarize/synthesize main ideas from sources of information. This outcome is often difficult to differentiate from outcome 4a - "Applying new and prior information to the creation of a product." Students frequently employ “patchwriting” techniques because they do not take enough time to analyze and synthesize their source material. They skim the sources and attempt to paraphrase the source’s meaning without understanding main ideas or determining relevance (Jamieson & Howard, 2011).
SLO 4a. Apply new and prior information to the creation of a new product. This SLO encompasses the traditional criteria that are usually graded in a paper or product – the content. Example: Did the student include a comprehensive coverage of the topic? Did the student integrate compelling examples and ideas from sources to fully support the research position/topic? Did the student effectively handle any questions after the presentation?
SLO 4b. Communicate effectively and clearly. This outcome also encompasses the traditional criteria that are usually graded in a paper or product – the delivery mechanisms and the effectiveness of the communication. If the assignment is a presentation, did the student engage the audience with body language, eye contact, elocution, and delivery? Was the technology appropriately used to effectively communicate the message? If the assignment is a paper, this SLO includes writing mechanics such as style, grammar, punctuation, and spelling; length, and organization.
SLO 5a & 5b). Ethical and legal use of information. This U Research competency involves more than citing sources and avoiding plagiarism. When applied in a disciplinary context, it could include patient privacy, ethical use of images for graphic design, ethical use of musical performances, ethical human research, appropriate social media use, and proper use of university networks and resources.
What are your expectations for student research in your discipline? What research skills do students need to successfully complete your assignment? What problems have previous students had when completing this assignment? Identify the critical thinking elements and steps in the research process that students need to complete a good research product. Correlate them to the U Research Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and decide which ones you will teach and assess.