The Shocking Truth About
Student Research Skills
(…And How It’s Spreading
Across the Country!)
Sarah Burns Feyl, Assistant University Librarian
Doug Heimbigner, Instructional Services Librarian
Jennifer Rosenstein, First Year Outreach Services Librarian

What is
Project Information Literacy?
O National study about college students
and their research habits
O Started in 2008: six studies since then
O Methods: surveys, interviews, focus
groups, content analysis
O Participants: over 11,000 students at
50+ U.S. institutions
O You can see the list of institutions at
the website: http://projectinfolit.org

Pace Library Experience Survey
O Conducted in UNV 101 beginning in
2000
O Paper survey, we tried online and our
response rate dropped significantly
O The survey has evolved over time
O i.e. removed the question asking if they
use social networking tools
O We receive surveys from about 1/3 to 1/2
of the first year students

Findings:
O “What one word sums up how you feel at
the moment you receive a course-related
research assignment?”
O Angst, tired, dread, fear, anxious,
annoyed, stressed, disgusted,
intrigued, excited, confused, and
overwhelmed
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_ProgressReport_2_2009.pdf

Findings:
O What did PIL students report as
the most difficult step of the
course-related research process?
O Getting started (84%)
O Defining a topic (66%)
O Narrowing it down (62%)
O Filtering through irrelevant results (61%)
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf

Findings: Getting Started
O POLL
O When do students begin working on
a research assignment?
O 2 to 3 days before it is due

Findings: Getting Started
O Related: A large majority of students
reported spending three hours on
research and another two hours on
writing—one or two days before a 5-7
page course-related research paper
was due.
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_ProgressReport_2_2009.pdf

Findings: Context
O When beginning a research assignment,
PIL students indicate the need for “big
picture” context, a summary of the topic,
background information, overview of
vocabulary
O Where do students get this “big picture”
context?
O POLL
O Wikipedia
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2009_finalv_YR1_12_2009v2.pdf

Findings: Wikipedia
O Wikipedia gave students a workaround for
obtaining the big picture and language
contexts they frequently lacked for course-
related research
O In nearly three-quarters of the student
discussions—8 out of 11 sessions—
there was a strong consensus among
students that their research process
began with Wikipedia
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_ProgressReport_2_2009.pdf

Findings:
Beginning the Assignment
O Where do students actually begin their
course-related research assignments?
O POLL
O In PIL, almost all of the respondents
turned to course readings first
O In the PLES, over 50% of respondents
start with an “Internet search”
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2009_finalv_YR1_12_2009v2.pdf

Findings: Use of the Library
O What percentage of students use Library
research databases to search for articles?
O POLL
O PIL: 80% (college students)
O PLES: 58% (used in high school)
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_ProgressReport_2_2009.pdf

Findings: Use of the Library
O What percentage of students use the
Library’s Catalog to search for books?
O POLL
O PIL: 78% (college students)
O PLES: 62% (used in high school)
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_ProgressReport_2_2009.pdf

Findings: Databases
O What is the top reason PIL students report
using scholarly research databases?
O POLL
O they are a source of credible information
(78%)
O to meet instructorsʼexpectations (74%)
O to succeed on the assignment (62%)
O it saved them a visit the library (43%)
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_ProgressReport_2_2009.pdf

Findings: Librarians
O What percentage of students used a
librarian for help with a course-related
research assignment?
O POLL
O PIL: 20%
O PLES: only 52% of first year students
indicated they had a research session
with their high school librarian
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_ProgressReport_2_2009.pdf

Findings: Evaluating
Information
O What is the top factor considered by PIL
students when evaluating web content?
O Whether the content was up-to-date
(77%)
O Author’s credentials (73%)
O Site URL or domain (i.e. .edu or .gov)
(71%)
O If a bibliography exists on the site (54%)
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf

Findings: Evaluating
Information
O How do Pace students evaluate web
content?
O Comparing to other information sources
(15%)
O Does it have citations/sources listed
(13%)
O Domain (.edu , .gov ) (13%)

Findings: Finishing
O Students were perplexed with completing
the research process with almost half
finding it difficult to decide whether they
had done a “good job” (46%).
O “the first stages of research for course work
initiate a process few students
thoroughly understand and grasp with
much confidence. Few students we
interviewed considered themselves wholly
competent at completing research for one
course research assignment to the next.”
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf

What can we do to help
students?

Findings: Role of Instructors
O Almost two-thirds of the sample (63%) found
in-class discussions about how to conduct
research useful
O The actual writing and editing of papers is
another way that students see instructors
helping them complete course-related
research assignments. A majority of the
respondents (71%) considered
instructorsʼreview of paper drafts helpful
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_ProgressReport_2_2009.pdf

Findings: Role of Instructors
O Over three-fourths of the students
(76%) surveyed considered written
guidelines about course-related
assignments, especially which
sources to use, as one of the most
helpful materials an instructor can
provide
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Handout_Study_finalvJuly_2010.pdf

Thank you!
O Sarah Burns Feyl
O sburnsfeyl@pace.edu
O Doug Heimbigner
O dheimbigner@pace.edu
O Jennifer Rosenstein
O jrosenstein@pace.edu