College Students Don't Know How To Research, Study Shows

According to a new report released by Project Information Literacy, college students do not know how to research correctly.

The study, which surveyed 8,353 students from 25 colleges, reports that 84 percent of respondents found "getting started" to be the hardest part of research projects. Additional problem areas include defining a topic, narrowing it, and sorting through results -- 66 percent, 62 percent and 61 percent of students found these steps to be the most difficult, respectively.

According to How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age,students engage in "risk-averse" research, in which they "use an information-seeking and research strategy driven by efficiency and predictability for managing and controlling all of the information available to them on college campuses" -- a method which, while it may allow students to earn passing grades, goes against the inherently exploratory nature of university level research.

PIL's co-principal investigator Alison J. Head explains that students "feel overwhelmed, and they're developing a strategy for not drowning in all information out there...They're basically taking how they learned to research in high school with them to college, since it's worked for them in the past," reports the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The report further concludes that most students do not use web 2.0 for research, and that they are more likely to turn to faculty advisors -- rather than research librarians -- when seeking help or advice. Encouragingly, the study determined that only 26 percent of students found it difficult to evaluate sources, and that 77 percent made sure that web sources (and 67 percent print sources) they used were current.

According to Phys Org, colleges and universities are responsible for teaching students how to properly embark on research projects, especially as more jobs call upon students to use research skills in the workplace.

In order to ensure that students are familiar with correct methods of inquiry, the report recommends re-training librarians to show students how to structure their searches, introduce rubrics into assignments, and asking students to account for their research as they complete each step.

Did your university teach you how to research properly? Are you struggling like the survey respondents? Let us know in the comments section.

Comments

[InfoSherpa]

02:21 AM on 11/28/2010

and districts are dismissing librarians across the country

and California has 1200 librarians for 9000 schools

where is the news?

[healthanalyst]

12:53 AM on 11/12/2010

One thing that is telling , Chicago Public Schools had at least 165 schools with NO library. One turned their library into a mentoring center / computer lab. If nothing else learn to copy out of the encyclopedia in elementary school. Somebody wrote something, you CAN look it up, There are books out there you can borrow. Find a book on lions and tigers and bears, then you end up looking at bears, and then you keep going. Never learn that, you're behind the curve.

[PeterOregon]

04:22 PM on 11/11/2010

As a returning, older student, I was frankly amazed at the resources available for research. I have access, from anywhere I can get a connection, to huge databases of scholarly publications, most with either abstracts or full articles online. Furthermore I can look up the catalogs of dozens of libraries and request books.

I've had to take two entry-level courses that required research papers, and both of them included a lecture session in the library with a research librarian to show us how to do it.

[lecloche]

12:28 PM on 11/11/2010

Colleges have prerequisite classes that require student to demonstrate skill sets in English, Math, History and such, so should they also have a class requirement for research. The following is a description of such a class at UCLA:

IS 10 Fundamentals of Information Searching & Evaluation
This course is specifically designed to introduce and facilitate first year undergraduate students knowledgeable use of the UCLA libraries’ bibliographic and information resources encompassing both general and specialized print and digital materials as well as relevant scholarly and professional literature in the humanities, physical and social sciences. Upon completion of this course, students are expected to have gained a mastery of basic UCLA library resources, information searching techniques and evaluation skills.

More is available here:

http://is.gseis.ucla.edu/academics/undergrad/index.htm

[sempronia]

08:29 AM on 11/11/2010

I had a professor my freshman year who gave us an activity at the beginning of the semester. We were asked to evaluate a number of bad websites for why they were bad, and then learn to search things on a number a databases that were helpful to that field. Fortunately, I went on to get a grad degree in that field, so I still use a lot of it, much of which has recently moved from book to digital form.

If there is room for professors to improve, it would be in considering assignments like that one, but I think the other problem is that students are reluctant to go and actually do the real research and, on the flip side, professors who were ambitious about assigning papers became less so after seeing the results. At the college where I am a grad student, I was shocked that one of the professors told students who were interested in going to grad school that they should "ask a professor to let them write a term paper rather than taking a final exam". Where I went to school, I had already written four short research papers in my first semester as a freshman!

[Ravi Abunijad]

12:36 AM on 11/11/2010

This may not be a college student phenomenon, I think it's a national social problem. Look at Yahoo! Answers; those people are asking questions that are easily searchable via Google, Bing, basically any search engine. Heck, often they could just type the question in on Yahoo's homepage search bar and find the solution. Google's interactive searchbar even does MATH for you, now.

I'm a graduate assistant (serving as a teaching assistant/lab instructor) at a state university... Recently, I overheard another TA explaining the existence of wikipedia to an undergrad girl who said she was having trouble understanding basic meteorology concepts. More importantly, the girl did not purchase the course textbook, which is part of the reason she was having difficulty.

Regarding undergraduate students... what I find is that many people expect someone to explain answers to them. They don't want to work through the process of figuring it out, logically - they just want someone to tell them. Often I am forced to review some basic lecture notes from the professor's class the day before, because students only memorize the items they are told may appear on an exam. I think this might explain the "getting started" trouble with research: Nobody is holding their hand to say "hey, start here and do THIS."

[pfods]

11:55 PM on 11/10/2010

i only have trouble researching for papers that have poor topics.

for example "events that lead to the first world war" is a fairly straight forward topic. but professors often don't assign such a straight forward topic. it either has to be something ambiguous which leaves the topic so wide open that it's extremely difficult to narrow it down and even start, or it's loaded down with so many caveats and sub-topics that are so specific it's near impossible to find a wide variety of sources on the matter.

i find that the biggest issue with papers, and for me, that's generally the cause of "don't know how or where to start"

[gfirmin57]

08:06 AM on 11/11/2010

That you need to narrow down the topic does not make it a poor topic. Instructors frequently make finding not just a subject but a focus within that subject part of the assignment. Finding a focus--finding a conversation to join--is a necessary part of research. You have to do preliminary research to find that focus. Some students just don't want to break with the research paradigm they have adopted: "Tell me what to write about."

[pfods]

09:35 AM on 11/11/2010

alright. tell me how successful a strategy that is after you get back a paper you poured hours into because you took it upon yourself to narrow it down just to have it say you failed to address the topic, when the topic is wide open and vague.

i'm all for blaming students, but i cannot stand this relativist crap that professors could not possibly be doing their job poorly. why are universities professors not under the same scrutiny as k-12 teachers?

[sempronia]

08:09 AM on 11/11/2010

Narrowing the topic down gives you agency -- that is, if you have a wide topic, pick one part of it and make it your own. This is not a problem that goes away, and you shouldn't get frustrated just because you haven't been told exactly what to think.

[pfods]

09:42 AM on 11/11/2010

i don't understand how you think that's a solution. when given a topic, the assignment is to answer the topic, not part of the topic.

when given a short answer question on a test with multiple points, do you just address one of the points and "make it your own"?

unless the professor assigns you a paper with the intent of having you pick your own subject(assignments that are unfortunately lacking, professors having instead opted for the "write a paper on exactly what i've said in class" method of teaching), then yes, it is the professors job to tell me what to think for the next 10-15 pages.

and there is a difference between a topic that says "second world war", where you can easily pick your own topic, than say "the cause of the second world war", which is extremely huge. the problem i find an awful lot, especially in majors other than mine, are gigantic dissertation style topics given to lower division classes.

[Robert Neblett]

08:12 PM on 11/10/2010

(Continued) Worst of all, when confronted with the numbers of plagiarized papers in my class, my department chair and area head both accused me of not adequately explaining to them what plagiarism was. I had to defend myself, while none of the students were required to explain the fact that they had cheated, not that I was ever able to see anyway. At least the Dean of the college stood up for me in this debacle.

[sempronia]

08:11 AM on 11/11/2010

I'm glad that the dean supported you on this. What an unholy mess!

[Robert Neblett]

08:10 PM on 11/10/2010

When I taught at a state university several years ago, 33% of the students in one of my upper-level courses plagiarized their term papers directly from internet sources. Only two students in the entire course actually listed a BOOK in their bibliographies as sources, even though the assignment parameters (and many hours of me telling them in class) strictly prohibited more than one internet source per paper. The particular campus of the university in question supposedly had the most extensive library holdings of any other campus in the state system. I was shocked when I heard that, because it was a poorly stocked, impossibly organized building, whose librarians were incredibly antagonistic to the faculty, so I have no doubt they actively terrorized the students. I demanded that my students bring in one book that they found in the library about their topics for a class assignment, to just give some basic information about what that book was, and only one student did so. The threat of failing that assignment was not enough to scare the others into caring or doing.

[loki]

07:00 PM on 11/10/2010

well duh. What do you expect. Universities brag about having the best and brightest professors to bring in students from all over the country and the world. Then they demand thousands of dollars of tuition , plus thousands more in fees and "other charges" . Then they usually have other students barely if one semester ahead of the class they are teaching, pretend to Teach. handing out premade lesson plans , reading presentations off premade power points, and giving premade exams , all premade by text book manufactures. The Professors, to special they cant be bothered teaching their knowledge to the students who enrolled due to them the first place. Then treat the students like garbage, not like the important customers they are , whom without there would be no university or privileged professors in the first place. Or the private parking spots for the deans, faculty, janitors, secretaries, chancellors, etc... making students walk miles, often being late for class due to last of accessible parking. Which also cost hundred to thousands a year.
Nope, I dont see how this story could be true, Im sure students would be getting the first rate education they are paying the rest of their lives dearly for. Its just cause they are lazy, crazy, stupid, unprepared, morons. Not because there is no real education happening at universities. Unless its an education on just how easily you can get ripped off by the wondrous higher education system. And it is a system.

[gfirmin57]

08:10 AM on 11/11/2010

This is nonsense. "Premade powerpoints"? What do you expect instructors to do, make the slide presentations in class? And yes, Faculty get parking places before students. Remember, WE are the professors; YOU are the student. The problem is with the quality of today's student--they are lazy and unprepared and seem to expect a B merely for showing up. That is certainly the case with my students.

[healthanalyst]

08:23 PM on 11/11/2010

Take your meds.

[bessielil]

04:08 PM on 11/10/2010

One of the skills first year students must learn is how to use university library data bases. They could not have been taught that in most HS because subscriptions are wildly expensive. Because they are so used to Web search engines, assume that what is in the top ten of Google must be the best sources, and cannot distinguish reliable sites from hoax sites, based on appearances, they flounder. If they don't have any academic curiosity, but rather the need for speed, they wind up cutting and pasting, plagiarizing, or thinking that 'changing the words around' is research.

[loki]

07:13 PM on 11/10/2010

They don’t teach how to use the data bases. They hand out a brief description of what the assignment is, then if there are any questions, they send them to the writing lab or libraries, whom are not allowed to do anything much more than proof read. Not technically allowed to assist in the assignment. Including helping the Jstor, Mobius, Merlin or the many other research data bases usually available. There is no real teaching at all anymore. Its usually an undergrad or if your lucky a grad student who in exchange for their babysitting and reading skills, for discounted tuition themselves. Professors are seldom see beyond the college news paper, special events, media coverage, or to pick up their checks if they don’t have direct deposit. Same with the Chancellors and deans. They might as well just make Wikipedia the official research data base for as good as most universities do these days. And I talk from much experience in this myself. Its faculty first, and maybe if your lucky, students somewhere after grounds care and parking lot sweeping. . Who would be motivated when they are treated like trash? Or wait, I forgot, they do that to get students ready for the working world.. Yeah right, except the working world doesn’t get 15 grand every 3 months from the employee. They pay the employee. Big difference.

[Mountain Momma]

01:53 AM on 11/11/2010

If you have an undergrad teaching your courses, blame yourself for your poor choice in colleges. I have never seen an undergrad teach a course. The only grad students we have teaching courses are doctoral students - more than qualified to teach an undergrad class. Even then, in my college over 90% of classes are taught by full faculty.

[gfirmin57]

10:08 AM on 11/11/2010

"There is no real teaching at all anymore." Umm...no. Every place that I have taught incorporates library instruction into at least one of their comp. courses. If you are part of the UM system--and I'm guessing you are by your mention of Merlin/Mobius--then you should have received it. If you CLEPed out of freshman comp., well, you are still responsible for the material and if you choose not to take the course it is up to you to learn the material on your own. You can't expect every class to provide instruction in researching.

Your university library employs what is known as reference librarians. You can schedule an appointment with one of them to help you with any research project. They will show you the best databases to use for your subject, and instruct you in navigating the catalogues. They will show you how to order books from other campuses in the UM system, or through Mobius (university libraries all over the state). You can even order a book for libraries in other states (and abroad) using Interlibrary Loan. The reference librarian will show you how to do this. There are also undoubtedly handouts explaining this in the library.

I find it extremely unlikely that you have been treated "like trash." The problem is--clearly--your whiny attitude. You are not an employee; nor are you a customer. You are a student.

[Lisbeth35]

02:47 PM on 11/10/2010

neither do the journalists at Fox News.

[loki]

07:28 PM on 11/10/2010

but fox isn't charging students tens of thousands a year, promising an education. In fact, Mr Murdoch openly stated that there is no law that says the news has to be honest, truthful or accurate, and his company Fox is there to make money. Money comes from viewers, and viewers come for entertainment. Fox, he said, is an entertainment channel first and foremost.
And I am paraphrasing here..

Sorry, I'm not only to MLA citations for all this. Tough doo doo.

[addisonsteele]

02:24 PM on 11/10/2010

My public high school taught me my basic research skills. Of course, that was during a time when high schools actually tried to teach something (90% of my graduating class of 749 attended four year colleges).

[MRKLenox]

03:44 PM on 11/10/2010

Same here. There is no reason a university should be engaged in remedial studies of anything - especially conducting basic research.
And the whole idea of introducing rubrics and having to account for research every step of the way sounds like grade school. Do young adults really require this much handholding?
How is it possible that a high school graduate intent on getting a Bachelor's hasn't mastered the necessary skills to write a research paper?

[loki]

07:20 PM on 11/10/2010

I agree, todays high school grads should know much of this. But they dont. And if the universities dont hold their hand and walk them through it, these students will become disillusioned and drop, maybe not even stay in school at all. Sure, a hard core do it or die hard conservative might just say screw them then. But remember, most medium sized universities have around 4000 students per semester in the basic comp classes. And many of those today are non traditional students, who may have never had any of these skills ,depending on how long ago they graduated high school. So would you just blow off a couple thousand possible students every semester per school? or would you try to help them as much as possible so they have a fighting chance to graduate and help the economy, as well as the millions of dollars they will be paying over 4 + years for their degree...
Dont know about you, but its really a no brainier. Unless you just dont care about anyone but yourself that is.

[REDSTATEREFUGEE]

05:14 PM on 11/11/2010

I appreciate your point of view, MRKL, but, unfortunately, at least here in Central California, high schools do not, as a general rule, produce students with a sound background in basic research techniques. In fact, the "senior project" research assignment has been described, by my freshman comp students, as just a tool to keep them occupied for their last year of classes, for the teachers accept the fact that they are not paying attention anyway ( !!! ).

When I began teaching freshman comp in 1968 ( yes, I am that damned old ), the curriculum did not call for a research paper in the first course, for it was assumed that our public schools had provided at least a modicum of training for that work. Now, the research paper is worth 40% of the entire English 101 grade, 20% for preliminary deliverables and 20% for the final product at the end of the course.

I carefully review the four stages of research, planning and management, sources, note taking, and, of course, writing the paper. I have been told that this approach was the most useful part of the course. In many cases, we who teach introductory courses, primarily found in the freshman year, have to supplement what high school curricula did not contain. And I will save remarks about expository prose training for a later discussion....Class dismissed.

[yally]

02:08 PM on 11/10/2010

Perhaps another reason to not cut humanities or even social sciences, both emphasize and reward good research skills. I'm not saying that the sciences don't, but I feel some of the pre-professional degrees skate over the basics of how to conduct research.

Then again, some may be happy receiving the passing C no matter what...

[jcop815]

01:50 PM on 11/10/2010

Don't they know that wikipedia is the greatest place to get started on anything? And then they can expand from there.

[Spank05]

04:35 PM on 11/10/2010

Well.... maybe not ANYTHING.....

[kondo85]

06:44 PM on 11/10/2010

Hey, as long as they don't try to use it as a primary source, I tell students they can look to Wikipedia as a place to get started.