Research skills

In this article, the authors, based on a process developed in the context of US higher education, demonstrate a model for undergraduate student research skill development that involves academic staff writing collaborative book reviews with undergraduate students and librarians, especially librarians that are also academic staff with relevant content expertise. This model can and should be modified to fit various disciplinary contexts and academic circumstances, potentially around the world. The authors acknowledge that this model will be more useful for academic staff in the social sciences and humanities as compared to the so-called hard or natural sciences. The authors reimagine book reviews based on the notion of ‘scholarship as conversation’ in library science. As evidence, the authors describe the origins of this unique collaborative process and document the impact of academic staff, librarians, and undergraduate students partnering to increase the academic rigor of book reviews. Contributing to scholarship at the intersection of research skill development, information literacy, and embedded librarianship, this article identifies a strategic opportunity for collaboration that makes writing reviews more engaging and educationally productive for students, academic staff, and librarians.

Purpose: This paper provides an overview of the literature on digital games designed or adapted for information literacy instruction, as well as practical design recommendations.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents an analysis of a compiled set of peer-reviewed articles on games in the provision of information literacy instruction published between 2013–2018, categorized by game mechanics utilized.

Findings: Application of the inclusion criteria led to 12 papers considered relevant. Synthesis of the papers suggests that although studies indicate positive outcomes for information literacy games, such games continue to rely on transcription of declarative tasks to digital environments.

Originality/value: While previous literature reviews provide summaries on information literacy digital games, this paper not only presents an up-to-date review but also provides step-by-step instructions and worked examples for aligning information literacy learning mechanics with game mechanics.

In the current article, I describe a case of experiential learning that can be used to enhance learning, students’ research skills and motivation in academic institutions. We used the already existing process of hackathons – intense computer programming events – and conducted a social science research marathon. Fifty-two graduate students participated in the event working in seven research teams for 12 straight hours. The teams designed and ran empirical experiments ‘from scratch’ under a specific challenge (the Israeli elections) and then collected data, analysed it and shared their results. Our main goals were: (a) to enhance participants’ research skills and (b) to strengthen their intrinsic motivation through hands-on experiential learning, and finally, (c) to conduct high-quality empirical research that could be the basis of peer-reviewed scholarly articles if further developed. According to a post-event survey, all three goals were fulfilled successfully.

Background. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the process by which a clinician evaluates the quality of evidence before applying it in the management of a patient. Many practitioners struggle to integrate this research-based evidence into their professional practice. Blogs have been identified as useful pedagogical tools that can facilitate the sharing of ideas and clinical experiences among peers to reflect on diverse learning experiences.
Objectives. A qualitative research design was used to examine the use of reflective blogging to teach the process of EBP in physiotherapy.
Methods. A conveniently selected group of postgraduate students who were registered for an EBP module participated in the study. Blogging was used to teach the process of EBP in physiotherapy using Kolb's cycle as a guiding and an evaluative framework. Students reflected on and shared their learning experiences in ways that exposed the limits of their understanding around certain concepts.
Results. The results reflect how students moved from assisted to independent performance by identifying gaps in their own understanding and finding the answers themselves.
Conclusion. Reflective blogging was found to be a valuable tool for promoting meaningful learning activities among participants and assisted students in making sense of their shared experiences. It was also an effective tool to be used in teaching the process of EBP

The ability to design appropriate experiments in order to interrogate a research question is an important skill for any scientist. The present article describes an interactive lecture-based activity centred around a comparison of two contrasting approaches to investigation of the question Can you smell fear?  A poorly designed experiment (a video clip from the TV series Brainiac Science Abuse) is considered alongside the methods used in a peer-reviewed paper examining the same issue. The exercise is applicable both for students in their later years of secondary education and during the first year of a university-level bioscience course.

With an emphasis on practising evidence-based medicine, medical schools encourage students’ participation in research as well as providing opportunities to present their findings at conferences. Recognition of such work is a credit to the individual, adding to the list of achievements in their portfolio. In the UK, as part of the standards laid out by the General Medical Council in Tomorrow’s Doctors, it is expected that doctors should function as clinicians and scientists by being able to critically appraise medical literature to provide the best possible patient care. This can encourage students to become involved in projects to gain experience in these skills and also to publish this work in academic journals.

This article considers digital curation in doctoral study and the role of the doctoral supervisor and institution in facilitating students' acquisition of digital curation skills, including some of the potentially problematic expectations of the supervisory relationship with regards to digital curation. Research took the form of an analysis of the current digital curation training landscape, focussing on doctoral study and supervision. This was followed by a survey (n=116) investigating attitudes towards importance, expertise, and responsibilities regarding digital curation. This research confirms that digital curation is considered to be very important within doctoral study but that doctoral supervisors and particularly students consider themselves to be largely unskilled at curation tasks. It provides a detailed picture of curation activity within doctoral study and identifies the areas of most concern. A detailed analysis demonstrates that most of the responsibility for curation is thought to lie with students and that institutions are perceived to have very low responsibility, whilst individuals tend to over-assign responsibility to themselves. Finally, the research identifies the most common types of support system for curation and suggests ways in which students, supervisors, institutions, and others can effectively and efficiently address problematic areas and improve digital curation within doctoral study. The International Journal of Digital Curation is an international journal committed to scholarly excellence and dedicated to the advancement of digital curation across a wide range of sectors. The IJDC is published by the University of Edinburgh on behalf of the Digital Curation Centre. ISSN: 1746-8256. URL: http://www.ijdc.net/ Copyright rests with the authors. This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution (UK) Licence, version 2.0. For details please see

Background: The importance of medical research in developing academic and clinical excellence is widely acknowledged. Obstacles
hindering research in primary care include negative attitudes, lack of dedicated time, funding shortages, and a relative paucity of mentors.
Residency is the appropriate stage for developing research skills and encouraging research performance. In this article, we describe an
intensive research training program offered at the family medicine (FM) Department, Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, Israel.
The program aims to engage residents in FM in constructing a research protocol to provide them with a positive experience, help them
to overcome barriers, and enhance their research performance. Methods: Learning is achieved through a course design that includes
the following six components: (1) course website: a platform for online collaborative learning; (2) inverted classroom: theory is learned
through website video lectures and presentations during resident’s own time according to a guided schedule, while weekly classroom
sessions are dedicated to step‑by‑step implementation of theory, group discussion, and individual mentoring; (3) Peer feedback; (4)
personal mentoring; (5) presentation of the protocol to peers and senior department staff at the end of the course; and (6) evaluation of
protocol presentation and engagement during the research course as well as possibilities for further development. Results: Five teams of
residents went on to conduct full research projects. Their studies have been presented at seven national and three international conferences,
and one has been published. The outcomes of these studies have been useful in FM practices and have inspired residents to continue
scholarly work in our department. Discussion: Innovation in teaching methods enhances engagement in learning research skills among
residents and may encourage them to conduct research in primary care.

Desde una perspectiva analítico-reflexiva las instituciones de educación superior (IES) deberán cuestionarse ¿de qué manera el currículo aprovecha las potencialidades de las tecnologías de la información y comunicación (TIC) y el internet para el desarrollo de competencias de los universitarios?. Particularmente las IES deberán reconocer el paradigma de la educación mediada por tecnología (EMT) asociado con los procesos cognitivos, la usabilidad pedagógica de las TIC y las competencias para la investigación, lo anterior con el propósito de establecer la fundamentación didáctico-pedagógica para el empleo de los recursos digitales y tecnológicos en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, así como para la formación de jóvenes investigado- res. Por otra parte, el paradigma de la EMT deberá explicar ¿de qué manera internet contribuye con el desarrollo cognitivo?, es decir, ¿cómo la usabilidad tanto de las TIC como de la red de redes (www, por sus siglas en inglés) estimulan los procesos de pensamiento básico y avanzado de los universitarios? y ¿de qué manera impacta en su desarrollo de habilidades para la investigación formal?. Así mismo, resulta apremiante que las IES clarifiquen ¿cómo el empleo deliberado de internet se deberá insertar en su planeación curricular?, permitiendo valorar los aportes didácticos de la mediación tecnológica, así como su relevancia para el logro de los objetivos de aprendizaje.

Palabras clave: Competencias universitarias, desarrollo cognitivo, TIC, formación de investigadores, planeación curricular.

There is a growing concern in scholarly literature indicating that college students struggle with conducting research and using information effectively (Head, 2013; Lawrence, 2013; Head & Eisenberg, 2011). This research study examines the elements and causes of information illiteracy from a secondary education perspective. The methods used assess the information literacy skill levels of high school juniors, intervene with information literacy instruction, and evaluate the merit of the intervention. The project purpose is threefold: (1) establish a baseline of students’ ability to seek, use, disseminate, and communicate information; (2) determine what instructional strategies (including self-paced resources, collaborative instruction, and assessments) will increase student capacity to locate and integrate information; and (3) measure student and teacher perceptions of the importance of information literacy.Currently, the Common Core State Standards Initiative (2012) treats information literacy as a skill component to be integrated into the curriculum. Since there is not a state-sanctioned assessment examining information literacy within North Carolina, this study will serve as a springboard for capturing data related to information literacy. Whenimplemented at the district level, this intervention method will use existing standards (specifically curriculum) to increase student readiness for career and college-level course work.

Objective: To design a proposal that allow first-year students of dentistry from Central University of Venezuela, an approach to research activities through the development of a literature review based on analysis of evidence, within the framework of the program's objectives of the subject "Biochemistry" for the school period 2008-2009. Methods: Feasible project in which are defined strategies for the incorporation to the teaching/learning process of the subject "Biochemistry", knowledge about search, valuation and use of evidence, and in addition has settled the methodological guidelines for conducting of a documentary research work by students studying this subject. Results: The proposal was made by defining of the objectives, the approach of the justification, the analysis of the feasibility in terms of human and technological resources available, and the description of the stages of the project implementation with their execution schedule. Conclusions: There are many initiatives across the globe attempting to give a new approach to dental education, for adapt the professional practice to the needs of the contemporary society. The pillars of this reform of the curricula are the research and the Evidence-Based Dentistry. The first will contribute to the development of core competencies such as critical thinking, teamwork, ethics and social responsibility. The second will allow the integration of these competencies to the decision making at various levels of the institutions providing dental services and general health

To prepare students to face the world of work, universities should ensure that engineers graduating from their campuses demonstrate entrepreneurial skills and the ability to understand market forces alongside domain knowledge. This exploratory study focused on the design, application, and evaluation of a research-based coursework assignment in a business communication course offered to undergraduate level engineering students at a university college in Oman. The assignment aimed at developing students' entrepreneurship skills, basic business concepts, creativity, critical thinking, communication skills, and research skills. Student perceptions on the role of assignment in developing the above-mentioned skills and in influencing their affective domain were gathered using a survey questionnaire carrying closed and open-ended questions. The data were analyzed using SPSS and frequency tables were generated. The results of the survey revealed that the students enjoyed working on the assignment and showed strong agreement for most of the items on the role of assignment in developing their skills and knowledge. The assignment model used in this study can support teachers in designing assessments that target the development of entrepreneurial skills alongside other meta-skills and can help solve the problem of unemployment in due course.

Contributo presentato al VI Congresso CUCS (Coordinamento Universitario per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo) tenutosi a Trento dal 19 al 21 settembre 2019, durante la sessione parallela "Practices for engaging students in international development cooperation activities". Il lavoro presenta l’esperienza didattica realizzata, a partire dall’anno accademico 2015/2016, all’interno dell’insegnamento “Pedagogia Sociale dello Sviluppo Umano e Cooperazione Internazionale”, del corso di studi magistrale LM-57/85 in Scienze dell’Educazione degli Adulti, della Formazione Continua e Scienze Pedagogiche dell’Università di Firenze.

The accurate assessment of research self-efficacy may help identify a given self-identified strengths and weaknesses with respect to research, thereby facilitating research training and guidance. This study focused on the Master Teachers' (MTs) skills and attitudes towards research as basis for research capability building program for MTs in the Schools Division of Zambales. The study used the descriptive-survey design. The data gathered were organized and processed through the SPSS. Majority of the MTs were middle aged, female and married, earned MA/MS units, and have served as Master Teacher I for 1-4 years. A very small percentage of the MTs have attended research-related trainings or conferences and undertaken, published or presented researches. They have average skills in searching, using and evaluating information including their awareness on the various sources of information and where to obtain them. They have fair skills in designing experimental study as well as selecting and developing research instruments, choosing appropriate statistical tools and preparing manuscript for publication. They strongly value training in educational research but moderately apply research findings to real life context. They have high regards relative to the value of doing research to become better educator. Time, efforts and resources in learning about research findings were essential elements to create positive attitudes towards research. A research capability training program is hereby proposed as the output of the study. The program consists of various levels from lectures, hands-on workshop, and writing research articles for colloquium and for possible publication.

Best Paper Award InSite 2018-
The digital divide and educational inequalities remain a problem impacting low income, first-generation, and minority learners and higher education is challenged to meet the needs of students with varying levels of technological readiness.

Growing body of studies has stressed the role of research in teacher education since conducting research informs both teachers and students, and contributes to professional skills. Therefore, this study aimed to find out and compare the perspectives of pre-service and in-service English teachers in an EFL context with regard to finding sufficient resources to conduct research, whether they are involved in research-related activities and find research findings applicable. Qualitative research method was used to get detailed responses from the participants and form a theory upon emerging themes and categories. The qualitative findings were further supported with numbers in the form of frequency and percentage tables to include both qualitative and quantitative means, utilize complementary purposes of words and numbers, and get the outmost profit from numerical and non-numerical data. There were 340 participants and it took more than about one year to collect the data. 290 pre-service English teachers from four different state universities and 50 in-service English teachers from 15 different cities participated in the study. The participants reflected their perspectives upon the importance of research in teacher education by answering questions in a written interview protocol (WIP). Statistical procedures were applied to form the frequency and percentage tables whereas constant comparison of grounded theory was used to code and categorize interview items, and form a theory summarizing the macro-level and micro-level factors affecting participant responses. The findings showed that there exist similarities and differences between pre-service and in-service English teachers. More than half of the pre-service participants (N: 147) and high majority of the in-service participants (N: 43) reflected unfavorable perspectives upon finding sufficient opportunities, following publications and feasibility of research findings. Additionally, the emerging categories of pre-service answers are more varied compared to in-service teachers. In general, the in-service participants were found to be more pessimistic about educational research more than the pre-service participants. At the end of the analysis P.I.S. Theory emerged to cover the determinants of research in teacher education. According to P.I.S. Theory, there exist three macro-level determinants namely Personal, Institutional and Stakeholder-related issues which shape the route of research in teacher education and include micro-level determinants. The findings point out the gap between university classrooms and school classrooms in terms of promoting research among teachers. Participant quotations also draw attention on their changing flow of teacher identity relating research in the course of trainings they go through in years. In light of the findings, it can be said that promoting research skills among students should go beyond integrating a compulsory course at graduate level, be handled with an across-the-curriculum understanding and further expand to bridge pre-service and in-service teacher education with a systematic approach through university-school collaboration and teacher-researcher collaboration.

After more than a decade of teaching the course of research skills, I believe that the need for reference works on proposal writing for students and researchers is an essential handout. Not only to acquire the ability to write successful researched proposals but also to share my experience with them. The purpose of this review is to screen research skills literature to identify how and why proposals are written. Ultimately, to provide a document that guides students and researchers to write an effective proposal for their research projects. I found following accredited proposal guidelines will help to produce an effective successful document. However, there is no one single format but general template. Every institution, journal or funding agency has its own format. But all have this sequence: introduction, objectives, methodology, workplan, budget, references and annexes. 1) Background: There is no single formula for a strong effective proposal. There are a number of precepts that are consistently found in successful proposals. The sooner one learns them, the better. (1) When a social scientist desires to conduct an experiment, he first develops a proposal. The proposal introduces the problem, the significance of a study as well as the experimenter's research question and hypothesis. It also gives a brief explanation of the theory guiding the study, a review of relevant literature pertaining to the theory, and the procedure for the experiment. (2) The goal of a research proposal is to present and justify the need to study a research problem. As well as, to show design elements and procedures for conducting the research. It goes without saying the proposal must provide persuasive evidence that a need exists for the proposed study. (3)

The present paper intends to focus on research training in Moroccan universities through investigating doctoral students' perceptions of this training and drawing conclusions and suggestions for the improvement of higher education research practices. This study used a mixed research method with an explanatory survey design. First, a survey was conducted with 144 Moroccan doctoral students to answer research questions on the integration of research courses in undergraduate curriculum, the quality of this research training and the difficulties facing students while conducting research. Then, interviews were carried out with 40 subjects to seek further explanations and triangulate data obtained through the questionnaire. The findings of this study indicate that doctoral students receive little practical training in research prior to starting doctoral studies. Thus, they undergo a myriad of challenges while writing their doctoral theses as they lack autonomy when it comes to carrying out their investigations. Most often these challenges are linked to narrowing the scope of their research, using appropriate methodology, and publishing their research findings. Besides, the students reported difficulties linked with the quality of supervision they get and the lack of financial support to conduct their research in optimal conditions. Based on these findings, some practical implications and recommendations have been drawn.

Objetivo: Diseñar una propuesta para la conformación de una red venezolana de investigación odontológica como estrategia formativa para el desarrollo y fortalecimiento de competencias que mejoren la capacidad de respuesta a los problemas de salud bucal de la población. Metodología: Se formuló un proyecto factible, que como tipo de investigación recurre a la elaboración de una propuesta con la que se pretende contribuir a la resolución de un problema concreto, el cual ha sido identificado y analizado adecuadamente. Resultados: Se establecieron las características de la red propuesta, las estrategias para su conformación y los resultados esperados en una primera evaluación del trabajo ha realizarse en ella. Se sugieren adicionalmente algunos mecanismos para fomentar la participación estudiantil, profesoral y de otros interesados. Conclusiones: La conformación de esta red es viable, dado el incremento de iniciativas individuales orientadas a incorporar la investigación al proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en pre y postgrado. Sólo se requiere de una visión gerencial que reconozca en este tipo de iniciativas una gran fortaleza capaz de minimizar el impacto de las amenazas que, en países como Venezuela, se ciernen sobre el sector

Para un desarrollo social óptimo, es indispensable que los profesionales de las distintas áreas reúnan un conjunto de competencias que incrementen su capacidad de dar respuestas efectivas y oportunas a los problemas y necesidades de la población. Una estrategia para lograrlo es a través de la investigación formativa en el ámbito universitario, capaz de consolidar una cultura profesional centrada en la construcción de soluciones creativas, eficientes y eficaces, desde la indagación. Diversas experiencias demuestran que iniciativas como esta contribuyen significativamente al desarrollo sustentable, al preparar a los estudiantes para enfrentar los retos que plantea la creciente demanda social por una mejor calidad de vida, cuya satisfacción implica un abordaje inter, multi y transdisciplinario

La educación odontológica debería estar orientada a desarrollar competencias en las nuevas generaciones de profesionales que les permitan dar respuesta oportuna y efectiva a los problemas de salud bucal de la población, sustentándose este modelo de educación en la incorporación de actividades de investigación en pregrado vinculadas a la valoración o generación de evidencia, y en tal sentido, diversas experiencias han demostrado la eficacia de este enfoque de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Sin embargo, el éxito de la implementación de este modelo depende de su aceptación por parte de la comunidad estudiantil, aunque la calidad del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en este contexto va mucho más allá de tal aceptación, por lo que el grado de satisfacción de los estudiantes como resultado de dicho proceso se constituye en un valioso indicador de la calidad del mismo. Objetivo: Determinar el grado de satisfacción obtenida por los estudiantes del primer año de la Facultad de Odontología de la Universidad Central de Venezuela como resultado de la integración de la investigación al proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en la asignatura "Bioquímica" en el período lectivo 2008-2009. Métodos: Para la realización de este estudio transversal se encuestó a un grupo de estudiantes seleccionados aleatoriamente (40% del total de cursantes de la asignatura en el mencionado período lectivo). En la selección se excluyeron a aquellos alumnos que no realizaron el trabajo de investigación asignado. Resultados: 81,9% de los encuestados (77 estudiantes) señalaron estar "Muy Satisfechos" con la experiencia, luego de valorar cualitativamente los aspectos positivos y negativos que de acuerdo a ellos se desprendieron del enfoque dado a la materia. Conclusiones: De acuerdo al presente estudio existe un alto grado de satisfacción en los estudiantes derivado de los conocimientos adquiridos a partir de la incorporación de la investigación al proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en la asignatura. Trabajos como el aquí descrito son una importante fuente de retroalimentación para el docente y su institución al permitir identificar fortalezas y debilidades en dicho proceso, así como oportunidades para enriquecerlo. Este debe ser el enfoque de una educación odontológica que responda a los retos que impone la creciente demanda por profesionales que aporten soluciones creativas a los problemas de salud oral que surgen en el marco de un sistema sanitario con recursos cada vez más escasos

Workshop 8: Linking student work to research

High Expectations? Why not !

A generic framework for achieving high quality in a student’s performance

Abstract:
High school students are used to a certain way of working in a protective school environment, closely supervised by their teachers. The collaborative partnership between Mediterranean College and the University of Derby involves a transition to the more demanding academic environment, which requires certain skills and specific ways of operating and working. This includes the need to discover and acquire knowledge, but also to critically evaluate all the information that is offered to them and it demands a well-defined working framework. As students themselves begin to understand the academic demands of the modules, the role of the academic tutor is vital in showing the way to these students and helping them progress, up to the level where their work can even become part of the academic community by publication in a conference or journal. If these requirements are met, we can definitely have high expectation from nearly all of them. This workshop is led by Mediterranean College and involves participation by a Programme Leader and a group of students studying Business and Computing undergraduate and post graduate programmes.