According to faculty who teach undergraduate students, the most important research abilities for undergraduates to have are understanding the ethics of using information and incorporating sources into a paper. You perceive that students are best at using figuring out how to get or request full text and especially need help with narrowing a research topic and evaluating information sources.
Compare these ratings with undergraduate students’ level of comfort in performing research-related activities.
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| Average Score for Importance of Ability (5 = “High”) | Average Score for Perception of Performance (5 = “High”) | |
| Choosing a research topic | 3.83 | 3.27 |
| Narrowing a research topic | 3.87 | 3.09 |
| Figuring out which library databases to use | 4.18 | 3.36 |
| Searching within library databases | 4.34 | 3.36 |
| Figuring out how to get or request full text | 4.22 | 3.42 |
| Evaluating information sources (e.g. determining quality, validity, bias) | 4.32 | 3.15 |
| Incorporating sources into a paper | 4.45 | 3.45 |
| Citing sources correctly | 4.43 | 3.31 |
| Understanding the ethics of using information | 4.54 | 3.28 |
[/su_table]