Setting them up for success: Assessing a pre-research assignment for first-year international students

Susan Avery

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

As the international student population continues to grow, librarians must adjust their instruction to meet the needs of students who are adapting to a new country, culture, and language. This study assesses first-year international students as they engage in the research process through the completion of concept maps that precede database searches. Librarians assessed concept maps of international students completed prior to information literacy instruction to better understand the difficulties they experienced defining research topics and identifying keywords and alternatives. The results of this assessment provide a deeper understanding of the challenges first-year international students face with creating search strategies. Ultimately, this study resulted in more meaningful relationships between librarians and English as a second language (ESL) instructors, and effective adaptations to ESL library instruction.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)324-338
Number of pages15
JournalCommunications in Information Literacy
Volume11
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

Keywords

  • International students
  • Library instruction
  • Research process

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Library and Information Sciences

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