Jessica Brown, Department Chair Barbrara Scrafford, English 1B Level Coordinator Jim Sauvé, Assessment Coordinator
English Department Research Brief
English 1B Students and Experience Working with Research and Source (Spring 2011) BACKGROUND
In Spring 2011, the English Department surveyed students in English 1B. Of particular interest to the faculty were the knowledge and attitudes that 1B students possessed regarding research skills, using research, and experience with the databases that college and university libraries provide. IMPLICATIONS FOR STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES IN ENGLISH 1A Working with research and experience finding and using outside research are part of three Student Learning Outcomes in English 1A. Students must learn to A.
B. F.
Compose research-based essays incorporating and engaging with multiple sources. Produce and compose both in-class and ollt-of-c1ass essays that respond to class readings, discussion, and research. Independently synthesize multiple, often competing, abstract ideas in reading, writing, and discussion.
In addition to classroom instruction, to achieve these learning outcomes, English 1A requires that students receive training and instruction in research by taking 5 hours of library research skills
workshops. These workshops can be taken online or face to face.. SAMPLE SIZE
Enrollment at Week 3 Census in Spring 2011 was, 1,135. The number of survey respondent was 135. This was a sample size of 12%. Of the students in this sample, 82% had taken English 1A at City College.
CCSF English Department Spring 2011
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SURVEY RESULTS Students in 1B Who Took 1A at CCSF
Students in 1B Who Did 1A Outside of CCSF
How comfortable and experienced are you at finding sources and information for essays and other assignments? I have no experience finding sources or information
2.7% (3/111)
0
I am not very comfortable or experienced
15.3% (17/111)
20.8% (5/24)
I am comfortable and have some experience
64.0% (71/111)
37.5% (9/24)
I am very comfortable and experienced
5.4% (6/111)
41.7% (10/24)
I have no experience using these research databases
11.7% (13/111)
29.2% (7/24)
I am not very comfortable or experienced
27.0% (30/111)
20.8% (5/24)
I am comfortable and have some experience
53.2% (59/111)
45.8% (11/24)
I am very comfortable and experienced
8.1% (9/111)
4.2% (1/24)
I have no experience evaluating sources or information
2.7% (3/111)
8.3% (2/24)
I am not very comfortable or experienced
27.9% (31/111)
37.5% (9/24)
I am comfortable and have some experience
58.6% (65/111)
33.3% (8/24)
I am very comfortable and experienced
10.8% (12/111)
20.8% (5/24)
How comfortable and experienced are you with using research databases such as EBSCO, Gale, Lexis-Nexis, and ProQuest to do research for essays and other assignments?
How comfortable or experienced are you with evaluating a source for its validity, reliability, or level of bias?
CCSF English Department Spring 2011
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IMPLICATIONS OF THE DATA
1)
Students who took English 1A (and possibly Developmental English courses) at other colleges, have had more experience finding and using research in their writing than students at City College.
2)
Students who took English 1A at City College have more experience and are more comfortable with working with the research databases found in college and university libraries. However, a large percentage of students who took English 1A outside of City College have had little experience with and have little confidence in using such databases. Some faculty have suggested that these students may need to take the Library Workshops as part of their initial 1B requirements.
3)
One third of all students say they have no experience and/or are not comfortable with evaluating a source for its validity, reliability and level of bias. This may suggest that instruction and parts of the English 1B course outline need to address more strongly and directly these important higher order critical thinking skills. It may also suggest that those learning outcomes need to be addressed and assessed more robustly in English 1A.
