To ensure validity in survey research, it is imperative that we properly educate doctoral students on best practices in data quality procedures. A 14-year analysis of 679 studies in the AIS "Basket of 8" journals noted undercommunication in the most pertinent procedures, consistent across journals and time. Given recent calls for…

Departments and programmes in higher education are required to participate in an increasing number of programme, course and student assessments. These assessment requirements are also opportunities to develop student skills related to scientific literacy and research, if students are included in the process of developing, administering and…

There is an expectation that medical students in the UK will be able to demonstrate conversancy with social science relevant to medicine and health, including the means by which the relevant bodies of knowledge are generated through the use of social science research methods. This paper explores the structural and pedagogical challenges and…

Conducting social science research is a complex process, and social science students face a number of learning challenges in order to develop their skills. Moreover, new sources and types of data including so-called big data are providing new opportunities for research, but also pose methodological challenges. In this article, we explore a…

Teaching research competencies and information literacy is an integral part of the academic librarian's role. There has long been debate among librarians over what are the most effective methods of instruction for college students. Library Faculty members at a large urban university system were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the…

Research mentor training (RMT), based on the published "Entering Mentoring" curricula series, has been shown to improve the knowledge and skills of research mentors across career stages, as self-reported by both the mentors engaged in training and their mentees. To promote widespread dissemination and empower others to implement this…

An exploratory study was conducted in Summer 2012 in an effort to determine what librarians in the United States are doing to teach chemistry graduate students research skills. Chemistry librarians at ARL (Association of Research Libraries) institutions were surveyed about the content they teach; when, where, and how they present it; and what…

Some librarians embrace discovery tools while others refuse to use them. This lack of consensus can have consequences for student learning when there is inconsistent use, especially in large-scale instruction programs. The authors surveyed academic librarians whose institutions have a discovery tool and who teach information literacy classes in…

The purpose of this article is to chronicle and discuss a unique research opportunity at LaGuardia Community College when Hurricane Sandy caused a week of class cancelations, including library instruction sessions for ENG101 students. Librarians took advantage of the natural sample, paired with randomly selected classes that had previously…

The focus of this paper is on student learning pathways--with particular reference to the factors motivating coursework master's students to seek entry to a doctoral programme--along with the implications for higher education policy and practice. It is argued nationally and internationally that although a number of challenges continue to confront…

This report presents findings about the challenges today's college freshmen face, and the information-seeking strategies they develop, use, and adapt as they make the transition from high school to college and begin to complete college-level research assignments. Included are data from a comparative analysis of library resources in 30 US high…

This paper presents a project which was conducted in a capstone course in Information Security. The project focused on conducting research concerning the various aspects of phishing, such as why phishing works and who is more likely to be deceived by phishing. Students were guided through the process of conducting research: finding background and…

Recent calls for reform have advocated for extensive changes to undergraduate science lab experiences, namely providing more authentic research experiences for students. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have attempted to eschew the limitations of traditional "cookbook" laboratory exercises and have received…

Background: Increasingly clinical and health research awareness is a priority for health and medical research communities. Translational research, including the prevention and treatment of conditions, relies upon proper funding as well as public participation in research studies. This requires executing more effective communication strategies to…

Focus group interviewing is widely used by academic and applied researchers. Given the popularity and strengths of this method, it is surprising how rarely focus group interviewing is taught in the undergraduate classroom and how few resources exist to support instructors who wish to train students to use this technique. This article fills the gap…