RESEARCH SUCCESS WITH SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

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The objective of this research project was to identify what factors motivated different types of students in different content areas to complete assigned research projects successfully. Information was collected through student journals, interviews with students and teachers, and observation. Preliminary findings identified access to information, task perception and understanding, the research purpose, and time as factors that appeared to encourage students to complete their research and develop confidence in their ability to create meaning. This work adds the important component of student experience and voice to earlier research concerning motivation and student information literacy. Introduction Research assignment. These two simple words are able to evoke powerful feelings: dread, anxiety, fear, uncertainty, anticipation and hope. Even the most confident high school students seldom feel thrilled when given a research assignment. Why? What is it about the research process that seems to place undue stress on those involved? Why is the initial feeling more often one of panic than of expectation and the “thrill of the hunt” seen as more trouble than it is worth? Perhaps it is because the research has been imposed rather than chosen, and so the students are more concerned with creating a viable final product than with understanding new ideas and/or adding to their knowledge base. Kuhlthau (1998) states that an emphasis on understanding will make both the research process and the information gleaned through this process more meaningful to the student. In my practice as a teacher-librarian, I have observed that many young people do not see information as valuable to themselves. Because their topics are assigned rather than chosen, their use of information is simply seen as “important to the task at hand” rather than as a fundamental way to enhance and increase their own knowledge base. Burdick (1998) states, “Although information literacy is abilities, skills, knowledge and use, those essential components by themselves don’t ensure information literacy. To use information well, there must be motivation: a reason to do so, some interest or desire that is lacking in the ‘aliterate”‘ (p. 13). The idea of motivation affecting aliteracy prompts an important question: How do we motivate our students not only to consume and transmit information, but also to construct meaning and to create new understandings? Further research in this area could “determine which motivational strategies are most effective with different types of students and content areas” (Small, 1998, p. 228). In fall 2000, I designed a small study to try to determine which factors appeared to encourage students to complete their research and develop confidence in their ability to create meaning from their findings. The question that needed to be answered was: What factors motivate different types of students in different content areas to complete assigned research projects successfully? Successful completion was defined as finishing the assigned project and creating meaning from their findings. Because this was a pilot study, I also wished to compare the effectiveness of several methods of collecting information. A necessary component of this study was listening to the voice of students. Adults’ engagement with literacy is influenced strongly by their formal school experiences, and adults’ alienation from literacy activities has economic, social, and political costs. Educators and library information specialists working with students in the area of research need to understand and use appropriate intervention and motivational strategies to ensure that students gain understanding and construct meaning and do not merely regurgitate data. Making the research process relevant and manageable should ensure greater student success and improve student achievement, as well as encourage their literacy engagement into adulthood. Review of the Literature Kuhlthau (1993) has stressed the importance of intervention in the process of seeking information. …Â