Are students ready for post-secondary research?

According to faculty interviews, entering college freshmen frequently did not exhibit consistent knowledge of information literacy skills needed to be successful. Schools have increasingly used models of team teaching between librarians and professors to ensure students have information literacy skills. The purpose of this study was to explore the expectations and deficiencies in information literacy skills of entering college freshmen. The researcher questioned professors about (1) what skills they expected college freshmen to have, (2) students dispositions and responsibilities, (3) research inadequacies of students, and (4) the effect they felt using embedded librarians would have in other college departments. The researcher interviewed four professors from Intersections courses at a small midwestern liberal arts college. A predominant deficiency that faculty identified in first-semester college freshmen was that students had difficulty accepting multiple-perspective information when doing research. Overall they reported that students had a basic understanding of simple research questioning and thesis formation, but they lacked practice and confidence in forming complex ideas in research. Faculty stated that students had a tendency to select quick answers without evaluating sources, and they were unable to recognize useful information in a biased source. According to these faculty, students were comfortable using technology but were surprised by a lack of validity of online sources. They asserted that students had difficulty using periodical databases and knowing where to look for good Internet sources. By embedding a librarian, teachers could assume that students would learn how to do research. The librarian tailored lessons to be practical and tied to assignments. By teaching the Intersections classes, professors were able to see students transfer knowledge to other classes. These professors saw secondary education as a place where this type of an embedded program would have a favorable effect on students\u27 research skills prior to college