Compostion article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Compostion article - Essay Example Researchers have presented that basic research literacy courses are not appealing to students, and they usually have negative feelings towards it. The Human Resources Development in Canada had expressed that employers have found skills developed through research courses as vital for work (as cited in Shipwright et al., 2010, p. 574). The researchers were burdened of this need, and thus aimed to enhance learning in the said courses through the use of an online graphic novel called Citizen Researcher (CR). Through this multimedia, they intend to stimulate the students’ interest in research. Guided by these goals, there are four research questions formulated for this study: (1) What impact does CR have on students’ perceptions of their research literacy skills?; (2) What is the students’ level of satisfaction with the course content, design delivery method and learning activities?; (3) What are students’ experiences with CR?; and (4) What are the strengths, c hallenges and barriers associated with this new model of course delivery? (p. 576). These are ventured in order to determine the effects of the technology in the students’ learning. Although research literacy courses may be boring and irrelevant to students, utilization of an online graphic novel to arouse their interest and assist in their learning needs may be seen to be of benefit. Details of the said study, through its methods, results, conclusions, strengths and limitations, et cetera, are reviewed and analyzed in order to appreciate the significance of such endeavor. Review and Analysis I. Methods A descriptive study using surveys and interviews was conducted among 18 full-time undergraduate students in 14 programs, who were attending post-secondary college in a large city (p. 576). Three surveys were made, one demographic, and pre-post Research Literacy Competency surveys. The demographic survey provided a profile for the learners, including their reading habits and In ternet skills. The Research Literacy Competency survey conducted before exposing the respondents to the multimedia is used as baseline data for the Research Literacy Competency survey completed after they have utilized the CR. The post-CR exposure survey contained three open-ended items to ask participants for their opinions and suggestions regarding the multimedia. The tools used for both pre- and post Research Literacy Competency surveys are reported to be valid by the Cronbach alpha, and thus said to be reliable. All these mentioned measures are based on self-reports of the learners. Individual telephone interviews which lasted for 10 to 20 minutes, and participated by seven students, were made in order to better understand their experiences with the CR. The interviews utilized a structured guide, then they were taped and transcribed. II. Results and Conclusions The results of the pilot study show and further verify the conclusion of previous literature that using the multimedia yielded satisfactory experiences and it became an instrument to learn research literacy skills (p. 581). Learning the importance of critical thinking is reported by the students, and activities in the CR reinforced key concepts in research. There is also a noticeable significant increase in scores from the pre-course survey as compared to the post-course survey, which is evidence that the multimedia is effective in enhancing the knowledge of the respondents. Although there are positive results,