Why do Students Seek Help in an Age of DIY? Using a Qualitative Approach to Look Beyond Statistics

Vinyard, Marc; Mullally, Colleen; Colvin, Jaimie Beth

doi:10.5860/rusq.56.4.257

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed followed by an applied thematic analysis technique (Guest et al, 2012;Vinyard et al, 2017). Two researchers independently engaged in an iterative process of reading the transcripts and generating codes, then met to discuss and come to agreement on the coding.…”

Section: Design and Methodology Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Graduate student intellectual journeys: a functional method to identify library service gaps

Kline

2022

RSR

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PurposeInvestment in graduate education is costly in various ways so completion success is a big concern for universities and stakeholders. Largely the graduate educational landscape moves along a commonly structured path from acceptance to graduation. Despite many having successfully attained the award, the research literacies that signal doctoral achievement remain obscure and scholars continue to struggle with developing clear and tangible measures for the competencies that represent attainment of the degree. Feedback gathered from faculty at a large research institution through a series of semi-structured interviews illustrated the challenge departments have to effectively communicate what it takes to get through graduate education. As a result students still have a difficult time understanding the complexity of graduate training. This study views graduate education from the lens of intellectual journeys, as opposed to the research lifecycle, as a way of uncovering distinct disciplinary discourse practices and offering libraries critical points to align services using this framework.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is highly flexible and adaptable to many contexts besides graduate education. This study takes a different approach from previous studies in its framing of discussions with academic faculty, using journey maps, to focus on the intellectual journeys of graduate students. Faculty from different disciplines participated in one-on-one, hour-long interviews. Discussions were audio recorded, transcribed, and then coded into NVivo. Iterative review on the data continued until themes emerged. The data gathered were used to compile a detailed map of the processes and requirements that make up graduate education. This approach to the data helped to identify what faculty perceive as the greatest struggles for graduate students and provide evidence of the key places within the intellectual journeys of graduate students.FindingsThis paper provides a discussion of graduate student personas revealed through intellectual journeys, assesses the issues students encounter, shares critical time points and key places within these intellectual journeys where significant development occur, and suggests how libraries can and should connect with graduate committee members to establish missing support structures. Practical suggestions for library support are given for the areas where students struggle most. These critical services can be aligned to key developmental phases that will not only positively impact the time to completion but also retention.Originality/valueFirst, the methodology discussed is highly flexible and adaptable to many contexts besides graduate education. Second, librarians adopting this methodology can generate their own editable journey maps not only to offer the most critical services but these tools also double as visual communication and negotiation tools for graduate students and their mentors during graduate training. Third, previous research has suggested that the most instrumental factor for graduate students completing their degree was the concept of forward progress. Framing the graduate experience and orienting library graduate support through the lens of disciplinary intellectual journeys achieves an action-oriented approach that supplements and addresses structural inequities by providing consequential support at meaningful points in a student’s journey thus allowing students to make forward progress and ultimately lead to faster completion rates.

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Section: Design and Methodology Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Graduate student intellectual journeys: a functional method to identify library service gaps

Kline

2022

RSR

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“…The authors found that many students thought that the reference desk consultations saved them time, while others claimed that they had no time for the consultations. Vinyard, Mullally, and Colvin (2017) argued that "students' perceptions of their research skills can influence their decision to seek help" (261). In their study interviewing ten undergraduates at Pepperdine University, the authors discovered a "do-it-yourself" attitude, despite some students more confident than others in their research skill abilities (265).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The quiet agora: Undergraduate perceptions of the academic library

Sare

Bales

Budzise-Weaver

2020

College & Undergraduate Libraries

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This research paper reports the findings of a grounded theory analysis of undergraduate perceptions of academic libraries serving their university community. The qualitative researchers employed long interviews to interview forty-one participants at various stages in their undergraduate career in order to determine how they perceive the academic library as an institution. Three theoretical categories emerged from the data analysis: (1) Constructing the Academic Library as Geographic Space, (2) Constructing the Academic Library as Idea, and (3) Constructing the Library Worker. The researchers found that participants may simultaneously view the academic library as physical geography and idealistic abstraction, and that the physical navigation of the library may remain hindered despite normative perceptions of the academic library.

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“…12 Vinyard, Mullally, and Colvin explored how students search for information, as well as what prompted students to seek help from a librarian. 13 Through one-on-one interviews, the authors determined that students preferred searching for information independently, and would seek assistance only when frustrated by the amount of time it took to perform research. Once connected with a librarian for assistance, all of the study participants stated that they found the librarians to be helpful and would ask for research assistance in the future.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Face Value: Evaluating Research Consultations from the Student Perspective

Reiter

Cole

2019

RUSQ

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In this study, the authors examined the value of research consultations, an important component of reference services. Previous research explored the sustainability and scalability of a large-scale research consultation project from the librarian perspective. Through survey responses from the perspectives of more than 1,500 students, the authors gathered evidence on the impact of research consultations on student confidence and their perceptions of the approachability and helpfulness of library personnel.

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Why do Students Seek Help in an Age of DIY? Using a Qualitative Approach to Look Beyond Statistics

Cited by 19 publications

References 16 publications

Graduate student intellectual journeys: a functional method to identify library service gaps

Graduate student intellectual journeys: a functional method to identify library service gaps

The quiet agora: Undergraduate perceptions of the academic library

Beyond Face Value: Evaluating Research Consultations from the Student Perspective

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