Emotions are a normal and necessary part of knowledge construction, which means it’s natural for students to experience a range of emotions as they are establishing their own research process. Earlier research has studied the ways in which first year students exhibit or express anxiety during this process of research (Bostik, 1992; Onwuegbuzie, Jiao, & Bostick, 2004;), but more recent scholarships has explored how emotions assist students as they construct new knowledge and informs the context of their information environment (Removed for peer review, 2024). Our research focuses on this gap; using data from interviews with first year students, we mapped the emotions students experienced at three stages of the research process: Searching, Accessing (Finding), and Evaluating. Knowing the impact emotions have on learning, librarians need evidence-based strategies that acknowledge them when working to motivate and support students through their academic research experiences.
In this workshop, participants will explore three different parts of the research process, Searching, Finding (Accessing), and Evaluating, through the lens of student emotions. We will collectively discuss roadblocks and student reactions to them; participants will then work in small groups or individually on their research process part of choice to brainstorm ways to motivate learners based on the pedagogical tools of TILT, Decoding the Disciplines, and the IL Taxonomy. Reflective questions will be included in the presentation, and collaborative software such as Padlet will be used to anonymously share these insights.
At the end of this presentation, participants should be able to:
• Describe the emotions undergraduate students experience during the Searching, Finding (Accessing) and Evaluation stages of the research process.
• Apply instructional practices and frameworks that help students navigate emotional challenges and barriers throughout their research process.
Participants are encouraged to bring their electronic devices. Presenters will need to be able to project a PowerPoint presentation on a screen and have microphones for accessibility. Target audience: Any librarian who works with students, particularly at a college or university.
References
[CITATION REMOVED FOR ANONYMOUS PEER REVIEW]
Bostick, S.L. (1992). The development and validation of the Library Anxiety Scale [Doctoral dissertation, Wayne State University]
Onwuegbuzie, A., Jiao, Q., & Bostick, S. (2004). Library Anxiety: Theory, Research, and Applications. Scarecrow Press.
