Research Skills for College Students: Are They Needed and What Impact Do They Have?  

The development of skills is a specialty that the Colleges have as a sector. One skill that is needed foundationally for students is research as it supports the innovation and economic needs of a country (Galeano et al., 2012). But what are research skills exactly? And how do faculty teach these skills?

Research encompasses many skills such as finding credible and valid resources to reading these resources and extracting relevant information needed, developing research questions, finding ways of answering these questions either through theory, methodology, or a combination of both, gathering and aggregating information and/or data, and finally disseminating that data or the findings in a manner that is appropriate to the intended audience.

How do you start teaching the research skills listed above? Start from what you know or what is the most tangible. For one faculty member, it made sense to start with the community needs. Aligning her students' assignments and learning outcomes with the community needs and wants dictated the research skill to be taught, such as assembling and aggregating information.

Canadore Professor, Jennifer Taun, is teaching in the Social Service Worker Program and is also a member of the Nipissing Parry Sound Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorder Table. The Table had been asking for a resource that lists various agencies and businesses supporting this issue, what services and support were offered, and whom to refer to and how. In response, Jennifer assigned two students from her class who expressed keen interest in supporting the venture. Megan and Sarah both stepped up and assembled a massive resource binder in their short 6-week time frame.

For both Megan and Sarah, this was in line with their own aspirations of working with families and children and coincidently their personal interests. For example, Megan stated that “the original focus of these binders was the perinatal services available in our area. I chose to do the perinatal-specific binder because I was pregnant during the pandemic, and finding information on services was impossible. I assumed my lack of access to information was due to the closures and various mandates; however, the more I looked into it, I realized the services are out there, but my family doctor and my OBGYN didn't have a comprehensive list.” For Sarah, it was also much the same: “I took such great interest in it because as a mother myself, going through another pregnancy, I know how important it is to have support and access to resources during this time. I also find that pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum are such interesting and life changing times in one's life.” 

The project exposed both students to a real-life situation where their skills were needed and could be honed. Sarah noted, “I learned research skills and how to dig for resources that may not be so obvious. I also learned a lot of what is available in our community for those in the perinatal period.” Megan learned, “how to navigate resources such as websites and local offices for critical items.” She noted, “Knowing how to recognize where to find the information I am looking for and quickly identify if the information is valid or not has been beneficial in other projects. I waste less time sifting through websites looking for information that clearly isn't there. I know to move on and look elsewhere more efficiently now.” As a result, the skills that Megan and Sarah both developed were impactful beyond even their initial comprehension and the resource binder has continued with the next cohort of students with updating it and focusing on specialty services.

The Research Centre continues to offer professional development in several ways and has actively been involved in facilitating and leading classroom learning opportunities. If you are interested in discussing ways to teach research skills or would like a member of the Research Centre to visit your class as a guest speaker, please contact us at: research.centre@canadorecollege.ca. 

Reference:
Galeano, N., Morales-Menendez, R., & Cantú, F. J. (2012). Developing research skills in undergraduate students through an internship program in research and innovation. International Journal of Engineering Education, 28(1), 48-56.