My research grant, part 1: the setup

In late 2011, I applied for the University Research Fund grant to hire an Education student who would assist me to assess and develop Archival Information Literacy (AIL) sessions.  Here's part of what I proposed:

"This research will support the preparation and construction of a set of new AIL sessions aimed to improve and enhance student research skills using pedagogically sound assignments and research tools.  The research includes examining the impact of previous AIL sessions by surveying or interviewing five (5) faculty and ten (10) students from the Faculty of Arts and the School of Education who have had an AIL session in the past.  Surveys or interviews will also be conducted with five (5) faculty from the Faculty of Arts who have not asked for an AIL session but whose class may benefit from a session.  The results of the surveys and interviews will be used to inform and develop the new AIL sessions."

That grant proposal was successful and we began our work in January 2012.  I hired an Education student to conduct, transcribe, and compile data from the interviews, keeping me at arm's length of the process so as to not influence it.  

Here are the questions that formed the basis of the interviews:

Surveys/Questionnaires/Interview questions:

Questions for faculty who have had an archives session:

1.      Why did you choose to include an archives session in your course?

2.      What were the benefits of including an archives session in your course?

3.      What were the drawbacks of including an archives session in your course?

4.      What did your class do during their session?

5.      Did the session meet your expectations and/or the needs of the class?

6.      How could the session be modified to better meet your expectations and/or needs of the class?

7.      How could the examples be improved to better meet your expectations and/or needs of the class?

8.      What type of assignment did you build to reinforce the skills your students learned in the archives session?

9.      Did the students include archival sources in their assignment?

10.  What type of session would you prefer to be offered to your classes?

11.  What skills/information should your students learn from an archives session?

12.  Do you have any other comments about the archives session?

Questions for faculty who have NOT had an archives session:

1.      Have you included an archives session in the past?

2.      Would you consider including an archives session in your future course(s)?

3.      What would be the benefits of including an archives session in your course?

4.      What would be the drawbacks of including an archives session in your course?

5.      What expectations would you have for an archives session?

6.      What needs would your students have for an archives session?

7.      Do you want your students to include archival sources in their assignments?

8.      What skills/information should your students learn from an archives session?

9.      Do you have any other comments about the archives session?

Questions for students who have had an archives session:

1.      What did you learn in your archives session?

2.      How does the archives session meet/not meet your learning needs?

3.      How can the archives session be improved or changed so as to better meet your needs?

4.      Were the example(s) helpful and assist in your understanding of how to use the Archives?

5.      How can the example(s) be improved to assist in your understanding of how to use the Archives?

6.      How can this type of session help you with assignments in your other courses?

7.      In what other courses do you feel you would benefit from an archives session?

8.      How can the Archives reach out to students to help them with their learning?

9.      Do you have any other comments about the archives session?

The results were surprising!  I will share them in a separate post.