Navigating Roadblocks: First-Year Writing Challenges through the Lens of the ACRL Framework

Abstract

Effectively integrating the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy into existing instructional models requires that librarians first understand the host of challenges that many first-year students encounter when conducting research for the first time. This study employs qualitative analysis of semi-structured student interviews to explore how students conceive of and pursue the research process, and how they try to mitigate—and in some cases surmount—the roadblocks they encounter. Although students reported several difficulties, three main roadblocks arose: challenges with understanding academic articles, challenges with the topic/theme of the course, and challenges with navigating the physical space of the library. Our findings demonstrate how students employ a variety of strategies to overcome these obstacles. We engage scholarship on information literacy and the Framework, which elucidates how honoring the affective domain of learning in designing instruction could steer students towards more successful research strategies.