The Research Thrust of Brigham Young University's Library School

Abstract

The library school at Brigham Young University has structured a research sequence of three courses to teach its students to be good consumers of research literature and how to carry out simple research projects. Students learn the nature of various types of research and statistical inference in the first course. The second and third courses are research project seminars in which students carry out a research project and write reports. Group interactions in critiquing drafts of each others' reports are considered important learning experiences in the seminars. Subjective appraisals from faculty and students indicate that the sequence is successful in teaching students to carry out simple research projects, to become intelligent consumers of research literature, and to improve their writing skills.