ISSOTL 2014
From Passive Consumers to Passionate Creators: Undergraduate students and the research process
Margy MacMillan - Mount Royal University – mmacmillan@mtroyal.ca
This presentation is based on data collected through four rounds of Assessment Seminar Interviews at
Mount Royal University. For more information on the Assessment Seminar project, please visit
http://www.mtroyal.ca/ProgramsCourses/FacultiesSchoolsCentres/TeachingLearning/assessmentsemin
ar/index.htm
Each round of interviews targeted a specific group of students:
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2010 - Round One - 96 students - 49 first and 47 second-year students
2011 - Round Two - 30 third-year students
2012 - Round Three - 96 final-year students (many have research/honours experience)
2013 - Round Four – 111 first-year students

Statements about research and reading were extracted using NVIVO software and examined for
emergent themes.
Results
Different students gained different rewards from their research assignments, and while there were
more ‘extract’ statements from students earlier in their programs and more ‘transform’ statements
from senior students, the pattern was not universal and may be related to particular student
characteristics, experiences or assignments.
Reading/Researching for Extraction: Statements reflecting this perspective were more common in first
and second-year students. These statements depicted reading/research as cherry picking bits of
information to meet externally required (and often ill-understood) criteria without much integration of
information into academic or life knowledge. Those bits of knowledge were the reward for
research/reading, seen as ends in themselves and more as tribute to be offered up to the teacher than
as rewards for the students.
Reading/Researching for Learning: Statements reflecting this perspective focussed more on process
than product, and often indicated an appreciation of learning through the reading or research. For some
this learning was an exciting in itself, for others more of a valuable by-product. Often, as with the next
two categories of reward, the research was on a topic of the students’ own choosing or where they
could clearly understand the relevance of gaining knowledge to their academic or personal pursuits.
Reading/Researching for Transformation: Statements reflecting this perspective indicated a transfer of
both process and content knowledge and often a transformation in their thinking derived from this
transfer. The reward is seen as a change in thinking, in worldview, in approach, in ability and confidence,
or even more fundamentally in the self. Transfer of knowledge to others was also seen as a rewarding
aspect of research.

Reading/Researching for Affective Rewards: Statements reflecting this perspective often described a
passion, or at least a fondness for research. Students also took pride in becoming knowledgeable people
in their communities, in knowing more than their peers and being able to develop more informed
opinions because of their ability to read/research.
Conclusion/Implications
The Assessment Seminar data clearly shows that students can engage with reading and research, that
they can enjoy it, that they appreciate the learning gains they derive from those activities, and that
those activities can have lasting, transformation effects. But this is not happening for all students all the
time. By understanding more about what rewards students may derive from reading/research, we
might be able to better articulate those rewards to new students, and develop assignments where
students gain lasting benefit from their reading/research activities.
If we wish to move students beyond reading for extraction, we need to develop assignments where
students perceive the goal as more than the gathering of nuggets for someone in authority. While such
papers may be a stepping stone to deeper learning, often they may trap students in a mechanistic
simulation of the form of research, rather than engaging them in the integration of knowledge which
can be transformative.
What would this kind of research assignment look like?

For more information on students and research, see the excellent series of reports by Project
information Literacy at http://projectinfolit.org/