Résumés
Abstract
This study investigates the perceptions and behaviours of novice academic researchers in their first year of post-secondary education when conducting online research. Conducting online research in this context describes what students anticipate they will do during an information search process and the strategies and tools they use in practice to locate information. Data from semi-structured interviews and process maps were analyzed to identify themes regarding the students’ perceptions and behaviours. While the participants were in university, they were providing a retrospective on past experience. Findings indicate that the experience of secondary students conducting research for school is one of frustration. Credible information is highly valued but difficult to obtain without the proper resources and skills. Students were initially hopeful that these frustrations would be appeased with access to better quality tools and learning the proper techniques of academic research. Because this study was undertaken immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns of 2020–2022 it provides a unique window into how this experience impacted students and their choices and behaviours when conducting online research at the point of entering university and then further along in the first year. This exploratory research can serve to inform and provide insights into improving science and health sciences libraries’ user experience, instruction, marketing, and eresource collections, as well as students’ preparation for academic research in their secondary school years, particularly in the Canadian context.
Keywords:
- user experience,
- undergraduate,
- health sciences,
- qualitative,
- thematic analysis,
- instruction
Résumé
Cette étude porte sur les perceptions et les comportements des chercheurs universitaires novices au cours de leur première année d’études postsecondaires lorsqu’ils effectuent des recherches en ligne. Dans ce contexte, effectuer des recherches en ligne décrit ce que les étudiants anticipent faire lorsqu’ils cherchent des informations ainsi que les stratégies et les outils qu’ils utilisent en pratique pour trouver de l’information. Les données d’entrevues semi-dirigées et de schémas de processus ont été analysées pour identifier des thèmes relatifs aux perceptions et aux comportements des étudiants. Quoique les étudiants soient à l’université, ils fournissaient un retour sur leurs expériences antérieures. Les résultats montrent que l’expérience des élèves du secondaire menant des recherches pour l’école est frustrante. L’information crédible est hautement valorisée mais difficile à obtenir sans avoir les bonnes ressources et compétences. Les étudiants étaient initialement optimistes que ces frustrations seraient apaisées grâce à un accès à de meilleurs outils et à l’apprentissage des bonnes techniques pour la recherche universitaire. Cette étude a été faite immédiatement après le confinement en raison de la pandémie de la COVID-19 en 2020-2022. Elle fournit donc un portrait unique expliquant comment cette expérience a eu un impact sur les étudiants ainsi que leurs choix et leurs comportements en effectuant de la recherche en ligne lors du début de leurs études postsecondaires et plus tard au cours de leur première année. Cette recherche exploratoire peut servir à informer et à fournir des perspectives pour améliorer l’expérience des usagers des bibliothèques de la santé et des sciences de la santé, la formation, le marketing et les collections électroniques ainsi que la préparation des étudiants à la recherche universitaire lors de leurs années au secondaire, surtout dans un contexte canadien.
Mots-clés :
- expérience des usagers,
- étudiants de premier cycle,
- sciences de la santé,
- qualitatif,
- analyse thématique,
- formation
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