LIBR 285-07
LIBR 285-19
Research Methods in Library and Information Science
Fall 2013 Greensheet

Dr. Johanna Tunon
E-mail
Home phone: (954) 249-1449
Office location: Phoenix, AZ
Office Hours: By appointment by phone or via Collaborate

D2L Information: Students will be automatically enrolled in the D2L site for this course. The course will be automatically available to students on Aug. 21, 2013.

LIBR 285. Research Methods in Library and Information Science — Reference Services

This course covers fundamental principles, processes, values and roles of research for professional application in information organizations. Students will become critical consumers of research products and learn the basic skills of evaluating, planning, designing, executing, and applying research. In addition to a general research methods class, which examines a variety of research methodologies, SLIS offers a number of applied or specialized sections of LIBR 285 for students to choose from.

LIBR 285 is required for all students who entered the MLIS program from Spring 2007. Effective for students who enter the program in Fall 2010 LIBR 285 must be taken within the first 24 units.

Effective Fall 2011 repeatable with different content up to 6 units.

Waiver of LIBR 285: See Waiver option for those who completed a graduate-level methods course AND completed a thesis or dissertation as part of a previous graduate degree.

Course Requirements

Students' work will be evaluated according to the following specific criteria:
Identify a research problem, write a purpose statement, develop appropriate research questions and/or hypotheses, conduct critical literature review and analysis, address any ethical considerations in conducting research, understand the procedures in collecting data, and produce a substantial final written product containing a formalized research proposal using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods.

Semester Dates

• Aug. 21 - Dec. 9
• Thanksgiving -- Nov. 28

Course Calendar

** Dates on the schedule are subject to change with fair notice. Contact the instructor if any last minute changes present problems. Reasonable accommodations can be made upon request.

Class Assignments

• Participation (Part 1) 2% x 12 = 24%
  Part 1 of participation grade entails the initial discussion posting on weekly topic. See the course for information on the scoring rubric.
• Student Learning Outcomes addressed:
  SLO #1 - Understand the difference between primary and secondary research.
  SLO #2 - Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental principles and processes of conducting research.
  SLO #3 - Articulate the research method(s) covered in the course, appropriately apply them, and understand their strengths and liabilities.
  SLO #4 - Understand appropriate data collection/analysis tools, and ethical concerns related to research.
• Participation (Part 2) 1% x 9 = 9%
  Some weeks there is no peer feedback, but other weeks, Part 2 is included for peer feedback. When there is a Part 2, check because some weeks have assigned peer reviews, and some weeks people select the person they wish to review (first come, first serve). The schedule is posted in the Course Content folder. See the course for information about the scoring rubric.
• Student Learning Outcomes addressed:
  SLO #1 - Understand the difference between primary and secondary research.
  SLO #2 - Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental principles and processes of conducting research.
  SLO #3 - Articulate the research method(s) covered in the course, appropriately apply them, and understand their strengths and liabilities.
  SLO #4 - Understand appropriate data collection/analysis tools, and ethical concerns related to research.
• CITI (online course) 5% Successful completion of the CITI certification is required by San Jose State University’s Institutional Review Board for all people working with human subjects. Information about CITI training is provided on the IRB page: http://www.sjsu.edu/gradstudies/Research/irb.html Submit the CITI completion certificate in the provided dropbox. This is a pass/no pass activity.
• Student Learning Outcome addressed:
  SLO #4 - Understand appropriate data collection/analysis tools, and ethical concerns related to research.
• Quizzes (13%)
  The ten quizzes are based on the ten chapters in the Creswell textbook as well as my supplemental video lectures. The quizzes are open book, untimed, and unproctored, but you only have one attempt to take each quiz. (Quiz 8 is worth 3%, and Quiz 9 is worth 2%. All others are worth 1%.)
• Student Learning Outcomes addressed:
  SLO #2 - Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental principles and processes of conducting research.
  SLO #4 - Understand appropriate data collection/analysis tools, and ethical concerns related to research.
• Group discussions (9%)
  Students need to participate in three group discussions during the semester or choose from one of the alternative options. There will be at least six scheduled group sessions to choose from. The dates will be selected based on student schedules and input. See the scoring rubric provided in the class for grading criteria.
  **Alternative options to group discussions: For students who cannot participate in three of the group discussions, there are two alternative assignment options. Students can opt to create a 5-minute video presentation about a specific research method or write a 5-page analysis of a reference-related research study. If there is more than one student interested, there might also be an option to have an asynchronous discussion group. Contact the instructor for details and grading rubrics for possible alternative options.
• Student Learning Outcomes addressed:
  SLO #1 - Understand the difference between primary and secondary research.
  SLO #2 - Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental principles and processes of conducting research.
  SLO #3 - Articulate the research method(s) covered in the course, appropriately apply them, and understand their strengths and liabilities.
  SLO #4 - Understand appropriate data collection/analysis tools, and ethical concerns related to research.
• Proposal 40%
  Chapter 1 (10%)
  Chapter 2 (10%)
  Chapter 3 (10%)
  Compiled research proposal (10%)
  Write a 20-page research proposal (double spaced, 12pt font) using the template provided in the Course Content folder. See the scoring rubric provided in the class for grading criteria.
• The compiled research proposal supports the following core competency:
  L - Demonstrate understanding of quantitative and qualitative
  research methods and of the evaluation and synthesis of
  research literature.
• Student Learning Outcomes addressed:
  SLO #1 - Understand the difference between primary and secondary research.
  SLO #2 - Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental principles and processes of conducting research.
  SLO #3 - Articulate the research method(s) covered in the course, appropriately apply them, and understand their strengths and liabilities.
  SLO #4 - Understand appropriate data collection/analysis tools, and ethical concerns related to research.

If you are unable to complete major assignments by the assigned date, there is a two-day grace period with no questions asked, or you need to email me to get permission to make alternative arrangements. After the grace period, there will be a 10% penalty for major assignments unless you have contacted me and have written permission for alternative arrangements. NOTE: There is no grace period for discussion postings that entail peer feedback. See the university policy for criteria to earn an incomplete. No work will be accepted after the last day of class unless written arrangements have been made and approved.

**** Check the grading criteria with class assignments before submitting assignments to be sure that you are addressing all of the elements that should be included in the assignments.

Optional Textbook

• American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

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Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

LIBR 200, LIBR 202, LIBR 204. 

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Understand the difference between primary and secondary research.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental principles and processes of conducting research.
3. Articulate the research method(s) covered in the course, appropriately apply them, and understand their strengths and liabilities.
4. Understand appropriate data collection/analysis tools, and ethical concerns related to research.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

LIBR 285 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

• Creswell, J. W. (2008). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods (3rd ed.). SAGE. Available through Amazon: 1412965578.

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Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation.  You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

• "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
  • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
  • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
• "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

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