Reflection:
Prior to coming to college, I would have told you my research experience was limited. I would not have considered the polls we took in student council to pick favorable games or the side project on sports psychology for English to be legitimate research. The research stigma of standing in a white lab coat and goggles collecting scientific data was stuck on my mind. Before talking about it in my Introduction to Honors course, research seemed limited to sophisticated hard science. Our class discussions made me realize that first, research does not have to involve a lab, and that second, I have had research experiences. Creating my English project required me to effectively access information. I have demonstrated a level of ethical knowledge through many annotated bibliographies also written for English classes. All those student council polls taught me how to evaluate and organize my group’s ideas and our collected opinions. All these activities demonstrate my foundational level of research literacy and the best part, none of these examples include experience in a lab.
In the Introduction to Honors class, I expanded my understanding of research during an activity about open-access journals which showed me how to take my background knowledge of information gathering to a new level of sophistication. Instead of simply citing sources properly, I looked deeper into the credibility of each journal by dissecting information about the editorial board, registration, ISSN association, digital object identifiers, and publishing standards. By being able to identify these characteristics as well as understanding the publisher’s motives as positive or negative indicators of information credibility, I improved my literacy and evaluation skills. I no longer just acquire information freely without critically thinking about the integrity of the source. I think this is something that was always on my mind while I performed more immature research in the past, but after this assignment, I have a better understanding of how to do this and will be more purposeful about it in the future.
The understanding I gained from this exercise will help me perform higher levels of information synthesis and original research. All research projects I have in the future, whether they are for an independent study of hard science or a simple project for a general education course, I know my information will be gathered ethically. My original research will also benefit from my better understanding of research ethics in a manner of both respect and compliance. I understand the obstacles others overcome to get their work published and I will do my absolute best to respect that. This activity also alluded to the controversy over the fairness and trustworthiness of open-access journals. Hopefully, as a successful student and scholar, I will contribute to the world of publication in a positive and honest way. All these activities may seem minor, but they set the foundation of information I will need to perform more sophisticated research in the future. Completing assignments for this course meets the competency requirements for Information Literacy levels one, two, and three.
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