"Academic Writing: Advanced Research Skills" (video 2) builds on video 1, "Academic Writing: The Basics". This second video offers detailed steps to beginning, researching and editing papers. We watch a student as she learns how to start her paper, do online research through the library website, identify search terms and use Boolean operators to limit or expand her search. The video also suggests ways to revise, avoid plagiarism, create a bibliography, get help and use a checklist.
"Academic Writing: Advanced Research Skills" Instructional Video 2
Principal Investigator: Dr. Susan Barber
Funding Agency: Teaching and Learning Development Grant
Additional Team Members: Gilberto Martinez (director, cameraman, editor); Teresita Barbou (producer); Anne Hales (RA)
What's Proposed
As university students advance in their knowledge of writing research papers, they discover general Google or Wikipedia searches have limitations. Or, their instructors may require more refined research that is salient to the field and found within particular databases. This video is conceived as a convenient companion for a student's specific research needs, a resource that could be returned to again and again with each writing assignment.
How This Project is Carried Out
As with video 1, this video draws on research in writing that breaks the process into comprehensible steps and offers strategies (Graves, 1994; Tompkins, 2012; Calkins, 1994). In preparing the script, I sought advice from the 間眅埶AV library staff who kindly shared their videos on academic writing, and we did a survey of academic videos available at other universities to compile the most essential skills for advanced research. These were identified and represented in the video as moving from general to specific search methods, accessing databases, using Boolean search operators, finding peer review sources, limiting or expanding key search terms, and choosing a recent range of publication dates. Also, webpages showing referencing styles are presented in tandem with discussions around avoiding plagiarism. Specific tips for revision are offered and where to go to get help. An important final checklist ensures students can submit their best work. As with video 1, this video is told in the form of a narrative of a student moving through the discrete stages of writing her paper. Recognizable scenes of the Burnaby campus also enable students to identify with the situation and grasp the idea that they too can learn the complex skills of doing research and succeed in their academic careers.
Why This Project Matters
Students at every stage, in any program, can find support for their writing abilities in this online resource.
Where to Learn More
Here is the link to "Academic Writing: Advanced Research Skills"
Please note the Table of Contents below the screen so you can jump to specific times (i.e., Boolean Search Operators at 2 minutes 50 seconds) for specific skills, especially if revisiting the video.