Listening and Learning from Students: Interviewing Students about the Intersections of Research, Writing and Technology

Abstract

As professional educators, the experience of a novice writer and researcher is often lost, and librarians and teaching faculty alike struggle to bridge the gap between inexperience and expertise. In this interactive session, participants will have the opportunity to practice skills for interviewing students as a strategy to gain a depth of perspective not readily available through other methods. In particular, we will explore how digital technologies impact students’ academic research and writing, and the ways in which technologies might either enhance student work, create barriers to, or even transform the research and writing process. Attendees will be invited to reflect on their own experience with technology and then to participate in role-playing as interviewers and student interviewees. Finally, the presenters will share preliminary findings from interviews with students and will facilitate audience discussion about the role of technology in the writing and research process. The session is based upon a collaboration between two librarians and an English composition instructor who is also the coordinator of the university writing center