Dissertations and discussions: engineering graduate student research resource use at New Mexico State University

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula C. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Reference Lists ◽  
State University ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Faculty Advisors ◽  
New Mexico State University ◽  
College Of Engineering

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to determine whether the accelerated growth of web content during the years 1989-2011 had an effect on New Mexico State University engineering PhD students' use of the library's collections. The research also solicited direct input from PhD advisors regarding their expectations for and perceptions of present day PhD reference lists. If the collections were being used with less frequency, there would be reason to increase outreach to the engineering graduate student population, as well as to review current engineering collection development policies. Design/methodology/approach – Reference lists from College of Engineering PhD dissertations produced 1989-1991 (pre-web), 1999-2001 (web-emergent), and 2009-2011 (post-web) time periods were analyzed using descriptive statistics. PhD faculty advisors from the College of Engineering were interviewed about their expectations for, and perceptions of, research resources used in PhD dissertations. Findings – The number of resources cited, percentages of type of resource (e.g. book, journal, patent, etc.) and age of citation did not vary substantially over time, although the percentage of journal articles cited to total number of citations per dissertation increased post-web. Some websites were cited in the post-web period, but not in significant numbers. Engineering faculty expressed concerns that some PhD students were not critically evaluating and fully synthesizing the information they were citing in the literature review sections of their dissertations. Originality/value – The results of the citation study provided PhD faculty advisors with the positive news that there appears to be no degradation in the quality of references post-web. However, the expressed faculty interest in seeing some dissertators undertake a more robust analysis of the literature created an outreach opportunity for the engineering librarian: a graduate student workshop in how to use the library collections to perform a thorough survey of the relevant research in order to write an effective literature review.

Do engineering master’s students know what they don’t know?

2015 ◽  
Vol 64 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 36-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula C Johnson ◽  
Jennifer E. Simonsen
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
State University ◽  
Electronic Information ◽  
Master's Students ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Mexico State University ◽  
Scholarly Article ◽  
Materials Used

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to determine whether engineering master’s students at a medium-sized university use library-provided abstracting and indexing (A&I) services (e.g. Compendex), and if they do, to what extent, in what manner and for what purposes. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methodology approach was used to explore electronic information-seeking patterns of engineering master’s students at New Mexico State University. Usage statistics, a focus group and a Web-based survey were used, the latter composed of 17 questions using a critical incident approach and direct questions to probe: reasons for and method of search, types of materials used (with relative frequencies), means of obtaining materials and evaluations of the usefulness of five library-provided A&I services. Findings – Only 15 per cent of respondents used a subscription A&I service such as Compendex when searching specific terms. The majority of sources used were located through known term searches, and master’s learned of these information resources through article citations or conversations with colleagues. Half the respondents reported using Google Scholar to find the last scholarly article they had read. Engineering master’s students – similar to practicing engineers – evaluate the costs associated with obtaining information, and may “satisfice”. Even so, students expressed interest in increasing their knowledge of skills and strategies to find worthwhile electronic information. Originality/value – This study sheds light on engineering master’s students’ use of A&I services, and examines their perceptions of five of these services commonly provided by academic libraries.

scholarly journals Geothermal application feasibility study for the New Mexico State University campus. Technical report

1978 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.N. Gunaji ◽  
E.F. Thode ◽  
L. Chaturvedi ◽  
A. Walvekar ◽  
L. LaFrance ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
State University ◽  
University Campus ◽  
New Mexico State University ◽  
Technical Report

Spanish as a Heritage Language Assessment: Successes, Failures, Lessons Learned

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Patricia MacGregor-Mendoza
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
State University ◽  
New Mexico State University

From its origins over three decades ago, interest in the field of Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) has grown and has produced a wealth of research. While our understanding of the sociolinguistic profile of Spanish heritage language learners has increased and we have advanced in our knowledge of the linguistic abilities and strategies Spanish heritage language learners bring to bear on specific language tasks, we are just beginning to apply this knowledge in meaningful ways for the purposes of assessment. The present paper describes the evaluation of the efficacy of the Spanish Placement Test (SPT) that has been used for over 15 years to evaluate students initiating their Spanish language study at New Mexico State University (NMSU). The SPT is intended to distinguish between students who would be best served by either the SHL sequence or the Spanish as a Second Language sequence and, further, to suggest which course within the appropriate sequence would best allow their skills to grow. An examination of the SPT was warranted as the population for which the SPT was originally designed did not appear to match that of NMSU’s population of SHL learners. Additionally, at first glance, the items on the SPT did not appear to be a good fit with the goals of the courses in the SHL sequence. The present paper discusses the findings of our evaluation of the SPT in light of its ability to assess the skills of learners of Spanish as a heritage language and place them accurately in the sequence of SHL courses.

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