Measuring and Evaluating Research Literacy in Higher Education: A Synthesis of Mechanisms and Discoveries

Conference: The Asian Conference on Education (ACE2022)
Title: Measuring and Evaluating Research Literacy in Higher Education: A Synthesis of Mechanisms and Discoveries
Stream: Professional Training, Development & Concerns in Education
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Jingjing Lin, Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan

Abstract:

In the context of higher degree research, one of the greatest obstacles was equipping students with research literacy. It is, however, an underdeveloped research topic and consequently its associated practices are ill advised. Most would agree that in order to optimize policy decisions and public spending, it is necessary to evaluate costs in relation to the quality of outputs. Before designing any type of educational intervention to improve the research literacy, it is essential to have a measurement instrument that can track and evaluate research literacy levels along the progress. This systematic literature review seeks to identify current approaches that measure research literacy in higher education institutions and to summarize findings from pertinent evaluation studies. A search of two academic databases Scopus and Web of Science yielded 369 publications, which was screened down to 11 relevant journal articles. The qualitative integrative synthesis methods will be followed to reveal the mechanisms and outcomes of research literacy evaluation. In addition, it will reveal patterns, distributions, and trends of these publications based on their metadata. With a focus on the measurement and evaluation of research literacy, the results will also inform the development of instruments to assess research literacy in higher education settings. University-level research training providers may also benefit from this study for its results will empower their engaging in evidence-based practice.