Student Perceptions of Referencing

Colin Neville

University of Bradford/LearnHigher (CETL)

Two stages of research

• Stage 1: 2008/9: ‘Student Perceptions of Referencing’

• Stage 2: 2009/10 : ‘International Students, writing and referencing’

• 600+ students involved across 17 UK/HEIs

Student Perceptions of Referencing:

• To identify student perceptions of the roles of referencing in academic writing

• To identify the main referencing problems for students

• To consider the implications for staff development

Referencing – my own view

Referencing facilitates the development and communication of ideas in academic writing.

It is an important component in the development of authorial identity in academic writing (managing arguments is at the core of this )

A key purpose of referencing in academic writing is to distinguish one’s own work

from the work of others .

The students

• 278 students, from 14 UK/HE institutions contributed their views to the survey

• 75% undergraduate

• Drawn from a wide range of disciplines

• Home students (70%)

Methodology

A total of 12 drop-in workshops at two universities during 2008/09

Aim: to identify & attempt to resolve referencing issues of concern to students (77 attended)

“Have Your Say”: online survey January to May 2009

Content analysis of 201 replies from students at 14 UK/HE institutions

Specific ‘technical’ problems brought to workshops

1. Secondary referencing: (how to do it; when to do it.2. When to reference (and when it is not necessary)3. Formatting references and bibliographies (what to

include and in what order)4. Referencing quotations (when to do it; how to do it)5. Understanding Harvard (how to cite; where to cite in

the text)

‘Have your say’

• 201 replies received (77%: undergraduates) from students at 14 UK/HE institutions

• A quarter of all respondents presented entirely positive views about referencing (25% of the undergraduates; 33% of the postgraduates)

• 7% of the respondents (all undergraduates) expressed very negative views on referencing

• 69% students expressed critical views on referencing: “ I can understand why we have to reference but…”

‘ Have your say’: specific problem areas

• Time management related issues (19%)• Concerns about plagiarism; and ‘too many

referencing styles’ (11% respectively)• Critical of detail needed in a reference; and

difficulties with integrating own ideas into assignments; and inconsistent tutor advice, marking & feedback (9% respectively)

Writing Difficulties

Referencing concerns of students often inseparable from other writing difficulties

AcademicV

Personal

Paraphrasing & Summarising

Referencing(when/what/where

why & how)

Use of secondary sources,

rather than primary

Three perspectives on referencing:

Defensive

Altruistic

Creative

Why reference?

Arguably:

The ‘defensive’ perspective on referencing a predominant one in the minds of many students.

Students afraid to express views that someone, somewhere, may have ‘published’ online or elsewhere.

The ‘authorial identity’ – ‘own voice’ - of a student can be lost; submerged below the references

Referencing difficulties of students

Student related Wider, institutional issues

Wider, institutional, issues

• ‘Too many referencing styles’• Tutor inconsistencies• Defining plagiarism• How do we help and support

students to manage sources in a more creative way?

Author- Name styles Consecutive Numbering

Recurrent Numbering

British Standard (BS) Name-date (Harvard)

Variants:

APA MLA MHRA Chicago-Turabian Council of Science Editors (CSE)

BS: Footnote or ‘Running Notes’ style

Variants:

MHRA Chicago -Turabian Oxford: Oscola

BS: Numeric

Variants:

Vancouver IEEE Council of Science Editors (CSE)

Too many referencing styles? Do we need 14?

Defining Plagiarism

• Exclude the item ‘ideas’ in our institutional definitions of plagiarism, e.g. “The use of the unacknowledged and/or unauthorised ideas of another person’”

• Plagiarism should relate only to work in the public domain

Not just bibliographies…

An ‘acknowledgements’ section or statement in assignments.

May help to overcome student anxieties about plagiarising ideas

Finally….

What is your experience?

What are your comments?

Any questions?