Talking Through It: Using Student to Student Interviews and Brainstorming Activities for Facilitating Critical Inquiry

ABSTRACT

Facilitating student engagement, critical thinking, and strategic research approaches are key goals for many teaching librarians in academia. Librarians generally develop different tools to address these goals, depending on the class, the students, and the research in which students are participating. This paper outlines a peer-to-peer interview method developed as part of a workshop for an advanced chemistry class. The goal of this activity is to improve engagement, collaboration, and critical thinking before upper-level students delve into research literature. The activity iterations as well as outcomes, observations, and overall success are described in detail.

KEYWORDS:

• instruction
• information literacy
• interviews
• upper-level students
• collaboration
• peer-to-peer
• university students
• critical thinking
• chemistry
• group work