Undergraduate Student Research Program

The focus of this section is on effectively finding, consuming and using information. This section supports LCCC's General Education Outcomes

• GEO2: Critical Thinking - Students will be able to evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information to draw informed, logical conclusions or solve problems.
• GEO3: Digital Literacy - Students will be able to use digital technologies effectively and responsibly.

The research process can usually be broken into six steps:

1. Exploring the background of a topic
2. Developing a topic
3. Finding sources
4. Evaluating sources
5. Using and citing sources
6. Creating new knowledge

(Image licensed under CC BY 2.0)

You likely will use these six steps whenever you complete a project that relies on outside resources. For example, when you put together a research paper, case study, or presentation. As you use these steps, you will likely realize that the actual research process is not as straightforward as it seems. In fact, it is often not a linear process at all! Sometimes you’ll do steps out of order or need to revisit earlier steps.

Research is messy, but it can also be an enjoyable "treasure hunt" too!