STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE USE OF PRIMARY SOURCES IN ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Abstract

Primary sources are usually being disregarded when students are asked to do their academic research. They prefer to use internet resources without knowing the information is reliable or not. Nowadays, the dependence on internet usage by the student is extensive until they are impotent to state the meaning of primary source. In an academic discipline, primary source can be defined as an original document and object which is created during the time under study. It serves as an original source of information about the topic that was remnants by a previous individual or society to indulge as the raw material that historians use to analyse the past. Regarding this issue, undergraduate students were asked about their preferences and perceptions using primary source when doing academic research. In order to make the discussions on this issue clear, it is useful to ponder how primary sources should be used in the classroom. Therefore, students’ views on primary sources, their point of view on how to use it and finally getting information about their awareness concerning this issue are important.