school of education library university of iceland

School of Education Library – University of Iceland User Education

Worksphop for University librarians Reykjavik 2011

©Margrét Guðmundsdóttir and Gunnhildur Kristín Björnsdóttir

Contents • Programs at the School of Education

• The University’s Policy

• User Education at the School of Education

• Introduction to Teaching Materials for Students Entering in the Field Training

• Undergraduate Students

• Graduate Students

• Doctoral Students

• Teaching the use of EndNote Web

• User Education Programs for the University’s Teachers

• Collaboration with the Writing Centre

• Overview of the User Education Programs

• Evaluation of the User Education Programs

• The Future

Programs at the School of Education Undergraduate Programs (3 years)

• Teacher Education (B.Ed.)

• Education Studies (B.A.)

• Sports, Social Education and Leisure Studies (B.S, B.A.)

Graduate Programs (2 years)

• Educational Studies (M.A. M.Ed.)

• International Studies in Education (M.A.)

• Social Education (M.A.)

• Sport and Health Sciences (M.S.)

Doctoral Studies (3-4 years)

• Educational Sciences (Ph.D. Ed.D.)

Students

• 2,100 students enrolled in various programs

• Age difference between students

National Qualification Framework for Higher Education

• The National Qualification Framework for higher education in Iceland is a systematic description of the structure of qualifications and degrees at the higher education level and is specifically based on learning outcomes

• All higher education institutions in Iceland, accredited by the Minister of

Education, Science and Culture according to the Higher Education Act no. 63/2006, shall follow this framework

National Qualification Framework for Higher Education

Bachelor degree Skills:

• Recognize when further data is needed and have the ability to retrieve it, assess its reliability and apply it in an appropriate manner

• Able to use reliable data- and information resources in the relevant scientific field

Master degree Skills:

• Able to collect, analyse and evaluate scientific data

Doctoral degree Skills : • Have full command over basic skills, technology, methods, material and sources

connected to the relevant scientific field

Policy of the University of Iceland 2011-2016

Policy on teaching and learning

• Efforts will be made to improve student and teacher access to electronic journals and databases

• Student information literacy shall be increased, for example, with training in finding references, using databases and clearer presentation of information and knowledge

Policy of the School of Education Library

• Goal – Assist and encourage users to become more independent in their

search for information and references

• Methods – Provide teaching and training in information literacy to all users

(students and staff)

– A webpage containing quality information, which is updated regularly and makes use of social media e.g. Facebook

– Continuing education for teachers and staff

Information Literacy Defined

An information literate individual is able to:

• Determine the extent of information needed

• Access the information needed effectively and efficiently

• Evaluate information and its sources critically

• Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base

• Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose

• Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally

(Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education –ACRL)

User education at the School of Education

• Courses and introductions

– Dissemination of knowledge

– Planning a search

– Search technique

– Search process

– Information retrieval

User Education for First Year Undergraduate Students

Open house for freshmen • Introduction to the library, orientation quiz

• Short introduction to the library’s homepage and the national catalogue (Gegnir)

User education course – autumn term (part of the Icelandic course)

• Introduction to the national catalogue (Gegnir)

• Students submit a written assignment that comprises searching the catalogue

User education course – spring term

• Reference searching

• EndNote Web introduction and training

User Education for Graduate Students

• Introduction to user education integrated with courses – e.g. in connection with student assignments

• Working with subject terms relevant to assigned projects from the teachers

• Introduction to databases – what is available?

• Searching in databases

• Introduction to our library services

• Introduction to the availability of different databases – e.g. open access, national access, on-campus access

Field Training

Introduction to Educational Teaching Material for Primary and Secondary Schools Before Students Enter in the Field Training

• The web page of the National Centre for Educational Materials (NCEM) – including user support

• The library´s collection

• Assignments – students receive an assignment related to their field training and work on it in the library

Thesis

User education courses for undergraduate and graduate students beginning to work on their thesis

• The webpage – support material

• Gegnir (the national catalogue)

• Databases – subject terms

• The reference search process

Doctoral Students

• General introduction at the start of the academic year

• Requests for introductions and user education courses, for instance EndNote Web

• Advertised courses – limited participation

Teaching EndNote Web

• We started offering EndNote Web training sessions in 2009

• Students create their own account and basic user functions are introduced

• Students are always welcome at the library for further individual instruction

User Education for Teachers

• Advertised courses – EndNote Web

– Journal list A-Z (Journals in open, national and on-campus access)

• Individual guidance and support

Collaboration with the Writing Centre

Plan and advertise joint courses

• The library - teaching reference searching in the national

catalogue and databases and the use of EndNoteWeb

• The Writing Centre - to assist students to improve their writing skills and their use of citations and references

The Division of User Education Classes – 2010-2011

Devision of time spent on:

User education—part of a course subject lesson

Joint courses with the Writing Centre

Advertised courses

Individual guidance for students and teachers

User education courses for students working on their thesis

Other introductions

The Number of Students Attending the Different User Education Courses

Number of students attending:

User education—part of a course subject lesson

Joint courses with the Writing Centre

Advertised courses

Individual guidance for students and teachers

User education courses for students working on their thesis

Other introductions

Online service - The Library’s homepage

Online service - Facebook

Evaluating our services/user education?

• First year students - couple of open ended questions with the national catalogue project

• Teaching surveys for individual courses

• Assessment meetings with students, discussing certain courses

Examples of Results

• Around 80% of undergraduate students in their first year were positive or fairly positive about the the catalogue (Gegnir) project

• Around 50% of graduate students in Educational Studies considered the teaching of information literacy good or fairly good – around 60% thought the webpage was good or fairly good

• Personal face to face comments

Points

• How may we assess whether students are using scholarly references more frequently after having taken part in a user education program? Is there a visible improvement in the quality of their written assignments?

• If we could assess students information literacy abilities when they start their university education we could offer more individually orientated user education programs

Points

• The size of the School of Education has its positive and negative aspects

• Uniqueness - the large number of distance learners who only come to the library during on-campus sessions or contact us via phone/email

• Problems – too much new information for freshmen at the beginning; how much information do they manage to retain?