Container Collapse and the Information Remix: Students’ Evaluations of Scientific Research Recast

in Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

Amy Buhler

Ixchel M. Faniel

Brittany Brannon

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@RSICStudy

Scientific Communication Lifecycle

Image from https://cms.uflib.ufl.edu/msl/Services/Tutorials/Finding_articles/Tutorial_3

Informal Communication

Formal Communication

Popularization

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Today’s Scientific Communication Lifecycle

Images from http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1174 and http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1175 #ContainerCollapse

“Marsh rabbit mortalities tie pythons to the precipitous decline of mammals in the Everglades” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (RSPB)

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“Snakes wipe out Everglades rabbits” Nature

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“Burmese Pythons are Taking Over the Everglades” Time

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Methods

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For This Presentation

Participants• 26 High School

• 30 Community College

• 30 University Undergraduate

• 30 University Graduate

Tasks• Helpful

• Citable

• Credible

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Results

Percentage of Students Who Chose Each Resource as Helpful

69%65%

31%

73%70%

43%

87%

67%

43%

83%

67%

53%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

RSPB Time Nature

High School Community College Undergraduate Graduate

Given the RSIC study design, the sample size varies across student groups, simulation tasks, and resources. Please refer the paper for more information: http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2019/ContainerCollapseandInformationRemix.pdf #ContainerCollapse

Percentage of Students Who Chose To Cite the Helpful Resource

89%

82%

88%

77%

57%

46%

96%

50%

77%

100%

35%

88%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

RSPB Time Nature

High School Community College Undergradute Graduate

Given the RSIC study design, the sample size varies across student groups, simulation tasks, and resources. Please refer the paper for more information: http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2019/ContainerCollapseandInformationRemix.pdf #ContainerCollapse

Citation Differences by Education Level

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

High school Community college Undergraduate Graduate

Pre

dic

ted

Pro

bab

ility

(%

)

RSPB Nature TimeN=116#ContainerCollapse

Average Credibility Rating of the Helpful Resources on a Scale of 1 to 5

1

2

3

4

5

RSPB Time Nature

High School Community College Undergraduate Graduate

Given the RSIC study design, the sample size varies across student groups, simulation tasks, and resources. Please refer the paper for more information: http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2019/ContainerCollapseandInformationRemix.pdf #ContainerCollapse

Role of Clicking and Time on Task

Clicking a Resource

• More likely to find it helpful & citable

More Time on Task

• Less likely to find Nature helpful

• Less likely to find Nature & Time citable

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Discussion

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RSPB

Nature

Time

Summary of Findings

• Ranking across the three tasks linked to resource characteristics

• Students may rely on source, when they should be evaluating the resource

• Clicking and Time on Task are related to student judgments in surprising ways

• Education level plays a role in students’ decisions

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Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

Authority is Constructed

and Contextual

Information Creation as a Process

Searching as Strategic Exploration

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Presentation Attendee Poll Responses

Conversation

1. Based on these findings, how can we help students recognize and overcome some of these struggles?

2. How do we teach students to recognize and critically engage with recasted content?

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Thank You & Questions

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant number LG-81-15-0155

@RSICStudy

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