Creative Solutions through Collaboration

Information Literacy for a Large First-Year Biology Class

Wendy Rodgers & Pamela JacobsUniversity of Guelph Library

Guelph, Ontario, Canada

About the Course

“A lecture and laboratory course which introduces the concepts and controversies in contemporary biology and their implications.”

History: July 1998

Faculty members approach library

Faculty and library plan 1 hour lecture and 1 hour ‘library lab’ with assignment

Fall 1998 Challenges Logistics of managing a large

number of students Very labour intensive for library

staff! Overloaded databases Course term paper somewhat

unrealistic Computer workstations tied up

Fall 1999, Fall 2000 Challenges

Refined term paper to require fewer articles

Reduced content covered in library lectures

Still very labour intensive Lectures/demonstrations not too

effective

An Online Tutorial is Born

Inspired by “Using the Web to Teach Library Research Skills in Introductory Biology: A Collaboration Between Faculty and Librarians”

There must be a better way. . .

Methodology

Determined course needs Explored existing tutorials Learned course software Developed & tested modules Started small

Winter 2001 108 students 3 module tutorial, quiz and survey

What they liked: “…when links were provided so we

could go and try out what we had just learned”

What they Liked

“…diagrams of what the computer screens would look like when we were doing our searches. It is much easier than having to imagine it while we are being taught.”

What they Liked

Targeted content Finding a topic Understanding primary literature

What they Liked “Please comment on the least

helpful aspects of the tutorial” Nearly one third said that

everything was useful.

Positive reinforcement: Added more interactive

opportunities

What We Changed Too long:We reduced wording on each screen. Repetitive:We reduced repetition between modules.We made examples more diverse. Book retrieval:We eliminated it and added a live tour

instead. Quiz limitations

Fall 2001: The First Big Run

1400 students 3 module tutorial, quiz and survey

PLUS 30 minute live tour with Library

T.A.

What We Changed Section on finding a topic We added hierarchy & made the section

optional. Section on printing, saving, e-mailingWe eliminated it & referred to database help. Call number sectionWe eliminated it & gave link to Library Ed. No feedback from quizWe added feedback for each answer.

Coordinator’s Feedback Doing a search with the right termsWe made our examples more complex,

therefore more realistic.

Primary & secondary literatureWe inserted a piece into the lab manual

FAQ, showing diagram from tutorial.

Compromise with Coordinator

“…very helpful to go through a trial run and actually look up items. Otherwise I probably would have forgotten how to do it if I had to wait until the time when it actually became necessary.”

Address the point of need Add direct links to Virtual Reference service -

YES Break up the timeline of the tutorial & tour -

NO

Fall 2002: The Second Big Run 1375 students What they liked:

Term-long availability of tutorial Very few references to length: “There wasn’t

really anything there that you could stand to do away with.”

Creating a search strategy worksheet

Next Steps

Add self-test prior to each module Add more step-by-step numbered sections Add printable summaries at end of

sections Add quiz question asking for hands-on

identification of primary and secondary e-journal articles

Offer optional live tour of our Vet Science library (housed in a different building)

Overall Value Quite consistent over 5 semesters:

85% Excellent or Good 13% Fair 2% Poor

Quiz Results

82.6% to 86.3%

Length of Tutorial

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

W2001 F2001 W2002 F2002 W2003

too short

about right

too long

Time to Complete

2% > 2 hours 52.3% between 30-60 minutes 24.5% took < 30 minutes

Usefulness of Worksheet

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

F2001 W2002 F2002 W2003

very helpful

somewhat helpful

not helpful

didn't use it

Reference Desk Challenges

Still many questions generated by students in the course

Some students still appear not to have absorbed any of the material

Workload is manageable

Facilities Challenges

Library provided space for T.A. consultations

Fall 2002: long disruptive lineups Workstation availability

Tutorial “Omissions” Things mentioned on the tour Things mentioned in tutorial Things associated with course Subjects other than biology Other needs: citations, plagiarism

Broad Challenges Communicating our expectations Understanding their expectations Finding the elusive middle ground

Too much / not enough detail Too basic / too advanced E.g.: Changing to one screenful of text E.g.: Moving from linear to hierarchical

Recurring Theme

Knowledge begets confidence: “It gave me the confidence to use the library

services and meet the reference desk clan.”