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Student Perceptions as a Method to Improve Information Literacy
No full textPurpose
When considering the information literacy skills of students, faculty (and librarians) often make assumptions as to what students know, understand, or why they act as they do. To help alleviate these misunderstandings, librarians and faculty co-created a tool to gauge student perceptions on finding information and using information in research projects. The tool is utilized in classrooms, and then faculty members (in conjunction with librarians) use that data to improve information literacy via assignments and instruction.
Design/Methodology/Approach
A 10-minute questionnaire was designed in late 2008 that gauges student perceptions in the following areas:
• Research Habits
• Resource Use
• Library Use
• Library Services
The tool is utilized by faculty in approximately 20 courses each semester. Results (which are compiled and anonymous) are returned to the faculty member, including overall results since the project began. Faculty members discuss these results with librarians, and make changes to their assignments/syllabi based upon what they have learned.
Findings
Some results of the questionnaire tool were not surprising at all. For instance, student effort in seeking information is tied to grades, students overwhelming prefer online materials to print, and Google is the first place that students look for information. On the other hand, student perceptions on assignment construction and resource requirements often differed from faculty, and even librarian expectations. Just as important as the data in this project is how faculty members interpreted that data and made changes in their classrooms. The information faculty receive is personalized to their own classes, and provides additional context that they do not receive from the literature or national projects that collect similar information. Currently we have 3.5 years of data from approximately 3500 students, and continue to add to the data set each semester.
Practical Implications/Value
While national data collection efforts such as Project Information Literacy are very useful in helping to better understand the information literacy skills of students, sometimes that data is too general for faculty members to find value in it. Having a tool that is easily implemented in the classroom helps faculty members to better understand the problems they see in student research projects, and to change their teaching and assignments based upon what they have learned from their students. Considering that this tool costs extremely little to implement and analyze, it is an extremely high value for the change that results
First Year Engineering Students Invading the Library: Integrating Outreach, Collaboration, and Information Literacy
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Resource Location Maps
Get PDFOur librarians needed an easy way to answer the question, “Which computer has X software?” Since some software packages are expensive, or require an above average machine to operate, not every software tool is available on every machine. To solve this, we created a web page that displayed an active map of each computer room and a list of available software. Hovering over a software title highlights every computer with that software. Clicking on a computer highlights every piece of software on that computer. Behind the scenes, we combined a spreadsheet of computer names correlated with the software on each machine with a map of computer locations. The process can also be used to answer other resources questions such as, “Where are study rooms with white boards?” and “What are the hours and services at each of the branch locations?
The Road to Balance: Two Decades of Progress in Providing Long-Term Services and Supports for Ohio's Older Population
Get PDFThis report documents two decades of progress in delivering long-term services in Ohio. In 1992, more than nine of the 10 older people in Ohio supported by Medicaid were in nursing homes. Today, the ratio is approaching 50/50.Ohio Department of Agin
Implementation of the 2014 Ohio Nursing Home Family Satisfaction Survey
Get PDFIn 2014 the Scripps Gerontology Center conducted the seventh biennial Ohio Nursing Home Family Satisfaction Survey under a contract to the Ohio Department of Aging. This year the survey had 947 facilities - the same number as in 2012 - representing 98% of Ohio's nursing homes and 23,639 families. The report includes information about the survey process, psychmetric analyses of the survey, and recommendations for future implementation of the survey.Ohio Dept. of Agin
A longitudinal study of website accessibility: Have social work education websites become more accessible?
Get PDFThis study (N = 45 schools) sought to determine the accessibility of baccalaureate social work program websites in 2003 and 2008 using Priority 1 checkpoints from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) 1.0 guidelines. Paired t-test results indicate that the mean accessibility scores of five of the nine items (plus the website accessibility scale as a whole) was statistically higher after five years. However, 75.6% of programs still had one or more Priority 1 accessibility barriers in 2008 and thus did not meet the lowest W3C accessibility guidelines. This highlights the need for more education about barriers to accessibility and methods for making websites more accessible
Open Educational Resources and their Implementation at Miami University
Get PDFA white paper submitted on 9/8/2015 by the members of the 2014 –2015 Faculty Learning Community Exploring Open Educational Resources at Miami University. Covers OER definition, best practices, benefits and evidence, OER as a strategy to meet 2020 goals, implementing an OER culture at Miami University, and a preliminary plan.Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) at Miami University
Miami University Librarie
Are E-Book Big Deal Bundles Still Valuable?
Get PDFThe academic e‐book market has undergone significant change in the last five years. E‐book availability has
greatly increased as library demand has grown, with an increasing percentage of library acquisitions
preferring electronic rather than print format. E‐book acquisition models like patron‐driven acquisition and
short‐term loan have now become commonplace and available from a multitude of consortia, publishers, and
aggregators. With the wide availability of these models, is there still value in buying e‐books through package
deals?
To help answer this question, we will present the results of a usage‐based analysis of Wiley e‐books. Since
2012, Miami University Libraries have purchased Wiley e‐book collections through a consortial OhioLINK
contract. Previously purchased OhioLINK e‐book collections have been accessible to patrons through both
OhioLINK’s Electronic Book Center platform and the publisher platform. The Wiley e‐book purchase deviates
from previous practice by being available to patrons only on the publisher platform and our analysis is
therefore focused on COUNTER e‐book usage reports from the Wiley platform. We also augment the usage
data with title‐level information, such as subject and book type. This preliminary study focuses on the 2012
Wiley collection and its use over a three‐year period (2012‐2014) and will include data‐driven findings
presented in visually useful ways
