Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (Journal)
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No full textNo abstract
Completion of an Online Library Module Improves Engineering Student Performance on Information Literacy Skills Tests
No full textA Review of:
Zhang, Q., Goodman, M., & Xie, S. (2015). Integrating library instruction into the Course Management System for a first-year engineering class: An evidence-based study measuring the effectiveness of blended learning on students’ information literacy levels. College & Research Libraries, 76(7), 934-958. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/crl.76.7.934
Objective – To assess the efficacy of an online library module and of blended learning methods on students’ information literacy skills.
Design – Multi-modal, pre- and posttests, survey questionnaire, and focus groups.
Setting – Public research university in London, Ontario, Canada.
Subjects – First-year engineering students.
Methods – Of 413 students enrolled in Engineering Science (ES) 1050, 252 volunteered to participate in the study. Participants were asked to complete the online module, a pretest, a posttest, an online follow-up survey, and to take part in a focus group.
Researchers generated a pretest and a posttest, each comprised of 15 questions:; multiple choice, true or false, and matching questions which tested students’ general and engineering-specific information literacy skills. The pretest and posttest had different, but similarly challenging, questions to ensure that students involved in the study would not have an advantage over those who had opted out. While all components of the study were voluntary, the posttest was a graded course assignment.
In-person tutorials were offered on 4 occasions, with only 15 students participating. Both tutorial and module content were designed to cover all questions and competencies tested in the pretest and the posttest, including Boolean operators, peer review, identifying plagiarism, engineering standards, engineering handbooks, search strategies, patents, article citations, identifying reliable sources, and how to read journal articles.
The posttest survey was delivered in the CMS immediately after the posttest was completed. It measured self-reported student behaviours and preferences concerning the online modules. Two focus groups were convened after all posttest surveys were completed to gather qualitative data about student preferences.
Main Results – Of the 252 volunteers, 239 students (57.9% of enrolled students) completed both the pretest and the posttest, 89 filled out the follow-up survey, and 7 students participated in a focus group. Students used the online module content differently; accordingly those numbers were not reported. Researchers compared pretest and posttest scores to find that the posttest scores were significantly higher than the pretest scores (p < 0.001). Of 239 pretest and posttest pairs evaluated, the mean pretest score was 10.456 and the mean posttest score was 13.843. A t-test survey and focus group data evaluated student perceptions of the module. Students reported a slight preference for online instruction.
Conclusion – After completing an online library module, students’ performance on information literacy skills tests improved from the pretest to the posttest. Focus group and survey data indicate a slight student preference for online tutorials over in-person instruction. Although intended as a blended approach to library instruction, the voluntary in-person instruction was not well attended and has subsequently been changed to mandatory in-class instruction. The authors recommend further research to evaluate how the medium and format of instruction impacts student learning outcomes
Information Literacy and Retention: A Case Study of the Value of the Library
No full textObjective - The authors investigated the impact of library instruction on information literacy (IL) skills as part of ACRL’s AiA initiative. Additionally, the researchers sought to determine whether there was a relationship between IL tests scores and research experiences with student success outcomes such as retention.
Methods - The researchers administered a standardized IL test to 455 graduate and undergraduate students in multiple disciplines. They then collected outcome data on GPA, retention, and graduation three years later.
Results - While there were no significant differences between those students who had instruction and those who did not on the IL test, a regression analysis revealed that experience writing research papers that required library resources and an individual’s use of library books throughout their academic career demonstrated significant, positive relationships with whether a student passed the information literacy test. Additionally, using the longitudinal data on GPA, retention, graduation, and employment, the researchers found that students’ IL scores were significantly correlated with their GPAs, and that students who passed the IL test were more likely to be retained or graduate within six years.
Conclusion - The ability to demonstrate IL skills appears to contribute to retention and graduation and, therefore, may be an integral part of one’s academic success. Further, experience writing research papers and other meaningful assignments contributes to student success
Secondary School Students Ascribe Value to Presentation, Accuracy, and Currency in their Evaluation of Web-Based Information
No full textA Review of:
Pickard, A. J., Shenton, A. K., & Johnson, A. (2014). Young people and the evaluation of information on the World Wide Web: Principles, practice and beliefs. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 46(1), 3-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0961000612467813
Abstract
Objective – To measure the importance students place on criteria used to evaluate Web-based information.
Design – Online, self-report questionnaire.
Setting – Secondary school in the United Kingdom.
Subjects – 149 students aged 13-18 years, representing a response rate of approximately 21% of the 713 students sampled.
Methods – The authors used themes generated in a previous study of Web-based information evaluation (Pickard, Gannon-Leary, & Coventry, 2010) to create a 10-item questionnaire about the importance of criteria used to evaluate Web-based information. Criteria represented in the questionnaire included accuracy, authority (2 statements), currency (2 statements), coverage, presentation, affiliation, source motivation, and citations. Students used a four-point scale from “Very important” to “Not at all important” to indicate how significant they considered each criteria to be when they evaluated websites.
Students received an email invitation to participate in the study, with a link to the questionnaire in the school’s SharePoint environment. Two subsequent email reminders were sent approximately 8-10 weeks after the initial invitation to participate. Teachers at the school were also asked to promote the questionnaire in their classes.
Main Results – Over 75% of the 149 student respondents rated statements about presentation (n=116), accuracy (n=114), and currency (n=116) as “Very important” or “Quite important.” A majority of students (over 50%) rated the two statements about website authorship as being only “A little important” or “Not at all important” (n=92, and n=86). However, 62% of students (n=92) indicated that a website’s sponsoring organization is “Very important” or “Quite important.” The authors suggest there were some differences between responses from older and younger students, with older students more likely to rate statements about coverage, citations, organization sponsorship, and source motivation as “Very important” or “Quite important.”
Conclusion – The authors recommend that instruction about information evaluation for teenagers does not need to take a “back to basics” approach (p. 16), as most questionnaire respondents indicated they already find several criteria to be important when evaluating information. Instead, instruction should address student opinions and misconceptions about Web-based information in the context of their school assignments or other information needs. For example, students may be more motivated to learn about and apply evaluative criteria that are generated through discussion with their peers. Students may also be more receptive to expanding information evaluation criteria when they are researching topics they find interesting or important. Finally, the authors recommend that instruction should take into account the context or situations in which various evaluation criteria may be most important
Richard Trueswell\u27s Contribution to Collection Evaluation and Management: A Review
No full textA Review of:
Trueswell, R. L. (1969). Some behavioral patterns of library users: The 80/20 rule. Wilson Library Bulletin, 43(5), 458-461.
Abstract
Objective – To demonstrate the relationship between library circulation and the percent of a library\u27s holdings satisfying circulation.
Design – Retrospective cohort study of library circulation data.
Setting – Cambridge and Northampton, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Subjects – The users of the monographic holdings of the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory Library and the Forbes Public Library.
Methods – Trueswell compiled circulation data from the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory Library over a period of 5 years, ostensibly from 1964-1969. Additionally, he gathered circulation data from Forbes Public Library. Trueswell compared each respective collection of data against the entire holdings of each library, after which he converted each measure to a percentage of the whole.
Main Result – Based on the collected data, Trueswell found that the percentages of both libraries’ holdings that satisfy circulation follow a power law distribution. He compared this with a previous study measuring journal circulation at a Health Sciences Library that exhibited the same pattern. He stated that these similar distributions demonstrated the "80/20 Rule." The distribution is such that any given percent of circulation will provide the percent of a library’s circulating holdings necessary to satisfy it. Additionally, Trueswell found that 75 percent of current circulation had circulated at least once within the preceding year.
Conclusion – The findings have implications for core collection development, purchasing multiple copies of a given title, determining the optimal size of a library\u27s collection, and weeding. Trueswell also submits the idea of developing regional interlibrary loan centers for books that do not circulate often, as a cost saving measure for most libraries
