Question - Faculty of Arts - University of Waterloo

Embedding
Information Literacy
in the Virtual Classroom
Laura E. Briggs, Liaison Librarian
James M. Skidmore, Associate Professor
The University of Waterloo
ACRL/CNI/EDUCAUSE Joint Virtual Conference
20 April 2006

Who Are We?
The Boss Thinks He’s the Boss
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Tempo – Germany’s premium tissue!
=
Tempo Questions
We will use Tempo Questions to start short discussions
during the presentation. Selected respondents will
receive free Tempo packs!
3

Question: Where Do We Work?
A. Waterloo, Belgium
– Where Napoleon summered briefly in
1814?
B. Waterloo, Indiana
– Where for every 100 females there are
106.4 males?
C. Waterloo, Iowa
– Home of the Silos and Smokestacks
National Heritage Area?
D. Waterloo, Ontario
– Home of the largest Oktoberfest outside
Munich?
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University of Waterloo: Statistics
Canada’s top-ranked comprehensive
university. (www.macleans.ca/universities/)
Undergraduates 21,029
Graduates 2,359
Faculty 895
Staff 2,090
Campus Size 1000 acres
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Models of InfoLit Instruction
Traditional model of InfoLit instruction
– Library orientations
– Visiting librarian
– Base level prof / librarian co-operation
Integrated model of InfoLit instruction
– Part of regular course
– Degrees of integration
– Moderate level prof / librarian co-operation
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New Issues and Implications
Course Management Systems (CMS)
– Technological implications
– Significant prof / librarian co-operation
Task-based learning approach
– Instructional bottleneck
– Design task to meet the need
– Providing feedback is important
– Salter et al, EMI 41 (2004): 207-17.
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James’ Instructional Bottleneck
“No, Laura, it’s not me!”
Term papers in various GER courses
– Vague - expository instead of analytical
– Role of information used
• Inappropriate resources
• Lack of awareness of specialty resources
• Students didn’t see the problem
– Incorrect source citations
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Students would be able to
James’ Perfect World
– Find quality information sources
– Put those sources to good use
– Transfer acquired skills to other courses or
life in general
So how do I go about getting my way?
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I shift the burden to Laura!
– But without giving her any lecture time
Our Solution
InfoLit integration through task-based
instruction
– Specific goals for the InfoLit modules
– Tasks as part of term project
Targeted solutions to overcome bottlenecks
– Teach relevant information that students will retain
InfoLit delivery via a CMS
– Courses were “going” CMS
(ANGEL Learning – dubbed UW-ACE)
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Why Use CMS to Deliver InfoLit?
Independent Learning
– Self-study modules work well in CMS
– Lecture time freed up for content
Integration
– Seamless connections between course
and library (especially with e-resources)
– Archive of course-relevant material
Involvement prevents marginalization of
library!
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Others Are Saying It Too
Cohen, “Course-Management Software: Where’s the
Library?” EDUCAUSE Review (May/June 2002): 12-13.
Zhang, “Developing Web-Enhanced Learning for
Information Fluency.” Reference & User Services
Quarterly 41 (2002): 356-63.
Martin & Lee, “Using a WebCT to Develop a Research
Skills Module.” Issues in Science and Technology
Librarianship (Spring 2003).
Buehler, “Where is the Library in Course Management
Software?” Journal of Library Administration 41 (2004):
75-84.
George & Martin, “Forging the Library Courseware Link.”
C&RL News 65 (2004): 594-613.
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Question
The co-operation outlined in the
preceding slides requires that profs
and librarians reveal more of what they
do to the other party.
How do you feel about increased prof /
librarian interaction?
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German / Fine Arts 359
German Directors in Hollywood
–Mostly 3 rd -year Fine Arts students
– 11 students
Instructional Challenges
– Differentiating between film criticism and
film scholarship
– Locating good film scholarship
One of the Course Objectives
– To learn more about the sources of
information that can aid us in the study of
film.
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Information
What Did We Do?
– Chart distinguishing film criticism from film
scholarship
– Database orientation
Tasks
– Database quiz
– Integration (of database searching) into
term project
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InfoLit is embedded
in the Term Project.

1. Students
read the
topic.
2. Students read
a sample
database
search (PDF).

3. Students provide
short answers to
questions that
check their ability
to make sense of
the results of the
database search.

Automatic feedback is
brief since individual
feedback was provided
to each student.

Canned searches
We Are Not Alone!
– Students focus on evaluating articles or
learning database mechanics instead of
constructing search strategies
• Ladner et al, Reference & User Services
Quarterly 43 (2004): 337-45.
•Kearns & Hybl, Science & Technology
Libraries 25 (2005): 39-56.
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Did Students Engage with the Material?
Yes: material accessed often
– Main InfoLit resource page very popular
No: only 2 of 11 students completed the
online databases quiz
– The quiz had no explicit grade
Does accessing the information mean
that students understood the concepts?
– The take-home final exam would provide
some answers!
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InfoLit Lurked in the Final Exam

The Students’ Answers
Relied on the databases suggested in the
course
Used simple keyword search strategies:
expressionism AND film
expressionism AND German film
expressionism in film
expressionism
Scholarly article: not all students could
explain why the article they chose was
scholarly
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Question
The students’ keyword search
strategies were not very sophisticated.
Did we reap what we sowed by using
canned searches in the InfoLit task for
GER 359?
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Was James Satisfied?
Is a prof ever really satisfied?
Upcoming offering of GER 359
– Comparison of film review and film
scholarship will be an integral part of term
project
– Completion of InfoLit quizzes will have a
direct impact on term project grade
– Final exam component will be kept –
excellent example of InfoLit integration
into course content
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German Thought and Culture
– 271: Beginnings to Mid-1800s
– 272: Mid-1800s to the Present
German 271 / 272
Alternative course for Faculty of Arts
language requirement
Second-year students
Mostly non-majors (course is not a
priority for them)
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Instructional challenge
– Independent background preparation
Task
– Course objective:
GER 271
• To develop independent learning skills by becoming
better able to make use of the UW Library's online
reference shelf
– Three birds / one stone
• Basic info about persons / terms
• Identifying suitable resources for tasks
• Matching quantity of information to need
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Key background
information that students
can acquire on their own
Three resources that provide varying
information on the general topic
Fill-in Chart

The Students’ Answers
Made use of resources previously
unknown to them
Provided too much information
– Cut-and-paste – didn’t summarize
– Lack confidence to know what information
is important
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Was James Satisfied?
Again: Is a prof ever really satisfied?
Students saw advantage of using UW
Library resources, but thought task was too
long
Future offerings – replace chart with CMS
short answer form
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Instructional Challenge
– Poor research on term papers
• Avoidance of journal articles
• Monographs older or too general
• Inability to cite sources properly
• Lack of engagement
– Unfocused, expository essays
GER 272
Task
– InfoLit stated as a course objective
– Term project that introduces students to
journal articles that they use to reflect on
the course content
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Scaffolded approach
Content
– Index searching (articles)
– MLA citation style
– Abstract writing
Activity Delivery
– Webpages, quizzes, term project task,
final exam
GER 272
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Course objectives
highlight the
importance of
InfoLit

Embedded
InfoLit Tasks

Scaffolded InfoLit: Content
1. Students read up on skills needed for
index searching (e.g. the omnipresent
Boolean operators)
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Scaffolded InfoLit: Testing
2. Students test their index-searching
abilities with a short quiz.
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Scaffolded InfoLit: Application
3. Students apply what they have
learned to the first stage of their
term project.
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Scaffolded InfoLit: The Whammy!
4. A couple of questions from the
multiple choice section of the final
exam test basic InfoLit skills.
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This is a special “Tempo with
Lotion” question!
Question
The GER 272 final exam had three
basic InfoLit questions.
How well did students do on these
questions? E.g. “83%” (of the
responses for all three questions
were correct.)
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Feedback: Students Saw Value . . .
In acquiring InfoLit skills
– “Really I learned to research subjects a lot more
than I did normally - and saw the value in it! At first
I thought it was difficult and useless, but as I got
better at it, I learned where to find the information I
needed quickly and efficiently.”
– “It’s useful and you can apply it to all your other
courses, too. And now it’s not only easier to find
different articles, but you learn in a way how to
analyze them a little bit better.”
– “Being able to search, find, print and retain a hard
copy of an article extends the study experience,
and it also frees up the student to conduct this
means of research at almost any time, which is a
great service.”
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Feedback: Students Saw Value . . .
In task-based learning via CMS
– “Normally, that type of thing [MLA Citation Quiz] I
might have skipped over since I would have
assumed that I pretty much knew it, but since I
knew that it was included as part of my mark I did
it and then I found that I did learn stuff – who
would have guessed? No, it was really good that it
was online. If I had to go to class for the MLA quiz
then I would think that was ridiculous. Yeah, I
would be, like, I’m not going.”
– “Information Literacy was also helpful. The quiz
and the help with understanding MLA was so
useful. I knew exactly what was expected of me in
terms of citing sources.”
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Feedback: Students Saw Value . . .
In the UW Library’s online resources
– “It is typical for a person to go to Google to try to find a
reasonable, fairly reputable website but when you think
about going to the library, it seems like so much work,
but he taught us to use the online journals so it is cool
because one it is online, but two, it is also reputable. It
is a great source of information.”
– “I learned that the library has so many resources. It is
actually kind of daunting how much information is at our
hands. But that being said, I think the most valuable
thing that I have learned is how to effectively search for
information that would be useful to me.”
– “In all my four years at UW I had never been taught how
to use the online system in the library. I wish I had
learned about this in my first year.”
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Feedback: Students Saw No Value . . .
In learning InfoLit in GER 272
– “No, I’m a fourth-year student so I have already
had lots of practice when it comes to locating
scholarly sources and conducting research.”
– “I had good skills with this before, so this course
did not further those abilities.”
– “The process was rather frustrating. I would prefer
to have the assistance of a real librarian.”
– “I do think it is probably easier for students who
are on campus and therefore have access to fleshand-blood
librarian help.”
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The Future of GER 272
Research Study (UW Learning Initiatives
Fund)
– With Pia Marks of UW’s LT3 Centre
– Longitudinal study of transferable skills
acquisition (cultural interpretation skills
and InfoLit skills)
– In-depth research on student perceptions
in wholly online versus blended learning
environments
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Final Question
Our approach has been to use CMS to
embed InfoLit directly into courses.
What do you think about using CMS to
deliver InfoLit as part of a course even
if the course does not have a CMS
component?
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Contact Us
Laura
lbriggs@library.uwaterloo.ca
519 888 4567 x3112
James
skidmore@uwaterloo.ca
519 888 4567 x3687
Who’s who in the prof-librarian relationship?
(Hint: James isn’t holding the club!)
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University of Waterloo
Acknowledgements
– Office of the Associate Vice-President,
Learning Resources and Innovation
– The Centre for Learning and Teaching
Through Technology (LT3)
– The University of Waterloo Library
– Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies
Almost all photos by James using
Laura’s camera.
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