Students were asked to complete Information Literacy and Library Research surveys before they attended the Library Research Instruction Session, and a follow-up survey toward the end of the semester (in Fall 2013). In Fall 2013, 98 students completed the Pre-Survey, and only five students completed the Post-Survey.
As a result of poor Post-Survey response rates, additional effort was taken to coordinate the distribution of Post-Library Research Instruction surveys. During the Spring Semester, 120 students from six COMM A111 courses completed the Pre-Library Instruction Information Literacy and Library Research Survey, and 100 have completed the Post-Library Instruction Survey.
By administering these surveys, we hoped to learn:
Bubble Mapping Search Terms: Are students thinking of more than one synonym? Are they able to add helpful words to someone else's bubble map?
Evaluating Sources: Are students searching the internet for sites on evaluating websites? Do students open and review a credible website listing website evaluation criteria? When asked, do students contribute in discussion to the development of a list of criteria on the whiteboard?
Scholarly versus Industry/Trade Journals: Can students identify the audience, and editors of these publications? Can they identify differences?
RefWorks: Do students create a RefWorks account? Do they create an assignment folder? Are they adding at least one article to their RefWorks folder from QuickSearch?
Students complete a written self-assessment and reflection assignment about the process of developing, writing and giving a speech. They are asked to reflect on challenges and successes in the research process, implementation of strategies for managing communication apprehension, and skills that will be needed for future speechmaking.
We are completing a review of student responses and will share results here when available.
Three information literacy and research skills questions were integrated into the midterm exam for the course. These questions attempted to gain a glimpse into students' understanding of the value of academic libraries, vocabulary related to list of works cited, and differences between scholarly and trade/industry periodicals. For purposes of this report, I am giving percentages of students answering the questions correctly. We will continue to review this data and may revise what it offered in this box to make it more meaningful for those seeking information on this project.
Q1 - a T/F question that assessed students understanding of the availability of resources in an academic library that would not be available to them through a basic online search
Q2 - a T/F question that assessed students' correct use and understanding of the term bibliography as a list of references
Q3 - a multiple choice question that assess students' ability to determine which of the types of periodicals would have the most current information available for a project