Gen Z Facts & Fictions Revisited: Insights from an Ohio University Study

1. Gen Z Facts and Fictions: Revisited Katie Blocksidge and Hanna Primeau The Ohio State University at Newark and  The Ohio State University Libraries

2. Before we start.. • Generation Z: •  Born in or after 1994 • Oldest members are currently 25 Context: • Born into Bill Clinton's Presidency • The TV Sitcom Friends was released in 1994 • In 1994,  Aerosmith became the first major band to give away a song for free online, via CompuServe • The Disney hit, The Lion King was released in 1994

3. The campus • Open access • 45 minutes east of Columbus • Co-located with Central Ohio Technical College • Approximately one-third of our OSU students transfer to Columbus after their first year. • AU17 Newark enrollment: 2,623 • AU17 First-Year Student Enrollment: 1,740 • Commuter campus  • only ~300 in dorms

4. Some background Katie Blocksidge: Library Director Hanna Primeau: Reference and Instruction Librarian • 3 librarians + one campus = no time! • Autumn 2017, we taught 80 Info Lit sessions between just us two • This was our first foray into a research study • We were making a big push to gain more time into our survey courses

5. Original Study  • 87 completed surveys, 73 fell within parameters of study  • Survey administered through 12 Freshman orientation courses • Pilot study, and did not gather demographic data Eastern Kentucky University:What they did & who they are • Largest residential University in Kentucky  • 2012 total Enrollment: 15,968  • 2012 year Freshmen undergraduate Enrollment ​ • Black/African American 706 ​ • American Indian or Alaskan Native  55 ​ • Hispanic/Latinx 234 ​ • Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 22 ​ • Asian 151 ​ • International 292 ​ • Two or More Races 280 ​ • Unknown Race or Ethnicity 364 ​ • White 11,843 ​

6. Why Revisited?  • Original study completed in 2012 • The original authors proposed "that the survey questions be revisited following the pilot study to reassess the effectiveness of each question …" • Could there be change across a generational cohort? • Could there be other mitigating factors to responses?

7. So why did we even attempt this? • Was relevant to getting to know one of our populations • Would be able to inform our teaching habits • We are both deeply curious, and pretty ambitious • ( We foolishly thought) It seemed easy!

8. What did we do before we implemented? • How did we go about doing this? • Katie asked the authors of the original study • They had published their survey tool, we copied it and then... • We updated the survey tool. • We included demographic questions • Asked about when students starting using computers for: • School use • Non-school use

9. We updated the survey tool... • To remove possible bias: • EKU: If I cannot find an answer to my question or sources for an assignment, I must be doing something wrong. • EKU: There is no need to start your research extra early— any information you might need is freely and readily accessible. • EKU: When researching, it is okay to use information you find online. • OSU: Eliminated the above questions • EKU: When I encounter information that differs from what I believe, I immediately feel that the information is wrong and I don’t use it. • OSU: When I encounter information that differs from what I believe, I don’t use it.

10. We updated the survey tool... • To ensure clarity: • EKU: Only information based on research is credible. • OSU: Only information backed up by research is credible • EKU: . I should be able to find one perfect source to answer any question I might have • OSU: I should be able to find at least one source to answer any question I might have • EKU: . I use Google, Wikipedia, blogs, and social media more often than I use library databases, reference books, or other library sources. • OSU:I use Google more than the library databases. • EKU:  It is acceptable to quote facts out of context to make a point. • OSU: . It is acceptable to quote information out of context to make a point.

11. Dervin’s 10 Assumptions:Created  because... • It's Human nature to try to make sense of the world • There are basic ideas that we universally use to make sense of the information around us  • We as humans can't help to bias the information we ingest,  our lived experiences change the information we encounter every time we encounter it

12. Dervin's 10 Assumptions • Only objective information is valuable. • More information is always better. • Objective information can be transmitted out of context. • Information can only be acquired through formal sources. • There is relevant information for every need. • Every need solution has a solution • It is always possible to make information available or accessible • Functional units of information always fit the needs of individuals • Time and space – individual situations – can be ignored in addressing information seeking and use. • People make easy, conflict-free connection between external information and their internal reality

13. Dervin suggested "that in order to provide the most effective services and resources, we must take such assumptions into consideration in the development of services, resources, and systems of information access, storage, and retrieval." (Cole, Napier, & Marcum, 2015)

14. What have you wanted to know about your Generation Z students’ information beliefs  that you haven’t been able to discover? Dig into Dervin

15. Dervin suggested "that in order to provide the most effective services and resources, we must take such assumptions into consideration in the development of services, resources, and systems of information access, storage, and retrieval." (Cole, Napier, & Marcum, 2015)

16. A bit about our first study... • Our Study's Demographic • African American/Black or African descent 33 (14.86%) • Asian American/Asian 18 (8.11%) • Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 2 (.90%) • Latinx/Hispanic 11 (4.95%) • Middle Eastern/North African 8 (3.60%) • Multiple Races 10 (4.5%) • Other 1 (.45%) • White/European American 137 ( 61.71%) • Our Sample size: 179-139

17. What we wanted to know. • Are Dervin’s ten information assumptions present in generation Z students? • Has technology hampered or assisted generation Z’s beliefs about how one finds, accesses, and uses information? • How does their collaborative, individualized, evolving information environment affect generations Z’s information assumptions? • Do the assumptions and expectations of this new generation call for a new approach [to] our services, resources, and/or systems? (Cole, Napier, & Marcum, 2015)

18. How did we read our data? • Collapsed our data from: Totally disagree, moderately disagree, slightly disagree, neither agree or disagree, slightly agree, moderately agree, totally agree  Disagree, Neutral, Agree Then Applied: • Descriptive Statistics • Chi-squared test TO

19. 1. Only objective information is valuable

20. 2. More information is always better

21. 2. More information is always better BUT, Gender can cause variance

22. 3. Objective information can be transmitted out of context

23. 4. Information can only be acquired through formal sources

24. 5. There is relevant information for every need

25. 6. Every need situation has a solution

26. BUT, GENDER CAN CAUSE VARIANCE

27. 7. It is always possible to make information available or accessible

28. 8. Functional units of information, such as books or TV programs, always fit the needs of individuals 

29. 9. Time and space- individual situations- can be ignored in addressing information seeking and use.

30. 10. People make easy, conflict-free connections between external information and their internal reality.

31. Btw, remember how we divided our demographics by internet use? •  “significant” finding #1

32. Btw, remember how we divided our demographics by internet use? • “significant” finding #2 44

33. We have all this information.So what? • Generation Z students are starting to deviate from Dervin's original assumptions in some areas. • They value objective AND opinion-based information. • They recognize that the amount of information they have immediate access to can be overwhelming. • Context matters. • Connecting external information to their internal reality is messy, and takes work.   • But there are also areas where students struggle...

34. Raised more questions than answered! • What does credible mean to our students? • Do they practice what they preach? • Students have told us overwhelmingly that they use  all sources, whether it agrees with them or not but do they really? • Our students will use sources that are "good enough" but in what context?

35. Mapping to theACRL FRAMEWORK 

36. Authority is Constructed and Contextual • Only objective information is valuable • People make easy, conflict-free connections between external information and their internal reality • Information Creation as Process • Information can only be acquired through formal sources • Functional units of information always fit the needs of individuals • Information Has Value • It is always possible to make information available or accessible

37. Research as Inquiry • There is relevant information for every need • Time and space –individuals situations - can be ignored in addressing information seeking and use • Scholarship as Conversation • Objective information can be transmitted out of context. • Searching as Strategic Exploration • More information is always better • Every need situation as a solution

38. Discuss with one or two of your neighbors: • Where do you think your students are strong? • Where do you think your students struggle? How do you make meaning out of all this?

39. Research is messy • Our students aren't afraid of digging to find something • They do think there is one answer for any research question, and often that it's a binary, yes/no, it is/isn't answer. • Revised Learning Outcome: • Students will be able to recognize that there may be multiple correct ways to respond to a research prompt. How did we make meaning out of all this?

40. Getting control over your resources • Student show that while they aren't afraid of still searching for new objects, figuring out what to keep and what to get rid of is hard, and sometimes it's overwhelming • Revised Learning Outcome: • Students will be able to appraise their situational needs confidently identifying source types appropriate to their research How did we make meaning out of all this?

41. Information isn't always freely available • Students are showing that they believe that anything they could need can be found online, but that means they are using google first to find things rather than starting with the library. • Revised Learning Outcome:  • Students will be able to identify situations that benefit from starting in a database How did we make meaning out of all this?

42. Keeping this new knowledge in mind, how could you revise your learning outcomes and instruction to help students get through their research bottlenecks? Your turn!

43. Did we find what we wanted to know? • 1.     Are Dervin’s ten information assumptions present in generation Z students      • 2.     Has technology hampered or assisted generation Z’s beliefs about how one finds, accesses, and uses information?  • 3.     How does their collaborative, individualized, evolving information environment affect generations Z’s information assumptions? • 4.     Do the assumptions and expectations of this new generation call for a new approach [to] our services, resources, and/or systems. (Cole, Napier, & Marcum, 2015) Yes, but with shades of gray. Present: 1, 4-8 Well,  it's changed how they think, but we can't tell if it's hampered or assisted... There is no way to know this from the questions we asked. YES

44. Good News Everybody! • Were our results generalizable to our campus? • YES!

45. Generalizable to all Gen Z? • Preliminary Results say: • Information is backed up by research • Statistically Significant Results between EKU and OSU Newark • The other questions tested, insignificant. ...Maybe?

46. What next? • We’ve just closed on the survey again • We tweaked questions again for clarity • Interviewing 10-12 students  • demographic data collected from the outset will hopefully allow us to interview a representative group of students, doing a deliberate sampling • We want to address our “why” questions • Interview Questions developed from our 2017 survey results • Interested in seeing our 2017 survey? • go.osu.edu/alaogenz

47. So if you are thinking about doing a research study… • Don’t think you have to do it all from scratch • Find a published survey tool. •  You don't have to reach out if it's already published, but it doesn't hurt! • Be ok with not answering all your research questions • Be aware that it takes time • But a long time rather than a lot of time • We started the IRB process in Summer of 2017 • Don’t be afraid to ask for guidance • Come talk to us after!

48. Thank you! • Katie Blocksidge: Blocksidge.3@osu.edu • Hanna Primeau: Primeau.8@osu.edu

49. References Carter, Laurie.  (2015).  2013-2014 Diversity Plan Assessment Report.  Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky.  Retrieved from https://diversity.eku.edu/sites/diversity.eku.edu/files/eku_jan_2015_cpe_2013-2014_diversity_assessment_final_draft.pdf Cole, A., Napier, T., & Marcum, B.  (2015).  Generation Z: information facts and fictions.  In T. A. Swanson and H. Jagman (Eds.), Not just where to click: teaching students how to think about information (107-137).  Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries. Dervin, B. (1976).  Strategies for dealing with human information needs: information or communication.  Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 20 (3), 324-333.