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Interactive Teaching Using the Student Response System. Greg Gulas Reference Librarian Lisa Williams Coordinator of Instructional Services University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The Problem. Lack of Participation Don’t want to be singled out Embarrassed about giving the wrong answer
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Interactive Teaching Using the Student Response System Greg Gulas Reference Librarian Lisa Williams Coordinator of Instructional Services University of North Carolina at Wilmington
The Problem • Lack of Participation • Don’t want to be singled out • Embarrassed about giving the wrong answer • Student Instruction Session surveys ask for more participation • Are the students really understanding what the librarian is teaching?
Searching the Literature • Lorenzen, Michael. “Active Learning and Library Instruction.” Illinois Libraries 83.2(2001): 19-24 • Drueke, Jeanetta. “Active Learning in the University Library Instruction Classroom.” Research Strategies 10.2(1992): 77-83 • Prorak, Diane. “Button Pushing vs. Concepts: Library Instruction, Technology, and the Swinging Pendulum of an Old Debate.” PNLA Quarterly 67.4 (2003): 4-5 • Cudiner, S; Harmon, O. “Comparing the effectiveness of different presentation formats for workshops on introductory library skills.” Research Strategies 18.1 (2001): 49-61
Collaboration • Can be more that a buzzword • Allows libraries to take advantage of technical advances without having to make them • Yet another advantage of keeping channels open to faculty • Stand on the shoulders of giants!
Development of SRS • Originally developed by UNCW Chemistry and Computer Science Departments to be used with hand held computers
Development of SRS • Written by graduate students, entire printed code is less than 50 pages. • Designed to test student knowledge in real time.
How SRS Works • Designed to be easy to use for both instructor and students, the program is web based and requires very little computing power at the client end. All the processing is done on a central server. • Uses ASP, visual basic and MS SQL. All computing is done on the server side.
Types of Questions • Multiple Choice • True / False - Yes / No • Graphics (students can indicate a point on the graphic) • Opinion (agree / disagree) • Confidence (sliding scale)
Using SRS for Library Instruction Examples of Library Instruction Sessions:
How the Librarian’s feel about the SRS system • Easy to Use • Attention holding • Interactivity level has increased • Change of Subject • Allows students to feel involved • Reinforces main points of the session
How the Students Feel About the SRS System • “Don’t require people to take it multiple times” • “More questions for those who still do not understand searching” • “Use words that everyone can understand” • “More explanation of why the wrong answers were wrong” • “Don’t make the questions too long – It takes too much time to read them” • “Too easy” “ More in-depth questions” “More discussion questions”
How the Students Feel About the SRS System • “I think it is good to allow students who may not be sure of the correct answer a chance to guess without fear of embarrassment, however I think that when they get the answer right they won’t receive the praise they need”
Survey Responses Did you enjoy being able to answer questions without speaking out loud? Yes 88% No 1.6% Maybe 10% Do you feel like the SRS system prevented you from answering or asking a question out loud? Yes 11% No 80% Not Sure 8% Do you feel more comfortable with the information taught during the instruction session due to the SRS system? Yes 67.5% No 11% Not Sure 22% SRS was? Pretty Interesting 34% Somewhat Interesting 55% Boring 11%
How Do I Get an SRS Account? contact Ron Vetter (vetterr@uncw.edu)