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Mark Vargas, Library Director Anne Buchanan, Assistant Librarian Saint Xavier University Library. Building and Strengthening Upper Level Research Skills with Captivate Tutorials. Provide overview of the research skills of SXU students Review common research problems
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Mark Vargas, Library Director Anne Buchanan, Assistant Librarian Saint Xavier University Library Building and Strengthening Upper Level Research Skills with Captivate Tutorials
Provide overview of the research skills of SXU students Review common research problems Use of tutorials as assignments to raise information-literacy Purpose of the Session
Research Skill = Information Literacy • The ability to find, evaluate, and use information • It is NOT computer literacy • It is NOT media dependent
Understand the scholarly, peer-reviewed process Find and use resources appropriate for their classroom assignments Conduct all their academic research without using Google or Wikipedia If students were research (information) literate they could…
Librarians were aware of problems No chance for a library research course Limited role in general education classes Librarians’ Perspective
Limited awareness of the scholarly, peer-review process Perceived research skills exceed actual capabilities Students, at all levels, have difficulties finding books journals, whether in print or online the appropriate database to use Observations from the Library
ETS offered Information and Communication Technology exam beginning in 2005 Library funded the exam the first two years Now called I-Skills, and supported by SXU ICT
Compares results from SXU students with those of peer nationwide Is not a computer-skills test What the ICT does
Define: The ability to use ICT tools to identify and appropriately represent an information need. Access: The ability to collect and/or retrieve information. Manage: The ability to apply an existing organizational or classification scheme. Integrate: The ability to interpret and represent information. Evaluate: The ability to determine the degree to which information satisfies the needs of the task in ICT environments. Create: The ability to generate information by adapting, applying, designing or inventing information in ICT environments. Communicate: The ability to communicate information properly in its context of use for ICT environments. Seven ICT Proficiencies
ICT Results • SXU students performed well below the national average in three categories; just met average in the other categories • Gave the Library quantitative data to make this a major issue
We learned in an age of limited information Students have access to levels of information beyond anything we could dream of in graduate school Library now has information resources impossible to obtain just a few years ago Major Environmental Changes
Library assignments often don’t have a clear learning objective Students don’t know why the assignment is made Assignments don’t match the research skills of the students Assignments are often too esoteric or too complex, especially for freshmen and sophomores Common Problems…
Built-in assessment Standardize instruction on scholarly, peer-review process Instruction as homework rather than in-class Reduce duplicate instruction; reach more students Tutorial Purposes
Must engage students Students choose info options Students must input data, make choices, take quizzes Must be completed by average student in about 15-20 minutes Tutorial Interactivity
Scholarly, peer review sources Research v. review, abstracts, keywords Finding primary research materials Specialized nursing research Evaluating statistical data SWOT analyses Examples of Tutorials
Initial tutorials tested on fellow librarians and staff Drafts tested by complete classes Continual tweaking based on feedback Testing Process
Students #1 question: why didn’t I get this sooner? Very helpful in understanding research concepts Faculty Very useful as homework assignments Less class time needed for library instruction Feedback
Library is implementing Worldcat Local service, integrating all research into one interface Tutorials to emphasize evaluating and understanding data, not finding it Expand faculty requiring the tutorials What’s Next?