Unlocking Student Attendance: Insights from Library Workshops

1. Student attendance at library workshops What the Data Tells Us

2. Getting Students to Show Up to Stuff

3. Footloose

4. Who here has hosted an optional workshop? [ Pause for shameless recruiting ]

5. What factors did you consider?

6. Poll

7. Why we did this

9. Librarians don’t have the answer. (Students don’t either)

10. If we don’t know what will make them come in the future, let’s figure out what has made them come in the past.

11. The downside to this approach is the lack of a knowable why.

12. What we did (the first time)

13. “Any optional, class-like offering provided by a non-professor/instructor outside of course hours for the purpose of providing academic support”

14. Do you have any advertisements (in file formats) that you are willing and able to share? If so, please upload them now. Note: anything you upload will be used for the purposes of this research project only. Posters and other items will be analyzed for several features, including the number of words used, the nature of the advertisement, and the use of colour. They will be destroyed after this analysis. What time of day was your session held? Where is your institution located? Please state your city, province/state and country. When was your session held? How frequently was your session offered? Please choose the answer that most closely reflects your session. If none reflect your session, please select ‘other’ and provide details in the comment box provided. Do you have any additional information about your audience that you would like to share, particularly as it relates to their attendance rates? *All questions in this survey are optional* Do you have any additional information that you would like to share about your session? Who was your intended audience for your session? Where was your session held? Do you have links to any advertising that you are willing and able to share? If so, please provide them in the comments box. What was your session about? Be as detailed or as broad as you need to be in order to describe the major topics or themes covered in your session. What is the name of your institution? Note: this question refers to the name of your college or university, not your specific unit. Was you session associated with any specific requirements (i.e., assignments, course requirements, etc.)? If so, please describe them in the comments box. Please describe (in general terms) the attendance trends for the previous years, particularly as they compare to the attendance in the most recent session. What unit or department (within your institution) do you belong to? Please provide a brief description of the session with particular emphasis on its instructional design. For example, describe how your session progressed and whether it was primarily lecture-based or interactive. Provide as much or as little detail as you need. Can you think of any other controllable factors relating to student attendance at support sessions that were not addressed in this survey? Do you have any final comments about the topic of student attendance at optional support sessions or about any part of this survey that you would like to share before submitting your survey? How many of your attendees were from your target audience (to the best of your knowledge)? What methods did you use to advertise your session? Did you have any attendees who surprised you? (If yes, please specify) Do you have any additional information regarding advertisements and incentives for your session that you would like to share? Are you aware of any other factors that would/did influence attendance at your session? If yes, please provide details in the comments box. Apart from the inherent benefits of the instructional content, did you offer any additional incentives to draw your intended audience to your session? IF so, what did you offer? Do you have any additional information you wish to share about your context, particularly as it relates to the session / workshop you hosted and student attendance? Has any action on your part (or the part of others at your institution) appeared to produce an increase or decrease in attendance? If so, what was it? Have you (or someone else at your institution) offered this session in the past? Do you have any final comments you wish to make about your session, the attendance at your session, or the factors you believe may have influenced attendance at your session? How many attendees did you have (to the best of your recollection)? Please do not include your colleagues or contributors to the development of the session in your answer. How long was your session (in hours)? What was the title of your session? Please answer to the best of your recollection.

15. What we did (the second time)

16. [text]

17. What we found

18. Topic Duration Month Time Location Target Audience Faculty Buy-In Advertising Incentive

19. Total success rate ~ 60%

21. Specific topics are better

22. Course / Assignment Specific Other Specific Library Skills Writing and Study Skills Searching Skills Scholarly Communications Library Basics Citing Citation Software Academic Integrity

23. Long sessions are preferred

24. *

25. Month of term doesn’t matter

27. Afternoons are the wrong time of day

28. *

29. Location matters. Be where your students are

30. N = 18 *

31. Targeting a specific audience is better

32. *

33. Faculty buy-in matters

35. Push advertising works

37. Food is not the answer

39. Specific topics are better Long sessions are preferred Month of term doesn’t matter Afternoons are bad Location matters Targeting a specific audience is better Faculty buy-in matters Push advertising works Food is not the answer

40. What does it all mean?

41. Be targeted. Be thorough. Be pushy. Be there.

42. Where do we go from here?

43. https://tinyurl.com/ybks7klo