elizabeth rennie, instruction & outreach librarian susan purdy, lecturer department of...
TRANSCRIPT
Information Literacy in a Large 1st Year Class: Can a “Quirky
Assignment” Effectively Engage Students?
Elizabeth Rennie, Instruction & Outreach Librarian Susan Purdy, Lecturer Department of Biological
Sciences
Presented at UBCO’s 10th Annual Learning Conference, May 7-8, 2014
Biology 1210 is a second semester First Year Biology majors’ course, ~ 250 students in 12 lab sections.
In the past students were required to do a library assignment as part of the lecture component.
Students requested library assistance on a voluntary basis, at the Reference Desk.
What we used to do….
21st Century Education
Relate abstract concepts in biology to real-world situations, and make biology content relevant
Stimulate the curiosity students have about learning for the natural world
Integrate multiple forms of assessment to track student learning
Engage students as active participants
Ensure that courses are active, outcome orientated, inquiry driven and relevant
Introduce fewer concepts, but present them in greater detail
Based on the “There’s a Heifer in Your Tank” project developed by Dr. Frank Robinson at the University of Alberta, Agriculture Science program.
By posing ‘quirky questions’ teams of students went about answering them using videos.
Two years ago we introduced our version with the first quirky question being ‘Why is there a salmon in the tree’?
‘Salmon in the Tree’ Project
Find, differentiate and correctly use academic information sources
Communicate biological concepts effectively – both in writing and verbally
Form contacts with other Biology faculty / learn about their research or else other biological research happening currently
Learn to work cooperatively in teams
Develop a sense of community in first year Biology students
SITT project learning outcomes:
Groups – must be properly formed and managed Accountability – students must be accountable
for the quality of their individual and group work Feedback – must be frequent and timely Assignment design – group assignments must
promote both learning and team development
The essential elements of team-based learning (Michaelsen & Sweet, 2008)
Forming teams◦ Include students with diverse ability levels◦ Avoid isolating at-risk minority students◦ Minimum 3, maximum 5 (although TBL recommends 5
to 7)◦ Reform teams for new projects?
Establishing expectations◦ Team policy statement / team expectations agreement
Dealing with problem team members◦ Evaluation of team functioning – part-way through the
project◦ Peer Ratings
Turning student groups into effective teams (Oakley et al. 2004)
“With a group, the whole is often equal to or less than the sum of its parts; with a team, the whole is always greater”
How does a Vancouver Island marmot find a date these days?
Why would a black bear and a squirrel make poor bed mates?
How do Canadian monarchs find their way to Mexico?
Why does dwarf mistletoe resemble a cannon?
Why are bluebirds blue?
Why do female hyenas have a penis?
Why does this flower smell like a rotting corpse?
Will adding iron to the ocean help the planet escape from heating up?
Overview of the project
Introduce the project, choose questions and teams
Library session
Team Bibliography
Prepare an individual article
Teams develop videos (4-5 min in length) to answer their question. Must use accurate and complex scientific content but be entertaining
3%
5%
7%
Librarians teach twelve 3-hour lab sections in one week
Each session includes:◦ An overview of the Team Bibliography assignment◦ A group exercise evaluating resources, practicing
the process they’ll need to apply in their assignment
◦ Demonstration searches to find different resources◦ Getting set up in RefWorks◦ Approximately 2 hours of hands-on group research
time, with librarian assistance as required
The Library Session
Several of the SITT Learning Outcomes match those of the Library Instruction Program.
This in itself isn’t unique; the library attempts to conduct most library instruction sessions in a lab environment in order to give students direct active learning experiences.
BIOL 1210 is, however, one of the more successful library instruction collaborations.
Shared Learning Outcomes
3-hour time period
Assignment timelines: Bibliographies are due the following week
The Bibliography is a TEAM assignment
Why it works:
Nursing (and why that worked) Arts (why it didn’t work, and how it might)
Transfering to Other Courses
The SITT assignment required making significant changes to the BIOL 1210 labs
Student feedback, however, indicates that most students found the assignment to be enjoyable and engaging – and that they found the library session to be useful.
Outcomes & Recommendations
Feedback from students about the library sessions
useful for learning the CSE citation style
useful for learning to differentiate bewteen information sources
useful for learninmg how to find information sources
0 20 40 60 80
DisagreeNeutralAgree
Feedback from students about the team aspect of the project
I felt my team functioned well
I felt my team was just the right size
I enjoyed the collaborative nature of the project
I would prefer to work on my own for this project
0 40 80
DisagreeNeutralAgree
Students rated their peers in 5 categories (Van den Bogaard, 2007)
◦ Job performance◦ Attitude and interaction with team members◦ Leadership and initiative◦ Team meetings and time management◦ Communication within the team and for the project
Peer-Evaluations
Excellent – 100Good – 87Satisfactory – 75Ordinary – 63Marginal – 50Poor – 25Nothing - 0
Only multiply up to 1.05
Peer-evaluations feedback
I thought the peer-evaluation process was fair
I did like to have a chance to do a team -eval part way
through the project
0 20 40 60 80
DisagreeNeutralAgree
So how did the SITT project do in regards to meeting the learning outcomes?
Library session was useful in learning how to find sources
Library session useful for learning CSE style
Library session useful for differentiating between info sources
I felt I learned a lot about the topic
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
So…..did the SITT project lead to student engagement?
I would recommend this project be used again
Overall I enjoyed this project
0 102030405060708090
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
“It was an interesting way to develop knowledge on biology subjects.”
“Good way to learn in groups – seemed scary at first, but overall a good experience.”
“I did not enjoy this project!”
“Thank you! Very fun learning the topic this way!”
Provide students with real-world questions Provide opportunities for group work, balanced by
individual assignments Consider creative assignment options (such as
videos), accompanied by clear grading rubrics outlining assignment expectations
Be willing to consider experiential exercises that teach group work, critical thinking, verbal communication, creative problem-solving, etc. – even at the expense of (some) discipline-specific content.
How to Adapt for your Course?From Biology:
Collaborate with a librarian, well in advance
Consider how to make hands-on research time immediately relevant
Consider how to encourage students to stick around for hands-on research time: groups, partnered exercises, etc.
Think about how much time you can reasonably devote (and whether that’s enough for students to be able to meet your expectations)
How to Adapt for your Course?From the Library:
Discussion… http://demo.firepad.io/#17Qt56jlKa http://qikpad.co.uk/p/b1EWPbr41S http://collabedit.com/be3fr
Video Showcase winners 2014 How and why did the hummingbird cross
the Gulf of Mexico? http://youtu.be/vmBROO8ZyQ8
How are leaf cutter ants good farmers? http://youtu.be/m19TEDOMDq8
Why have male fish living downstream from big cities switched their sex? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mP0ZA9_MJg
AAAS. 2009. Vision and change in undergraduate biology education – a call for action. Final Report of a National Conferences organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Oakley B, Felder RM, Brent R, Elhajj I. 2004. Turning student groups into effective teams. J Student Centered Learning: 2 (1) 9-28
Van den Bogaard ME, Saunders-Smits GN. 2007. Peer and self evaluations as means to improve the assessment of project based learning. Proceedings from 37th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Milwaukee, WI
Michaelsen, LK & M Sweet. 2008. The essential elements of team based learning. New Direction for Teaching and Learning 116: 7-27
ACRL…
References
Questions?
Elizabeth Rennie, [email protected] Susan Purdy, [email protected]