Online Information Competence Tutorials: Influencing Change in

Traditional Library Classrooms

Pamela Jackson and Charity Hope San José State University Library

California Library Association’s Annual ConventionNovember 14, 2004

San Jose, CA

Abstract

Online library tutorials allow students to learn important information competence skills at their own pace outside of traditional class time. Online tutorials provide a common foundation among students, and allow librarians to make classroom library instruction sessions more student-centered and advanced.

Concepts Taught via Information Competence Tutorials

• General orientation to the library’s physical and online environments

• Defining a research topic; selecting search terms• Selecting, searching for and evaluating

information• Identifying popular and scholarly literature• Understanding and recognizing primary research• Plagiarism

Two Case StudiesBefore and After Integration of

Online Tutorials

• Science 2

• Computer Science 100w

Measuring Student Learning

• Pre-tests measure student knowledge before taking the tutorial.

• Quizzes at the end of each module or tutorial test students’ knowledge after completing the tutorial.

• Quiz data shows scores by class, student, semester (includes class averages and scores by question).

Science 2: SUCCESS IN SCIENCE

• “Academic Boot Camp” designed to introduce entering science majors at SJSU to University life

• “Strongly Recommended” -- 1/3 to ½ of the entering science freshmen enroll

• Apx. 200 students each Fall semester

Information Literacy Before Tutorial Era

• Lecture + handouts

• Modest goals – to connect students to the library and librarian

• Librarian delivered basic library info

After Integrating Tutorials

• 2 online tutorials + lecture + Q&As + lab activities

• InfoPower - week • Plagiarism: The crime of Intellectual

Kidnapping - week• Lecture - week• Class-customized handout (based on quiz

results and class questions)• Lab Group Activity - week

Expanded Goals

• Basic library info PLUS:– Foundation of Infolit skills and avoiding

plagiarism – Advanced Infolit topics - Structure of Scientific

Information and the Deep Web– Student groups practice searching and

evaluation in structured, totally hands-on activity labs

Benefits

• More instruction opportunities = more content + more reinforcement

• Multimode

– listening, reading, hands-on

– online and offline

– group and individual• More emphasis on advanced, transferable skills:

– What kind of info do I need?– Evaluating information

Computer Science 100w

• Required Technical Writing Course for the CS major

• Apx. 150 juniors and seniors each semester

InfoLit Requirement of the Course

• Library instruction session is a required component of the course

• Librarian teaches a 75-minute instruction session during the third week of classes each semester

• Instruction sessions are taught during regular class time

• Student attendance and participation is mandatory

Pre-Tutorial Instruction Sessions

• Primarily lecture-based format• Brief introduction to the library and

services• What you need determines where you look• The invisible web• Database demonstration for Engineering

Village 2• 10-15 minutes at the end for hands-on

searching

Introduction of Online Tutorials

• Students required to take two online tutorials and submit their scores before the instruction session begins– InfoPower – Plagiarism: The Crime of Intellectual

Kidnapping

Instruction Sessions with Online Tutorials

• Almost entirely hands-on

• Brief introduction to the library (5 minutes)

• Identifying primary research (20 mins)

• Finding the full-text (10 minutes)

• Developing a search strategy and hands-on searching for articles (40 minutes)

Change in Reference-by-appointment Questions

• Before:– High number of technical questions, such as

how to find the full-text

• After: – Higher-level critical thinking questions on

evaluating resources and refining search strategies

Impact Summary

• Basics covered before instruction sessions

• Student quiz results impact in-person instruction

• Progressive reinforcement of Infolit skills

• Librarian time student-centered and advanced

• No time savings, but bigger rewards