2016 STS Annual Conference Poster Session

Sue McFadden, Indiana University East

Abstract:

Is undergraduate understanding of personal information management (PIM) important to STEM higher education and students’ futures? A review of the literature provides a narrow focus on undergraduates. How can academic libraries and librarians define their work to support PIM? Should there be intentional learning opportunities for undergraduates? What is the next step in digital/information literacy? As librarians expand their skills to actively include PIM in their interactions with patrons/students, this changes library services. This change can be described as moving the organizational structures of yesterday’s library into the new technologies as students and patrons adopt their own information management skills.

Stem undergraduates, as individuals practice PIM and are active-information managers, accessing a configuration of individualized e-tools, selected resources, links and personal organization to support intellectual events and life choices. The individual adapts, upgrades, and organizes for self-awareness, efficacy and actualization. The individual relies on the ability to adapt and reskill in support of a continually dynamic environment. Subject specialties and academic programs provide greater needs for STEM-undergraduates to build individual understanding and flexible PIM resources. The short paper discusses the available content and possible curricular implications to support PIM.

Librarian vs. Student Perspectives on Technology Interests

Brian Young and Savannah Kelly, University of Mississippi

We have recently completed a Q-study to construct student personas based on students’ preferences for which of 60 pre-selected items (spanning services, space, and technology) they would like introduced in or augmented in the library. From that study, we were surprised at the overall lack of student interest, relative to other items, in technology. This, in part, prompted a secondary project focused on how librarians would respond.

Our guiding research question was: which items do librarians’ perceptions of students most differ from student responses? Instead of using Q-methodology, this study focused on the items–rather than the librarians—as variables and analyzed the data using descriptive methods. The primary interest is items that librarians most differ, either above or below, from students; our secondary foci are on how closely student interest and librarian’s perceptions of their interest in technology (e.g., 3D printers/scanners, calculators, AV equipment, etc.) align and specific items where alignment exists on distinctly positive or negative perspectives.

Locally, we foresee this project prompting user research and library-wide communication in areas with wide discrepancies between student’s expressed interest and librarians’ perceptions; for example, students expressed more interest in changing library hours and calculators while expressing less interest than librarians thought for 3D printing. Our expectations are that new technology and/or services will be implemented in areas where students and librarians’ perceptions both expressed positive perspectives. Librarians from other universities will benefit from learning about the method and using the results to inform discussions at their libraries.

Using a Rubric to Evaluate Information Literacy Success in a Natural Resources Classroom

Patricia Hartman and James Shepard, Auburn University

Information literacy (IL) is one of our University’s seven General Education Goals and Outcomes. It is assessed in freshman English Composition, but faculty often note that students do not make the connection between those general skills and research within their disciplines. After observing this pattern in position papers for a Natural Resources Policy course, the professor contacted the Forestry & Wildlife subject librarian for suggestions on how to integrate IL into the curriculum. We developed a series of three interactive IL sessions with the goal that students would emerge with the skills to 1) locate and evaluate information about complex, many-sided issues, and 2) make informed natural resource policy and management decisions based on that information. To measure our success, we developed a rubric for student bibliographies and performed a comparative analysis of classes with and without IL instruction. We found that overall bibliography quality was 35% higher with IL instruction. In particular, students increased both quality and quantity of their sources, and were more likely to cite sources appropriately within the text. However, students in both classes were equally unlikely to acknowledge or cite literature that supported viewpoints other than their own. In this presentation, we will share our methods, findings, and insights from the first two semesters and will incorporate new data from the current semester. We will also discuss our ongoing efforts to improve the course, particularly in regard to presenting multiple perspectives while advocating for one.

Librarians as Leaders: Expanding 3D Printing into the Agricultural Classroom

Suzanne Stapleton, Melody Royster, Val Minson, University of Florida

3D printing in the library has been popular since it began in 2013. Student usage in agricultural sciences is underrepresented while use of this technology is expanding in agricultural fields. Agricultural librarians are encouraging faculty to incorporate 3D printing into teaching and outreach to prepare students for cutting edge careers.

Librarians are collaborating with agricultural faculty to expand 3D services in classrooms in two ways: decrease barriers to this new technology by using portable 3D printers and integrate 3D printing into agricultural science education.

Librarians brought MakerBot and PortaBot printers to the [redacted]. Librarians quickly demonstrated how the printers worked, discussed applications to promote student experiential learning, and provided practical experience with 3D printing to better prepare students for STEM careers. This personalized outreach to agricultural faculty is popular and decreased psychological and logistical barriers to this emerging technology.

Appropriate applications for 3D printing in agricultural sciences curricula and outreach included magnified replicas of pollen grains and weed seeds, ready-to-assemble insect body parts, models of cell components, and dinnerware that demonstrates USDA recommended dietary guidelines.

As libraries embrace new roles in nurturing collaborative makerspace communities, librarians can expand 3D printing services beyond early adopters in engineering fields to support agricultural faculty in development of customized manipulatives for effective teaching. With 3D printing, librarians can lead land grant university participation in the U.S. President’s call to “Build a Nation of Makers” (Executive Office of the President, 2014).

Selecting Reference Sources for Engineers

Angela Davis, Penn State University

Reference materials, especially handbooks and manuals, are of great importance to engineering fields. These materials include foundational information such as properties data and mathematical formulas useful to researchers and practitioners alike. These reference materials are available through many different database vendors and eBook platforms. With multiple options, how are librarians to determine the best platform for their users’ needs? This study will evaluate two platforms for engineering reference materials, Knovel and ENGnetBASE. Subjects covered, platform features, purchasing options, and administrator assessment tools will be compared and contrasted across platforms.

Knovel is an Elsevier product and includes over 40 collections of searchable full-text technical reference works. Additionally, Knovel includes searchable data, equations, charts, and graphs. ENGnetBASE is a CRC Press product and offers full-text searchable access to over 2,300 engineering reference works.

Scaffolding Information Literacy in a Liberal Arts Biology Curriculum

Rachel Hamelers, Muhlenberg College

The science librarian and the biology faculty at [redacted] developed a scaffolded set of information literacy learning goals across the biology curriculum. The goals are scaffolded in that each course’s set of learning goals build on the previous course’s skills and knowledge. Using a multiple choice test, we assess students’ information literacy knowledge second semester of their first year and at the end of their senior year. We use this assessment to determine which learning goals are being adequately addressed and which need more attention. Having information literacy learning goals written into the curriculum for each core class helps ensure that information literacy is addressed consistently despite changes in the faculty member teaching the class. It is also a helpful entrée with new faculty, as they might not be familiar with separate information literacy learning objectives. Having these goals written into the curriculum highlights their importance and provides a shared set of aims. Each set of goals complements the course content of the corresponding core biology course. This poster will show the biology curricular information literacy learning goals, illustrate some activities and sessions developed to support each goal, and describe the assessment done each year.

Sue McFadden, Indiana University East

Observation of students in a for-credit Information Literacy course taught over several semesters, illustrates how students study and respond to information ethics in all its forms. This poster session will explore the literature and provide ideas for further analysis. What are the tools provided to help undergraduates gain knowledge and experience in understanding information ethics? A literature review provides articles on coursework and assignments that help STEM-undergraduates learn about information ethics and application directed specifically to science majors. This poster explores possible interactions and assignments designed to challenge student thinking. Students need to separate fact from opinion, an important critical thinking goal in higher education and scientific work. In the new information environment, opinion is represented as fact, and scientific concepts are represented as opinion. The concept of peer-reviewed literature is sometimes difficult for undergraduates to grasp. As educator’s we provide definitions and examples, but what learning methods assure understanding for all students in a course or program? The assignments have students: define the concepts of opinion and fact by reviewing controversial issues from different perspectives; explore the context of citations; explore copyright and plagiarism; develop individual literature-research plans; and analyze the peer review process using examples of misconduct to explore the effects and outcomes. Questions include: How do STEM students perceive information ethics? Will structured ethics assignments impact learning? How do new methods of information sharing impact student’ understanding of information ethics? Are students who are aware of information ethics able to apply that to future research assignments?

Effectiveness of Traditional vs. Flipped Instruction Sessions

Michael Goates, Meg Frost, and Gregory M. Nelson, Brigham Young University

Life Science librarians at [redacted] compared search statement development between traditional lecture and flipped instruction sessions. Students in lecture sessions scored significantly higher on developing search statements than those in flipped sessions. However, student evaluations show a strong preference for pedagogies that incorporate elements from both lecture and flipped methodologies. Reasons for lower flipped-session scores may include a lack of student accountability, strong preference for a live demonstration, and disconnections between online tutorial content and in-class collaborative activities. Ongoing research will be presented based on the preliminary results of this study. Librarians using a flipped classroom should consider ways to help students make meaningful connections between online tutorials and in-class activities.

Increasing Faculty Technology Expertise through Technology Workshops in the Library

Amy Gullen and Brooke Bergantzel, Cornell College

As instructional technology librarians at a small liberal arts college, we wanted to increase the awareness and use of technology in class assignments and faculty confidence and experience with these technologies. Faculty never have an abundance of free time, but generally have greater flexibility during the summer and this is often a time when they are redesigning courses as well. We developed a series of technology workshops over the summer of 2015 to take advantage of this time. The workshop foci and scheduling were influenced by responses from a survey that was distributed to faculty at the end of the academic year. Workshops focused on GIS, 3D modeling and printing, Adobe Suite, Moodle, web publishing, eportfolios, screencasting and video editing with one to two scheduled per week. Each two-hour workshop incorporated discussion of pedagogy and hands on use of the technology and was accompanied by a blog post with additional resources. We continued the summer series with additional workshops during the academic year. These often featured faculty who had already used the technology in a class assignment and followed the summer format, although fit into a one-hour session. While we want to encourage the use of these technologies, they are often resource intensive, both in terms of equipment and staff time. We will discuss efforts and plans to address the issue of scaling these training sessions and resulting increase in course assignments during the academic year.

Using Assessment Tools to Evaluate Student Learning

Chapel Cowden, University of Tennessee

Academia is abuzz with assessment initiatives, but how do librarians incorporate assessment in a way that meaningfully impacts students while also providing the numbers that administrators require? In year two of a project to embed information literacy and critical thinking skills into an advanced Biochemistry course, multiple evaluative techniques were employed to address both formative and summative needs. Qualitative, illuminative data was gathered in the form of focus groups and written assignments while numerical data came from surveys and analysis of literature reviews, references, and citations.

In order to maintain purpose and balance, a single guiding principle emerged: an unwavering focus upon the student. Evaluation was used as a tool to both facilitate inquiry by and among students. At various times over the semester, students were encouraged to critically reflect upon their own research behaviors and experiences in a variety of ways and were active participants in their own learning. Problem-based learning was employed for information literacy instruction and, as expected, yielded a wealth of qualitative data in addition to the more formalized assessment methods.

Visit this poster session to learn how you can incorporate similar methods into science courses at your own university. Assessment results and implications will be shared as well as data from the pilot project of the program. Poster attendees can expect to be furnished with digital copies of assessment materials that can be remixed and reused to suit a variety of library instruction situations.

Citation Analysis of Chemical Engineering Works

Neelam Bhati and Jean Bossart, University of Florida

A citation analysis was conducted on publications of the faculty from [redacted], Department of Chemical Engineering. The analysis was undertaken to gain a better understanding of the research programs in Chemical Engineering and to examine how the library aligns its support of research through resources and journals to the needs of the department. The analysis focused on where our faculty are publishing, what are the most frequently cited journals, and what growth patterns were evident. Five years of publications (2011-2015) by [redacted] Chemical Engineering faculty were included in the analysis. Web of Science was used to compile a list of the articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Faculty were found to have published 280 articles in the last 5 years, with 27% of those articles shared by five journals, and with an average impact factor of 3.459. Applied Physics Letters and the Journal of American Chemical Society were the most cited journals. The library owned 99% of the publications in which faculty published their work. The pattern of the publications have not been consistent and the most articles in one year (69) were published in 2013. Since this study focused on the current patterns about where the faculty are publishing and citing, it should be a fairly accurate indicator of their future needs and, therefore, impacts decisions regarding future directions by enabling the library to maintain a high quality collection for the faculty in their research and publication endeavors under diminishing financial resources.