13th EAHIL Conference - Information literacy/user instruction

The Brazilian blog Ecce Medicus and the information on H1N1 flu vaccine for lay people: a case study in Health Communication

Sibele Fausto — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:21:13 +0000

Authors:

Fausto, Sibele, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Carelli, Fabiana, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Rodrigues, Lúcia Eneida, Paraná State Department of Health, Curitiba, Brazil

Neviani, E. Helena, Independent Researcher, São José do Rio Preto, Brazil

Abstract:

Introduction

Health Sciences specialized libraries traditionally deal with several information sources for a group of specialists and experts. As the importance of information for the nonprofessional and lay people grows, blogs appear as an useful resource for health communication to the general public. This work aimed to analyze a serie of six posts from a Brazilian blog focused in health, called Ecce Medicus (http://scienceblogs.com.br/eccemedicus), enlightening on the A H1N1 Influenza Vaccine during the official national campaign in 2010, in order to verify the most frequent doubts from internet users on the vaccine, investigating their needs of health information.

Methods

The analysis was performed by a text mining in the comments into the Ecce Medicus’ six posts on the A H1N1 Influenza Vaccine, quantifying the incidences of words indicative of doubt (1), which allowed the segmentation of the internet users’ most frequent doubts in categories. The results were treated and the software NetDraw (2) was used for grouping the sample’s categories.

Results

The six posts have got 486 comments in total. The blogger’s responses to comments were excluded, resulting in a sample of 388 messages with 78 frequent relevant terms, which categorized by similarity resulted in 8 more evident categories: Vaccine and Alcohol; Vaccine and Components; Vaccine and Children; Vaccine and Dosing; Vaccine and Collateral Effects; Vaccine and Pregnancy; Vaccine and Quality; Vaccine and Fear. The analysis in the incidence of terms (total n=792) through networks of meanings allowed to visualize graphically the most relevant categories, indicating that Vaccine and Children (n=157), Vaccine and Alcohol (n=133) and Vaccine and Collateral Effects (n=131) have leaded the doubts about the A H1N1 Influenza Vaccine.

Discussion and Conclusion

These posts reached high flow in access and in number of comments, showing that the interactivity of the blog tools facilitate communication and encourages the lay public to manifest itself and interact. The analysis of comments showed many doubts about the vaccine, and the grouping of terms by relevance highlighted the categories which raised more questions, with Vaccine and Children, Vaccine and Alcohol and Vaccine and Collateral Effects leading in number of terms occurrences. This approach enlightens the internet blogs as useful tools for searching about health information by the lay public, indicating that the official health campaigns should reinforce their strategies to disseminate health information in a simple and understandable way to the general public, in order to inform and influence individual and community decisions that improve health. Also, Health libraries should consider these new sources of information, expanding the options for the lay public.

Keywords:

Blogging, Health Communication, Health Literacy, Popular Works [Publication Type], Influenza Vaccines.

References:

Osgood CE (2009). Contingency Analysis: Validating Evidence and Process. In: Krippendorff K & Bock MA (eds.). The Content Analysis Reader. Los Angeles: Sage.
Borgatti SP (2002). NetDraw Software for Network Visualization. Lexington, KY: Analytic Technologies. Available: https://sites.google.com/site/netdrawsoftware/home. Accessed: 15 april 2012.

Category:

Information literacy/user instruction

Type of presentation:

Poster

Active learning in library instruction revisited: feedback and development in veterinary education at the University of Helsinki

raisa.iivonen — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:50:08 +0000

Authors:

Iivonen, Raisa, Helsinki University Library, Finland

Huuskonen, Tuula

Kettunen, Taina

Muhonen, Ari

Abstract:

INTRODUCTION

Information Literacy (IL) teaching has been remodelled in Viikki Campus Library (part of the Helsinki University Library) from the Autumn term 2010. A follow up study started in August 2011 among the 1^st year students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. In this paper, we present how Active Learning method was applied to the orientation phase of the curriculum.

OBJECTIVES

We improved the Information Literacy training in Viikki Campus Library by adding the elements of the Active Learning practices into IL training, which is embedded in the curriculum of veterinary education. The program starts on the orientation week in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The ICT Driving Licence study material includes a module called “Seeking information”; it is taught by the liaison librarian of veterinary medicine. The degree programme in Veterinary Medicine comprises a three-year Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and the students prepare a small written essay or article during their second year.

The students do information seeking exercises using their own topics given by the teachers. Thus the procedure of scientific literature search is guided by both the librarian and the teacher.

Like the other students of the Campus of Life Sciences the veterinary students participate in the library instruction course in the Viikki Campus Library during their orientation week. In the fall of 2011, for the second time, the introduction course was an activating one, i.e. the students followed an orienteering track in the library premises and collections with a questionnaire. The veterinary students were also given a feedback form. On the basis of this data, the Library evaluates its processes and developing new methods for IL training.

METHODS

In the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine there are early ca. 70 new students. Nearly half of them have studied two or more years in the University, some even have academic degrees. Some have years of experience in veterinary practices. The heterogeneity of the group challenges the Library in its IL training: how to keep all the students motivated in learning information seeking.

The orientation track described in our previous presentation in 2011 is one answer. The active learning method lets the students to choose a suitable way to study the use of the academic library. During the track, the support to find the answers was available all the time.

The questions 1-6 of the orientation track were common to all the students; questions 6.a-c and Feedback P1-P3 was gathered from every veterinary student.

Questions:

1. What is Helka? (Checkpoint 1.)

2. Where do you find course books? (Checkpoint 2.)

3. Where can you get help for IT problems? (Checkpoint 3.)

4. At the ”New journals” area look for a journal that interests you.
Which journal did you choose? (Checkpoint 4.)

5. How do you book a group work room? (Checkpoint 5.)

6. What do you find at the library’s top floor (4^th)? (Checkpoint 6.)

6.a. Find shelf classifications 619 – 619:618. What did you found? Give one example of the title :

6.b. In which class do you find the books of anatomy ? (4th Floor)

6.c. In which class do you find the books of physiology ? (4th Floor)?

Congratulations! You found all the checkpoints.

Feedback:

P1 Was the track ( ) easy ( ) difficult?

P2 Would you have preferred making the library tour with a guide ? ( ) yes ( ) no

P3 Other comments and suggestions :

RESULTS

The hypothetical result was that the students would easily find the veterinary textbooks from the classified shelves, but the library classification appeared differently to the new students. Without prejudices, they found different shelf classes – a lesson to the librarians how browsing can be made possible in many ways. The majority of the student preferred the orientation track to the traditional librarian-led tour, but some of them wished, however, to hear the guide’s voice.

The results give a very positive outlook for the future courses. The library became visible and useful source for learning material, as well as a good meeting point of other students. Apparently this method or a similar one could be used in following IL training.

DISCUSSION:

In veterinary education, the Active Learning method has been used e.g. in teaching pathology: case discussions enhance students’ understanding of important concepts by demonstration of practical applications and generate strong interest in learning the subject matter. Veterinary students’ learning styles are active, visual and they prefer to process information when engaged in physical activity or discussion. They prefer to learn with understanding, i.e. meaningful learning, to achieve a level of scientific knowledge to solve problems relevant to the disciplines being studied.

A lot of feed-back is gathered during the six-year curriculum of the veterinary student and the library may use these results, too. The faculty is awarded many times of its quality processes. The IL teaching embedded in the curriculum is one way to add quality in the learning process of a veterinary student.

The idea of learning by doing and solving problems using library resources seems to be fruitful in veterinary science; the academic studies intent to prepare students to become veterinary practitioners. In practice the evidence based veterinary medicine requires the good skills of information seeking.

According to the results of feedback questionnaires, the library will continue in the way started in 2010: active learning is useful in library education and could be applied in other courses. Feedback gathered from the veterinary students will also continue to get data comparative to earlier queries.

Keywords:

Veterinary Medicine, Information Literacy,Educational Assessment

References:

Iivonen, R. et al. Active learning in library instruction: case veterinary education

http://eahil2011.ku.edu.tr/poster

Michael JA. Mental models and meaningful learning. JVME 31(1)2004, p. 227352

Neel JE & Grindem BG. Learning-style profiles of 150 veterinary medical students. JVME 37(4)2010, p. 347-352

Oxender W & Harrington B. Integrating population medicine and large animal production into the veterinary curriculum for students to create an active learning program. JAVMA 201 (9) 1992, p. 1358-1362

Oakleaf M. The information literacy instruction assessment cycle: a guide for increasing student learning and improving instructional skills. J Doc 65 (4) 2009, p. 539-560.

Pattersin JS & al. An integrative and case-based approach to the teaching of general and systemic pathology. JVME 34(4)2007, p. 409-415

Session:

Session J. Veterinary information

Ref:

Category:

Information literacy/user instruction

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

Metaphors we search by: experiences of handling information

marshall.dozier — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:20:10 +0000

Authors:

Dozier, Marshall, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Brown, Fiona, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract:

Introduction

Information professionals are highly experienced in locating and handling information. However, the students, researchers and clinicians we support are often still developing these skills, and it is easy for information professionals to forget what it is like to be on the other side of this threshold of expertise. (1) In order to better support our communities, it is important to have insight into their perceptions and experiences of handling information. This study draws on interviews of researchers’ experiences of conducting large literature reviews, in which the study subjects used metaphorical language in discussing their experiences of handling information.

Metaphorical language has been studied this context before: prior research indicates that ‘novice searchers’ who have coherent metaphors or analogous mental models of the literature search process, despite unfamiliarity with computer-based search processes, may be more likely to report their searches as successful. (2) However, it is not the intention of this study to try to make handling information somehow less arduous for researchers by imposing metaphors on them. The primary reason for analysing personal metaphors is that they may be valuable in arriving at a more meaningful understanding of others’ perspectives. (3)

Objectives

This study had several aims: to better understand novice researchers’ approaches to and experiences of information handling as part of research-related use of literature through the metaphors they use to frame their work; to test the acceptability of users’ personal metaphors to information professionals; to pilot the research methods in preparation for a larger study.

Methods

Three semi-structured interviews of researchers were conducted: one masters student (business studies), one doctoral student (education), and one established academic (veterinary medicine). The interviews were transcribed and coded for metaphorical phrases. The metaphorical phrases were extracted and used as the topic of discussion in a focus group of three academic liaison librarians covering several different disciplines (arts, education, health sciences, law, physical sciences). During the focus group, the researcher metaphorical phrases were tested for meaningfulness, whether any were already used, or whether the librarians felt they could incorporate any new ones into their own teaching.

Results

The researchers used a variety of metaphorical phrases that can be loosely grouped into being about the processes, purposes and experiences of using information and sources (including affect) as part of their research. As part of testing meaningfulness, the librarians were asked to choose among the metaphorical phrases and match them against the SCONUL pillars of information literacy. (4) The librarians reported little difficulty in matching the phrases to the pillars, and also noted in discussion that often a single phrase could fit against more than one pillar. There were differences in interpretations of meaning, and some of the metaphors only became meaningful to one or two of the librarians during the course of the discussion. Only a small proportion of the metaphors were identified as already used by the librarians, and few were identified as metaphors that the librarians would use themselves. There was a reluctance to use metaphors that did not feel ‘natural’.

Discussion

The researchers used a wide variety of metaphorical phrases about process (immerse yourself, keeping my eye open), purpose (ladder, skeleton) and experiences (winding path, roller-coaster). The librarians observed similarity of expression between researchers, for example, the process of gathering and assimilating the literature being like ‘swimming around’ and having ‘kind of clear path’ and interpreted some phrases as indicating strong (or weak) planning skills. The SCONUL pillars were familiar to the focus group participants as ways of conceptualising process and skills of handling information. In general, the researchers’ metaphorical phrases were not difficult to match to the pillars, though it was observed that the phrases could be mapped equally to different pillars and that sometimes a single phrase combined different pillars, articulated in the discussion as implying a simultaneous set of activities or processes. Correlation in matching against the SCONUL pillars by the focus group participants was not measured - what is more important than correlation of interpretations is whether the researchers’ personal metaphors gave the librarians new insight into the experiences of handling information. On the basis that one of the expressions caused ‘shock’ to the librarians, and that a few were identified illuminating but previously unused, it may be argued that the interview extracts did give the focus group participants new understanding. One limitation of the study is that it is difficult to say whether the researchers' statements themselves, regardless of any metaphorical language, gave these insights - or whether the metaphorical phrases were particularly helpful in giving the librarians perspectives from the other side of a threshold.

Keywords:

Information Seeking Behavior, Information Literacy, Qualitative Research, Metaphor

References:

Meyer JHF, Land R. Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines. Edinburgh: School of Education, University of Edinburgh; 2003.
Yerbury H, Parker J. Novice searchers' use of familiar structures in searching bibliographic information retrieval systems. Journal of Information Science. 1998;24(4):207-14.
Langdridge D. Phenomenological psychology : theory, research, and method. Harlow: Pearson/Prentice Hall; 2007.
SCONUL. The SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy: Core Model For Higher Education. SCONUL; 2011. Available from: http://www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/information_literacy/publications/coremodel.pdf

Session:

Session F. Information literacy

Ref:

Category:

Information literacy/user instruction

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

How can information literacy training promote awareness of information needs and realising gaps in knowledge: a perspective allowing for patients, families and healthcare providers?

ina.fourie — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:14:27 +0000

Authors:

Fourie, Ina, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract:

Introduction

Information Behaviour research shows that people is often unaware of their information needs (i.e. dormant information needs). They do not attempt to seek information, because they do not realise a gap between what they know and what they need to know. (Case, 2012; Fourie, 2008).

Purpose of paper

The paper intends to suggest ways of raising awareness for dormant information needs: first by recognising that this often happens, and secondly by considering various means of addressing this.

Brief review of gaps, information needs, and stakeholders’ awareness

Gaps can be on the level of factual knowledge (cognitive information needs) such as knowing about cancer genetics or side effects of diseases or treatments, or the danger of combining treatments; emotional knowledge such as coping, adapting and grieving (affective information needs), and physical knowledge such as stress-relief and adjusting to the loss of a body part (psychomotor knowledge).

Healthcare professionals are not always aware of their patients’ information needs (Fourie, 2008). In communicating with patients/families and in providing information they are influenced by their training and perceptions of what patients/families should know and how such information should be shared. There are thus a number of problems: (1) patients/families do not always realise a gap in their knowledge and that they need information; thus they do not ask questions or seek information; (2) healthcare providers do not always realise that patients/family members do not recognise gaps in their knowledge and thus do not ask questions; (3) healthcare providers do not always realise that their provision of information may not stimulate and enable patients/families to recognise what they need to know; (4) patients/family members do not always realise that their ability to recognise information needs may differ for each person, and that this can be turned into a benefit (Clayton, Butow & Tattersall, 2005; Fourie, 2008). More detail can be offered by a content analysis of literature on the information needs of patients/families as well as the awareness of healthcare professionals on patients information needs. The paper will focus on breast cancer. Such evidence should be sufficient to support the perception that healthcare professionals depend too much on patients’ and families’ abilities to ask questions and their awareness of needs (Fourie, 2008).

Information literacy training

Information literacy training for healthcare providers as well as patients/families can address problems such as not recognising information needs. It can raise awareness for the fact that recognition of a need for information is a pre-requisite for asking questions, and that means need to be identified to avoid dormant and unrecognised information needs in healthcare contexts – as far as possible. In fact, it needs to raise awareness for the need to guide people in recognising knowledge gaps, and thus needs for information.

In information literacy training it is standard to stress the ability to recognise a problem and the need for information (i.e. realising the gap between what is known and what needs to be known). People are advised to describe a problem in terms of a question or statement, then to identify the main concepts and keywords and how to combine these, then selecting appropriate information resources and search strategies to explore these, etc. If people do not realise a problem or a gap in their knowledge, none of these can materialise.

Apart from healthcare professionals not always admitting patients’ and families inability to recognise their information needs and to express this clearly, they often are unable to recognise their own needs for information, and may experience many barriers in honing their own information skills. This is also evident from a report by Fourie and Claasen-Veldsman (2011) where they report on nurses expressing deep concern for the suffering of patients and patients’ interest in using the Internet, but not linking this to needs for information on supporting patients in using the Internet appropriately to find information.

Suggestions on means to raise awareness of information needs

Various means can be used to raise awareness of information needs such as browsing resources such as websites and encountering information, as well as abbreviated visual means of sharing information. Examples will be offered of what can be noted with regard to breast cancer when considering: browsing recommended websites, using mind maps, visualisation as abbreviated resources of information, narratives of other people’s experiences, fiction e.g. as in stories, movies and popular TV programmes, content analysis of blogs, and patients’ discussion lists.

Conclusion

Serious complaints are raised about patients’ and families’ information needs that are not met. One reason is their inability to recognise such needs and to adequately explain these. Information literacy programs should prepare healthcare professionals to be alert to this problem and to explore all possible means to raise patients’ and families’ awareness of their needs, and especially situations where information may help them. This should also feature in any attempts of patient education and in communication with patients/families.

Keywords:

Information behaviour; Information needs; Families; Healthcare providers; Patients

References:

Case DO. Looking for information: a survey of research on information seeking, needs, and behaviour. 3^rd ed. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing; 2012.
Clayton JM, Butow PN, Tattersall MHN. The needs of terminally ill cancer patients versus those of caregivers for information regarding prognosis and end-of-life issues. Cancer. 2005;103(9):1957-64.
Fourie I. Information needs and information behaviour of patients and family members in a cancer palliative care setting: an exploratory study of an existential context from different perspectives. Information Research. 2008;13(4) paper 360. [Available at http://InformationR.net/ir/13-4/paper360.html]
Fourie I, Claasen-Veldsman R. Exploration of the needs of South African oncology nurses for current awareness services available through the Internet. Information Research. 2010;16(3) paper 484. [Available at http://InformationR.net/ir/16-3/paper484.html]
Jones JS, Schilling K, Pesut D. Barriers and benefits associated with nurses information seeking related to patient education needs on clinical nursing units. The Open Nursing Journal. 2011;5:24-30.

Session:

Session H. Teaching information literacy

Ref:

Category:

Information literacy/user instruction

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

Information Literacy - User Training Project for the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon - FMUL

SUSAnahenriques — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:33:23 +0000

Authors:

Henriques, Susana, Faculty of Medicine - UL - Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract:

Abstract

The FMUL Central Library, has always played a role at the Faculty, as a key element in the support of education-related activities. Although user training has always been part of library competencies, it is now an emerging area, representing one of the main and most important performance strategies, especially in the current context of Bologna process. The main objective of this project, developed in the context of a Master of Library and Information Sciences, was to restructure the existing training program, by the use of Web tools promoting distance education. A brief review of the literature, and a quantitative analysis of the Portuguese situation regarding the training of users in Portuguese health academic libraries has been done. The results show that the integration of this type of training in the academic curriculum is already happening in some cases. However, there are still some barriers to overcome, such as the poor perception of the library and librarians major role, in the faculty environment.

Introduction

The new learning environment promoted by Bologna, presents new challenges that libraries and librarians should look at as potential opportunities to reinforce their role. The autonomy that is required by the new teaching model for students, causes them to approach the library (physical or virtual), looking for updated information, and to develop skills to interpret assignments, conceptualize topics, devise search strategies, and evaluate retrieval content. Academic librarians have the background and knowledge to provide that support, getting in the front line developing of information literacy programs, and slowly incorporating it as an academic discipline in the curricula.

More than accept the challenge, we believe librarians have to be entrepreneurial in developing user training programs with the increasingly collaborative learning models which know no physical boundaries.

Objectives

The project we propose is quit relevant to main competency of the reference service which is user support. The reference service had to adjust to a new kind of users, with new kinds of needs, mostly related to quick access to relevant information and updated resources. On this basis, more than providing information access, our user training program will give users the skills they need to manage their learning process. In order to satisfy user’s needs, and to empower their autonomy, the User Training Program, main goal is to restructure and reorganize the existing program, adopting distance learning options. New areas were created on the web site (htpp://www.biblioteca.fm.ul.pt) and on the UL e-learning platform (http://elearning.ul.pt), for better user support. In this context, to support teaching, learning and research needs, the project must:

Have a procedure manual;
Have a quality management system;
Plan, develop or adapt training materials, specific modules and tutorials;
Set an annual training calendar;
Develop an Information Literacy module in the e-learning platform of UL (Moodle);
Develop a new tab in the Library homepage, to promote and support Information Literacy training;
Develop a marketing strategy to promote this new service / area;
Reinforce the trainers team and their competences;
Establish and strengthen partnerships with other units of FMUL, involved on the learning process;
Develop a Bench Learning platform with other health academic libraries to share training materials.

The project development and implementation should be complete until September 2012. Most of all, it is our ambition that this work becomes a support base to further integration of information literacy training programs in the academic curriculum of FMUL.

Methods

A review of Portuguese and international literature has been made, including articles published in the last ten years, however, due to its importance, some bibliography published before the defined period, was included too. The intention of the review was to find guidelines, best practices and models which could be adapted to our needs.

In addition to this method of investigation, to reinforce or change our empirical view, a quantitative analysis of the Portuguese situation has been done, running an online survey through the platform Monkey Survey http://pt.surveymonkey.net/, regarding the training of users in Portuguese health academic libraries. More than analyzing the results for each particular library, our goal was to get a general view of Portuguese reality concerning information literacy projects. Ten basic questions were sent in an anonymous questionnaire to 35 Portuguese academic health libraries (66% of which responded).

Results / Conclusions

The results obtained from the questionnaire help us on developing the project, by knowing similar programs implemented in Portugal, and complemented our knowledge of the state of the art worldwide obtained from our own study of the literature on the subject. In the Portuguese case, the few studies that we found were related to academic libraries in general, and not specifically to health libraries.

Thus, it should be noted that, although our investigation did not explore all possible areas of research and focused only on basic questions, it still reveals the current situation, in which the asymmetry of the different attitudes toward the problem is evident. The “no answers” section, with 34% of the answers, may indicate a lack of conscience that still exists about how important is this area.

On the other hand, 91% of those who answered, state user training programs as very important (Table 1), and for 78% it is a way of enhancing the quality of university education, and to promoting the image of academic libraries and librarians.

About integration of information literacy training programs in the academic curricula, there was only one answer. However, it is known that in some cases (30%) there is collaborative work between librarians and teachers, concerning the curricula planning and development. Thereby, the advantages of this kind of support / partnership are starting to be recognized, reinforcing education quality, and mostly investing in student’s empowerment.

Concerning the adopted teaching models, the most frequent is still the traditional in class model, with 94.7% of responses, but there is also a tendency for the adoption of e-learning (15.8%), although one should not replace the other. The blended learning option, was not checked, but we believe this teaching methodology will be widely implemented, combining classroom teaching and distance learning, overcoming the image of the “lonely learner” associated with e-learning. As reinforcement of the questionnaire, some telephone calls were made to some of the libraries involved, to check the attitude and experience of other librarians regarding the development of projects in this area. There is clear awareness of the importance of developing user training programs, but in some cases there are still some barriers to overcome, like the poor perception of the value of libraries and librarians in the university environment.

Although much of the literature reviewed, reflects the existence of a pronounced gap between the Portuguese reality and that of other countries, in which we find most of the published works and implemented projects, the situation tends to change. There is now a real effort to integrate information literacy in the academic curricula, and some Portuguese academic libraries (74% of responses) are already developing valuable projects (Figure 1), which is a strong motivation to other libraries to follow this path.

Keywords:

Information Literacy, Health Academic Libraries, Users Training Project, Digital Literacy, e-Learning.

Legend Figure:

Figure 1 . Academic Health Libraries with user training programs

Legend Table:

Table 1. Importance given to user training programs

References:

Henriques S. Literacia da Informação: Projecto para Formação de Utilizadores na Biblioteca-CDI da Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa. Lisboa 2011.

Session:

Session F. Information literacy

Ref:

Category:

Information literacy/user instruction

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

Information Literacy at Tartu University

sigrid.prank — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:32:22 +0000

Authors:

Pall, Ivika

Prank, Sigrid

Keywords:

information literacy, e-learning

Category:

Information literacy/user instruction

Type of presentation:

Poster

Case study: are interactive tutorials an effective alternative tool for library or information literacy instruction?

dgdsutte — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:21:46 +0000

Authors:

De Sutter Daisy, Biomedical Library, Ghent University, Belgium

De Meulemeester Ann, Biomedical Library, Ghent University, Belgium

Verhaaren Henri, Biomedical Library, Ghent University, Belgium

Abstract:

Introduction

Academic libraries and database providers offer a wide variety of, often interactive, online tutorials, which are presented as a good alternative for the person-to-person instructions by information specialists. We studied how effective interactive tutorials are in the context of library or information literacy instructions (ILI).

Within academic libraries information literacy instruction (ILI) was in the past mostly offered in one-to-one person sessions or in small groups, to maximize the impact on information literacy competences (ILC) of the students. These optimal educational settings are often not possible. Academic libraries have to deal with a growing student population and are more and more asked to participate in curricular teachings of larger groups of students. This evolution puts a large workload on the library therefore in our institution we experimented with different educational methods to master this workload. Video tutorials were studied as a possible alternative for ILI. Video tutorials have a 24/24 and remote availability allowing just-in time self-study of the student. Moreover these tutorials can be used as an educational tool in different settings, such as continuous user support systems.

Study environment and population

In the present study the efficiency of Video tutorials, to obtain IL competences, was studied within the context of a curricular course to first year Bachelor students in Biomedical Sciences at Ghent University. Therefore the assessment of the effect of online tutorials had to be studied while using other active learning tools and formal ILI in a classroom environment. The course consisted of 15 hours of theory and 15 hours of active learning on PC given by information specialists.

The study population started with 176 first year Bachelor students in Biomedical Sciences. We used excluding criteria for students who dropped out during the first months and for those who doubled their year. The final study cohort consisted of 141 students.

Objectives of the study

In an attempt to improve the ILC we investigated the teaching methodologies and searched for the most effective educational formats to enrich the IL training process.

Methods

The study had to be performed within a setting of blended learning. Therefore we studied the effect of the Video tutorials compared to other already applied activating interventions both in theory and practice parts of the course. The digital learning environment was used to communicate with the students, to provide learning materials and to perform digital assessments.

The interventions studied were:

In October 2011 the students were divided into two groups for the practice training. Group 1 received a self-study assignment of PubMed using a selection of online Video tutorials. Group 2 received a hands-on and example-guided instruction by the information specialist. A self-assessment test was given to both groups.
In December 2011 a cross-over with a similar division of the total group was applied for the training of Web-of-Science. Group 1 received formal ILI teaching, and group 2 engaged in self-study of the Video tutorials. Also here a self-assessment test was administered, and a questionnaire given to the students to evaluate the degree of satisfaction.
In the theory course, students were activated by the use of voting devices on several occasions.
Finally we provided self-assessment tasks on the digital learning platform. This allowed the students to keep on practicing and to “feel” their own progress.

Results

The results of the PubMed training indicate no significant difference in the learning outcomes between both groups.

The results of the Web-of-Science training (WOS) shows also no group differences in the acquisition of ILC, despite the observation of all trainers that group 1 was intellectually stronger and more competitive.The WOS test gives better results, probably because the students became more digital competent by the prior PubMed test.

Finally the results of the PubMed and Web-of-Science cross-over tests were compared to the results at the examinations of the present and previous three years.These results indicate a slightly better study outcome, although more consecutive results are needed to confirm this evolution and exclude individual group effects.

Discussion

The PubMed and Web-of-Science tutorial interventions have effects on the global learning outputs of all students, but no significant group differences can be observed. However, students who used the tutorials where more eager to train and keep on training. This could be measured, by their higher than comparison group presence, in the digital learning environment. We therefore postulate that they acquired a basic level of IL faster than the control group. It was also observed that the remote access of the tutorial worked as a permanent form of feedback whereby students were noted to have less questions for rehearsal in the formal courses. The course speed turned out to be higher than in previous years. So, more time was left for practice and more complex questioning during the formal course hours. These findings by the teaching staff and the results of the final examination outputs confirm findings in literature that the “method of instruction does not influence students retention of IL skills. All methods can be equally as effective.” (Andersona K.,2010 )

Although each group was tested immediately after each intervention, there are no indications that any specific activation method was more successful than another. We must conclude that any method of activation in the educational process will make the students more motivated and also has a positive influence on the trainers. Some kind of positive flow is created, which eventually results in more and better ILC. The best way to teach IL is still a debate, and trying to anticipate to as many individual (in) dependent variables of the learning process as possible is a real challenge. We refer to the contribution of Dumont H. on this matter: “Learning is also individually different, which means that its processes and outcomes vary among students on a variety of pertinent variables. Encouraging and sustaining effective learning therefore means that school should provide as much as possible adaptive education (Glaser, 1977) to take account of these differences.” (Dumont H.,2010)

Our study design evaluates the effects of different educational activation methods within a setting of blended learning. The impossibility to identify the most effective tool, leads to the conclusion that the information specialists should be able to design and use a diversity of educational tools in different settings. The blended activation approach meets better the diversity in education needs, whereby the results on group level improve Video tutorials are just one of the many effective tools for library or information literacy instruction. Blending of different formats meets the diverse learning needs of the individuals in the group and increases the learning motivation of both students and trainers. The fine-tuning of the blend will certainly evolve over the next years.

Keywords:

Interactive Tutorial, Information Literacy, Blended Learning,Training Methods, Educational Technology

Legend Table:

Summary of the results.

References:

Andersona K, May FA. Does the Method of Instruction Matter? An Experimental Examination of Information Literacy Instruction in the Online, Blended, and Face-to-Face Classrooms.The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 2010; 36(6):495–500.

Croft WM, Mihaly EC. Responding to students needs: Trailling a 'blended environment'. In: OLT-2005:Beyond Delivery; 2005 September 27th; Australia, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland. [cited 2012 Jan 19]. Available from:http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00002195/01/OLT_conf_papr.pdf

Dumont H, Istance D, Benavides FG. The Nature of Learning: Using research to inspire practice. Centre for Educational Research and Innovation : OECD Publishing; 2010

Session:

Session H. Teaching information literacy

Ref:

Category:

Information literacy/user instruction

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

Self-efficacy tests are helpful in the acquisition of information literacy. A study in first year bachelor students.

ann2.demeulemeester — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:53:21 +0000

Authors:

De Meulemeester, Ann, University of Ghent, Belgium

De Sutter, Daisy, University of Ghent, Belgium

Henri, Verhaaren, University of Ghent, Belgium

Abstract:

Introduction

The American Library Association (ALA 2000) defines Information Literacy (IL) as “a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information”. These information and communication skills are increasingly essential to succeed in academic studies. The best possible instruments to acquire the skills are still at debate. The personal recognition of his or her information needs has been recognized as a powerful drive in the building up of the required capacities of the students. The possible role of repeated self-efficacy (SE) testing in information literacy therefore merits further evaluation.

Study environment and population

The present study population is a group of 50 Bachelor students enrolled in a curricular course of information resources of the first bachelor year of Biomedical Sciences at Ghent University. The IL-course requires 15 hours class teaching and 15 hours active PC-based group instruction. The study population was selected from a cohort of 142 first timers. Students who had to repeat their first year were excluded, as the first year learning process of the same materials could influence their ratings. Furthermore we used for the present analysis only these students who participated trustfully in the other evaluative activities organized in the cohort to permit multifactor analysis. Full testing included the first scale (GEN-ILSE) developed by Kurbanoglu, Akkoyunlu & Umay (2006), the list of 10 IL skills ( from basic to advanced), important for the biomedical context (BIO-ILSE) developed specifically for the course, pre- en post-Progress Test on Information Literacy (PTIL) especially designed for the Faculty of Medicine of Ghent University and finally the participation in the first semester examination session. For more details on these tests, see methodology section. Full and trustable results of all tests were found in 50 students, the final study group. For the present study only the results on information literacy self-efficacy (ILSE) will be considered.

Research Questions

Applying the SE-tests twice, in the beginning and the end of the course, made us formulate two research questions. First, we focused on the changes between the first and second test to study the influence of the learning process on the results of the self-efficacy tests. Secondly we wanted to know if – inversely – the self-efficacy tests improve the learning process and the examination results.

Methods

To assess the ILSE competences two different questionnaires were used. First we used the test for assessment of non-specific or general information literacy self-efficacy (GEN-ILSE) developed by Kurbanoglu, Akkoyunlu & Umay (2006). The scale is composed of 7 factors and 28 items. The factors of the scale are determined as “defining the need for information”, “initiating the search strategy”, “locating and accessing the resources”, “assessing and comprehending the information”, “interpreting, synthesizing, and using the information”, “communicating the information” and “evaluating the product and process”. These skills are mandatory in a general context of IL or education.

Secondly we administered a SE-questionnaire on the specific IL- needs in Biomedical Sciences (BIO-ILSE). This second test evaluates 10 additional IL skills (from basic to advanced), important for the biomedical context. The personal degree of confidence is evaluated on a scale of 0–100. Students were confident they could answer without inhibitions, because their results would not be taken in account in their study results, and the results would not be communicated to the examiners before the end of the examination period. Both ILSE-tests were administered at the beginning (pre-SE) of the academic year and at the end of the course (post-SE). The participation to the tests was on a voluntary base, as required by the ethical committee of the institution.

The pre- en post-SE questionnaires were administered together with a pre- en post-Progress Test on Information Literacy (PTIL) designed specifically towards the educational outputs of the Faculty of Medicine of Ghent University. The PTIL-test consists of 30 questions and measures the basic to advanced skills of IL within the context of medical and health studies. The test has been developed to monitor the evolution of the students over all years of their degrees.

Lastly, the examination results of the course were used to assess the final outputs of the students.

Results

Within the limited time context of the EAHIL meeting, we present here only these results relevant to the two specific research questions. Also, the results are not yet complete, and given the number of factors studies will require further analysis. Comparison of selected questions of the pre- and post course ILSE tests are shown in table 1. These results suggest that the summation of the results of all students for most factors show higher confidence in the post-ILSE questionnaire. However, major individual differences are noted. (Table 1)

In the first item (“Limit search strategies by subject, language and date “), the confidence of students, after intervention, is prominently higher. More than half of the students report a scale of confidence of 81% or more at the end of the course. Three students even feel then 100% confident. Within the course, examples were worked out and self-evaluated exercises were offered. So the degree of confidence in the use of limits in search strategies reflects the true acquisition of the skill.

In the second item (“Write a research paper”), almost no changes were noted. The scale of SE has changed for 43 students, but the general degree of confidence stays very low, 32 of the 50 students have a SE lower as 50%. These results are no surprise, as writing a research paper can be seen as an advanced IL skill and the required competences were not taught in this first bachelor course.

For the third item (“Define the information I need”) a remarkable pattern is noted. Sixty percent of the students feel less confident to define the information they need. This means that during the course they acknowledged that this competence was more difficult to obtain than they thought before the course.

The last item (“Confidence in the use of web of science”) reflects the impact of active learning and hands-on training. Confidence in the use of the database has increased in the large majority.

Also other IL-skills specific to the biomedical curriculum gave the same increase in confidence level of the student population, although nobody still reported “full” confidence. Examples of these comparable items are: the use of PubMed, MeSH and factual databases

The results of the 2 ILSE-questionnaires correspond with the results of the PTIL and the final examination. It can therefore be concluded that the study population completed the ILSE-questionnaire fairly and the data can be seen as a good reflection of the ILSE of this group.

Discussion

Bandura ( 1977) defined self-efficacy as a belief in one’s own capabilities to organize and execute the course of action required to attain a goal. In general terms, SE is a basic human belief in one’s ability to successfully perform a task or a performance. The belief in his own efficacies and capabilities seems more important to the user than the true level of his capabilities. SE is an important player in today’s information-based society. Information literacy self-efficacy, this is the perception of someone’s own capabilities, is a meaningful factor in becoming an information literate person. High SE will determine how resilient students will be and how much effort they will expend on an activity. Students being self-assured are less put off to use new information sources and will not give up when encountering a problem in their search strategies. Persistence or resilience is crucial for information problem solving, self-regulated learning and lifelong learning (Kurbanoglu 2006). IL-training should be incorporated early in the curricula (Kingsley 2011), so it can help students to build up their competencies and SE. The context or specific domain wherein SE is evaluated is considered to be important, as an individual can be more or less confident according the discipline, domain or other situational difference.

Educational intervention activates the process of learning and self-learning (Kiliç-Cakmak 2010). This results in the development of critical thinking and the acquisition of expertise. On the other hand we noticed students can overestimate their abilities. We note three different developments in the studied ILSE:

Educational intervention on search strategies and specific content related IL univocally increased self-efficacy . The target of the acquisition of intermediate IL-skills – according to the ALA definitions - is achieved in our students.
The decrease of ILSE in the case of defining the information needed, a basic IL skill, shows the educational value of repeated SE-testing. By the beginning of the course, the students did clearly not realize the meaning of the item and overestimated their competence. At the end of the course there is awareness of the complexity of the item. This consciousness will help students for further IL- training and motivate them to become more confident in the specific skill by more practice and self-study.
Finally, the questionnaire proposed questions related to advanced IL-competences. For these items, the SE was low and stayed low. It can be hypothesized that the confrontation of the student with his own perceptions of competence, will work as a trigger. This can be helpful in further IL-development.

From our data it can be concluded that repeated SE-tests are a useful educational tool in the acquisition of IL. Especially the post-course SE-assessment reflects a realistic measure for the degree of IL attained by the student. SE-tests enhance a critical attitude of the student and therefore could motivate the student for autonomous lifelong learning.

Keywords:

Self-efficacy, Information literacy, Information Seeking Behavior, Biomedical students, Self-regulated learning.

Legend Table:

Table: Results of ILSE

References:

American Library Association. The Association of College and Research Libraries, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Chicago: ALA; 2000.
Bandura A. Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavior change. Psychological Review. 1977; 84:1991-215.
Kiliç-Cakmak E. Learning strategies and motivational factors predicting information literacy self-efficacy of e-learners. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 2010; 26(2):192-208
Kingsley K, Galbraith G, Herring M, Stowers E, Stewart T, Kingsley KV. Why not just Google it ? An assessment of information literacy skills in a biomedical science curriculum. BMC Medical Education. 2011; 11:17.
Kurbanoglu SS, Akkoyunlu B, Umay A. Developing the information literacy self-efficacy scale. Journal of Documentation. 2006; 62(6):730-743.

Session:

Session F. Information literacy

Ref:

Category:

Information literacy/user instruction

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation