Transcript Librarians and Faculty Collaborating for Student Success

It Takes a Village: Role of Librarians
in the First Year Experience (FYE)
Jeanine Scaramozzino
Research Librarian for Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics
University of California Irvine
General FYE Goals
• Assist students’ transition to college life
• Engage students with diverse abilities,
backgrounds, interests, and experiences
• Promote development of student success skills
• Establish processes for faculty involvement
• Promote increased competence in critical
thinking, ethical development, and lifelong
pursuit of knowledge
Information Literacy Defined
• State a research question, problem, or issue
• Determine the nature and extent of information needed
• Access information through both print and electronic
data systems
• Analyze and evaluate the credibility and completeness of
information sources
• Select, integrate, and synthesize information retrieved to
accomplish a purpose
• Acknowledge copyrighted material and intellectual
property
• Organize information and communicate the product
effectively to others
Information Literacy in the 21st Century
• The ease of finding information on the web has
complicated the task of teaching students to find
and evaluate sources
• Formerly well-defined channels of access to
information are now found online, along with
many distractions
• With so much knowledge available, how do
students learn how to find and evaluate sources
• “IL educator” is a critical role for faculty and
librarians
We’ve gone from this:
To this:
If students are expected to learn a great deal on
their own, utilizing new technologies, librarians
will be the major players in guiding students to
needed resources, not as an auxiliary to faculty
teaching but as a primary source of student
learning. Alan Guskin, President Emeritus, Antioch University
Role of Librarians in the FYE
Does the FYE course have
a library component?
Is the library component
required?
No
No
Yes
Yes
n = 368
n = 315
Boff & Johnson (2002) Ref. Serv. Rev. 30(4): 277-287
Role of Librarians in the FYE
Percentage of FYE Programs
90
Developing
Teaching
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Librarian
Boff & Johnson (2002)
Instructor
Peer Facilitator
Other
Role of Librarians in the FYE
• Library topics covered in FYE programs:
– Article databases
– Library catalog
– Web searching
– Library tour
– Research assignment
– Web evaluation
– Scavenger hunt
– Other
Boff & Johnson (2002)
82%
81%
78%
78%
66%
36%
27%
21%
Role of Librarians in the FYE
• Types of formal library instruction provided to first-year students
– One-class course-related library instruction session
84 %
– One-class non-course-related library instruction session
36 %
– Guided tour
56 %
– Web-based virtual library tour
19 %
– Audio library tour
2%
– Multiple session course-related instruction
(not a separate credit course)
35 %
– Required credit course taught by a librarian
4%
– Elective credit course taught by a librarian
7%
Malone & Videon (2003) First Year Student Library Instruction Programs.
Role of Librarians in the FYE
Percentage of FYE Programs
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1
2
3
4-6
7-9
10-12
>12
In-Class Hours Devoted to the Library Component
Boff & Johnson (2002)
First Year Information Literacy Goals
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Use library catalog to find materials
Define research questions
Create search strategies
Choose and use proper database
Understand different formats and source types
Evaluate web pages
Understand and avoid plagiarism
Cite sources properly
University of California Irvine
•
•
•
•
•
Public research university
Over 25,000 students (20,800 undergraduates)
2000 faculty, 8900 staff, and 50+ librarians
Culturally diverse campus community
One third of undergraduates major in science, computer
science, or engineering
Current UCI Library Outreach
• Summer programs for incoming freshmen and
transfer students
• Anteater Orientation for Freshmen
• Introductory writing courses
– Instruction and library tasks
• Subject-specific introductory courses
– Instruction and library tasks
• General information literacy web tutorials
Coordinated IL Instruction Program
• Information literacy is often taught ad hoc
• Introductory science classes may include an
intro to science databases, reference styles, etc.
• Content and quality of IL instruction varies with
the particular class, instructor or section
• Instead, librarians can provide all students with a
comprehensive introduction to IL which faculty
can then reinforce throughout the curriculum
Information Literacy Needs Differ by Discipline
• FYE and other information literacy programs
usually focus on humanities and social sciences
• Science information literacy is seldom
addressed before students reach introductory or
intermediate level science courses
– Delays development of information literacy
skills in science majors
– May leave non-science majors unfamiliar with
scientific information and communication
Science Information Literacy Tutorial
• Collaboratively develop web-based tutorials on core
information literacy skills
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–
–
–
Starting research
Locating resources (books, articles, grey literature)
Evaluating resources
Citing resources
• Start with general introduction for all science majors
• Tailor particular sections or versions of the tutorial to
specific majors
• Include modules targeted to different levels of student
UCI Science Information Literacy Tutorial
UCI Science Information Literacy Tutorial
UCI Science Information Literacy Tutorial
UCI Science Information Literacy Tutorial
• Three modules:
– Creating, Sharing and Finding Science Information (scientific
method, scholarly communication, etc.)
– Science and Engineering Sources and Resources (information
needs, format types, information sources, subject resources,
etc.)
– Reading, Evaluating and Citing Information (choosing between
sources, identifying bias, plagiarism, etc.)
• Links to other library tutorials and resources (i.e. library
catalog, subject guides, databases, Ask a Librarian)
• Self-assessment tools including pre-tests, interactive
exercises, and a self-review with opportunities for review
and practice
Subject Specific Modules
Science and Mathematics Databases
• Mathematics/Statistics
• Life Science
• Physical Science
arXiv.org
Basic Science Information Literacy
• Science IL should be an educational goal for all
students, not just science majors
• Science information affects many aspects of life:
– Personal health, medicine, environment, politics…
• All students need basic information literacy skills,
general research skills and the ability to evaluate diverse
sources of information for life-long learning
• Likewise, science majors need a general sense of
searching for information in law, politics, economics, etc.
and establishing whether information can be trusted
• These are among the broad skills that higher education
should impart
Web-based Information Literacy Tutorial
Reinforcement & application to
different databases and sources to
produce various documents in classes
Advanced Assignments
& Projects
Continued Use Throughout
Personal and Professional Life
Basis for Collaboration Across Campus
• Based on shared goals, vision, trust and respect
• Faculty and student support specialists contribute
understanding of
– Student strengths, weaknesses, attitudes and interests
– Course content
• Librarian contributes understanding of
– Methods to integrate and teach information skills
– Student frustration with the research process
• Requires flexibility, communication and student-centered
approach
• Collaboration is educational for all parties
What Can You Do on Your Campus?
• Learn from successes and challenges of
others
• Build on existing programs of information
literacy instruction
• Improve collaboration with librarians
• Recognize the importance of information
literacy as a central aspect of education
and student success
Thank you for attending!
Questions?