Transcript Charlotte A. Erdmann Bruce Harding Purdue University ASEE Annual Conference June 22, 2010 Find meaningful opportunities to improve student’s information research: discuss the “why” Describe the research project: “Treasure Hunt” Discuss how.

Charlotte A. Erdmann
Bruce Harding
Purdue University
ASEE Annual Conference
June 22, 2010
Find meaningful
opportunities to
improve student’s
information research:
discuss the “why”
Describe the
research project:
“Treasure Hunt”
Discuss how librarians
and libraries support
instruction and
specialized materials
Highlight ABET
outcomes, ACRL
criteria, and literature
review
Parents do not want children to learn sex education “on
the street”
Many students have “street smarts” and want
immediate results. “Street smarts” may not serve a
student well over the course of a career.
How can we help students become proficient and
effective information researchers?
Organized efforts by engineering educators to help
students acquire proficiency are a first step
Ronald Rodrigues (2001), former Agilent
information professional and current Dialog
LLC Senior Content Specialist Engineering ,
discussed expectations of newly hired
engineers and their inadequate information
preparation
“Industry Expectations of the New
Engineer.” Science and Technology
Libraries 19:3/4 (2001): 179-188
Very Often
Quite Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
Aerospace (46)
Alternative Energy (4)
Automotive (40)
Construction (51)
Computer/Electronics (27)
Health and Public Saf ety (5)
Medical (15)
Military/Government (24)
Other (141)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
ASEE AC 2010-1352 “What Do Employers Want in Terms of Employee
Knowledge of Technical Standards and the Process of Standardardization?”


40% of US university ME department heads
feel that existing curricula is weak in coverage
of codes & standards and needs
strengthening
50% of US ME practitioners & engineering
managers indicate that entry-level engineers’
knowledge of codes & standards is weak and
needs strengthening
ABET and
ACRL
criteria are
starting
points
Present
courses
CoOperative
Education
Programs
Internships
ACRL Criteria for Information Literacy is used
by library community. Here are the first two:
The information literate student:
Determines the
nature and extent
of information
needed
Acquires needed
information
effectively and
efficiently
Questions could be focused on library materials
that are locally available
Web may be a viable source for many questions
Cooperation between educators and librarians is
necessary
• Possible purchase of selected materials
• Help students with projects
Professor Harding
initiated project in
1982
60 to 120
freshman
complete the hunt
each semester
Production Design and
Specifications is a required class
60 to 120 freshman take class in 3
to 5 sections
The Hunt is a problem solving
activity scheduled for 10-14 days
Machinery’s Handbook has been the class
reference book and source of 50% of questions
More questions added from other sources since
students needed a broader perspective
Questions came from a variety of sources,
including:
Product
Standards
Handbooks
literature
Started with
16 questions
All students
got same
questions
Re-did every
semester
Workload
was not
sustainable
Later created
database of
questions
Students
get 12
random
questions
Printed materials and people were the most
important sources in the beginning
• Directories, handbooks, standards, and product
literature have been common sources, e.g.
• Thomas Register and ASTM and ANSI Standards
Library reference staff and peers helped but
often advice was uneven
Company sales people also responded to
phone calls from students
Treasure Hunt is the students’ assignment
• Some students did not understand questions and became
too dependent on library staff
• Staff members were occasionally too helpful
Professor discussed more civility and ethical
issues than expected
• A few submitted originals rather than photocopies
• Some hid materials so that others could not locate answers
Librarians gave first introductory
lecture and tour in 1986
• Professor gave students hunt instructions
before the visiting the library
• The library lecture gave all students same
baseline information
• Brief bibliography of suggested sources
was also prepared by librarians
What drill point angle
(inclusive) should be used
when driving Acetal®?
Two parts
Random
Questions
• A student receives 12 and
may drop 2
Group
Work
• Typical group size has been
2 to 4
• Two students receive 24
and may drop 4
Subscriptions for electronic standards and
product catalogs added in 1999
• Some became full-text searchable in 2005
• Full-text may make hunt easier
E-books added from 2003-date
What do you know?
What do you need to know?
Who would collect this information?
Why would they collect this information?
What drill point angle
(inclusive) should be used
when driving Acetal®?
*Possible Answer at End
of Presentation
Sapp Nelson, Van Epps, and Fosmire (2007) created and
implemented expert system; advantages include:
• Starting place for student’s work
• Available 24/7
Library staff (2008) created local database of standards
purchased through ANSI subscription and on-demand
Erdmann (2009) created Standards Subject Guide for
the Purdue community
Orientation to Library
Discussion of Document Type Definitions
Show expert system
Using whole question
Use
Question
Framework
Expert
System
Use Appropriate
Database
Standards
EHandbooks
Free Web
Thomas
Register
Grading is done by Teaching Assistants and
each answer is evaluated in two parts by:
Answer found
Documented
in legitimate
published
source
URLs are Ok
but Wikis are
not counted
100
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
S '00
S '01
F '02
S '03
F '04
F '05
S '06
F '06
F '07
S '07
S '08
S '09
Harding and Erdmann, ASEE Paper (2010)
The “Treasure Hunt” has
been positively evaluated
and commended by ABET
Continuous Improvement
is the desired outcome
Multiple answers and sources accepted with sound
data to support the answer
Expert system enabled assistance 24/7
Professor and TAs evaluate the Hunt at end of each
semester; Sapp Nelson gives feedback from library staff
Questions are revised, discarded and/or added
Students had their first required group project
• Most students started earlier and supported each
other
• Most groups achieved successful results while a few
had group dynamics problems
TAs found grading easier but some answer
notebooks appeared less organized
Library staff helped more students earlier in the
week and saw students more often
1988
2005
2007
• First paper by Erdmann and Harding discussed
information literacy concepts and class assignments
• Harding wrote a paper for ASME discussing the
organization, mechanics and Treasure hunt
questions
• Fosmire, Sapp Nelson, Van Epps and Harding
prepared two papers related to the expert system
Paper 1 –
Creation of
expert system
Advantages
• Enter complete
question
• Get list of
recommended
sources
• Expert system
available 24/7
• Students get same
consistent
recommendations
Paper 2 analyzed self-reported pre-test and posttest confidence levels for using a variety of sources
• Compared control group with students who used expert
systems
Students in both groups increased their confidence
levels significantly after doing the Treasure Hunt
Results show that library reference questions
decreased while students still performed well



Current librarians: Megan Sapp Nelson, Amy
Van Epps, and Michael Fosmire and reference
assistants
Former full-time librarians: Leslie Reynolds,
Sheila Curl, Anna Wu Ren, Jean Poland, and
Greg Youngen former reference assistants
Students of MET102
We encourage you to become
leaders in building students’
information research skills
The Treasure Hunt shows that
team efforts of educators and
librarians can impact student
learning
What drill point angle
(inclusive) should be used
when driving Acetal®?
Two parts
• Associate Professor of
Library Science
• Siegesmund Engineering
Library, Purdue University
• [email protected]
• Professor of Mechanical
Engineering Technology
• College of Technology
• Purdue University
• [email protected]
Charlotte
Erdmann
Bruce Harding