“Strangers in a Strange Land: Creating Meaningful Research Assignments for the First Year Orientation Class” Linda Klein Contact Information: First Year Initiatives Librarian Linda.Klein@eku.edu Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond KY Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience Phoenix, AZ February 4-8, 2005 “Students of so many diverse and varied backgrounds are entering our campuses wanting a piece of the American dream, which now means working in an information based economy and world. Who better to assist and support them and teach them the new skills of information literacy during ‘the first year experience’ than academic librarians?” (Gardner & Hardesty, 2004) These handouts are also available at: people.eku.edu/kleinl/fye.html The Nova Program at Eastern Kentucky University, a federal TRIO program, assists first- generation students in their transition to college life. Nova students must be first-year, full- time students, able to demonstrate financial need, and willing to enter their first year of college as “undeclared in major.” EKU librarians and Nova administrators collaborated to create a pilot program designed to impart basic information literacy skills, help students explore majors and careers, and ensure a successful library experience in order to overcome library anxiety. In support of the Nova program’s goals, the library experience and related career exploration assignment is intended to promote student success and start students on the path toward lifelong learning skills. This presentation will discuss the process and outcomes of the program. Learning outcomes were assessed with pre- and post-tests measuring attitudes, previous experience, and basic information literacy skills. Qualitative data was gathered from the completed career exploration assignment; students were instructed not to just write about a career in which they were interested, but rather to critically evaluate the sources of information and discuss the sources’ ease of use and quality of information. Career exploration can contribute to campus-wide efforts at first-year retention; library anxiety by novice library users can be alleviated by introducing students to research that is easily accomplished and designed to be successfully completed.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 3 → Selected Readings on the First Year Student and Libraries Contains helpful background information on academic libraries in relation to fjrst-year and undergraduate students. 4 → Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education Association of College and Research Libraries standards can be used as a guideline for incorporating research and critical thinking in the college curriculum. 4 → General Descriptions of First Year Students and Libraries/Information Seeking More details on these characteristics can be found in articles by Leckie (1996) and Harley, Dreger & Knobloch (2001). See bibliography (page 3). 5 → Eastern Kentucky University Facts Basic demographic information about EKU and EKU students. 5 → Regional Economic and Educational Information (compared to national) In order to understand the needs of fjrst year students, it is important to gain an understanding of their economic, cultural and educational background. 6 → Nova Course Curriculum Lists the basic course objectives for the Nova orientation course, and requirements for admittance into the Nova program. 7 → Nova Learning Objectives The course objectives as shown on page 6 are paired with learning objectives for the library orientation portion of the Nova course. 8 → Library Learning Objectives for Nova EKU Libraries developed their own set of detailed and specifjc learning objectives for the library orientation portion of the Nova course. 9 → Career Exploration Assignment Copy of actual assignment used in the library orientation portion of the Nova course. 10 → Pre-test and Post-test Assessment Signifjcant fjndings showing how students’ confjdence levels rose, how they learned about article citations and evaluation of information resources. 11 → From the Worksheet: Evaluating Quality of Resources and Ease of Use Refer to page 9 for the Career Exploration Assignment; numerical rankings of the four types of sources (book, database, Occupational Outlook Handbook, self-selected website) were ranked numerically by both quality of information and ease of use. The Occupational Outlook Handbook ranked highest in both categories. 12 → From the Career Exploration Assignment Refer to page 9 for the Career Exploration Assignment; students were to write not only about the information resources, but also about if their opinions about their careers had changed by exploring this topic. 13 → From the Follow-up Questionnaire, Spring 2005 Students’ confjdence levels were measured in terms of how confjdent they now felt about using library resources during the following semester. Strangers in a Strange Land 2 Linda Klein, EKU Libraries
Selected readings on the First Year Student and Libraries Association of College and Research Libraries. (2000). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.htm Boff, C. & Johnson, K. (2002). The library and first-year experience courses: A nationwide study. Reference Services Review 30 (4), 277-87. Survey of library components in first-year curricula. Brown, A. G., Weingart S., Johnson, J.R.J. & Dance, B. (2004). Librarians don’t bite: Assessing library orientation for freshmen. Reference Services Review 32 (4), 394-403. Using Bostick’s (1992) Library Anxiety Scale, Utah State University librarians learned that students’ “library anxiety” was reduced after library orientation sessions. Gardner, J. N. & Hardesty, L. (2004). The reform movement for the first year experience: What is the role of librarians? Library Issues 24 (5). Calls for librarians to play a significant leadership role in first-year movements. Harley, B., Dreger, M., & Knobloch, P. (2001). The postmodern condition: Students, the Web, and academic library services. Reference Services Review 29 (1), 23-32. Characterizes contemporary students as having a consumer mentality toward information, as not knowing or being interested in how knowledge is organized, and as having a fragmented approach toward knowledge. Leckie, G. J. (1996). Desperately seeking citations: Uncovering faculty assumptions about the undergraduate research process. Journal of Academic Librarianship 22 (3), 201-209. Discusses information-retrieval problems encountered by college students in a typical research assignment, and compares the faculty’s “expert researcher model” with undergraduates’ “novice researcher model.” Marcum, B. (in press). EKU Libraries and the Nova Program: Collaborating to bring information literacy to first year students. Southeastern Librarian . Strangers in a Strange Land 3 Linda Klein, EKU Libraries
Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education The information literate student: o determines the nature and extent of the information needed o accesses needed information effectively and efficiently o evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her own knowledge base and value system o individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose o understands many of the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally (Association for College and Research Libraries, 2000) The First Year student and the library Novice seekers of information o lack subject expertise o lack confidence in ability to do research o lack basic research skills Attitudes toward libraries and research o ATM mentality o do not understand infrastructure of knowledge o fragmentary approach to research (Leckie, 1996; Harley, Dreger & Knobloch, 2001) Strangers in a Strange Land 4 Linda Klein, EKU Libraries
Strangers in a Strange Land 5 Linda Klein, EKU Libraries
Eastern Kentucky University 2003-04 ► Main campus: Richmond KY; plus three main distance centers ► Comprehensive public university; FTE of 13,019 ► 168 degree programs, including large education, nursing and criminal justice programs ENROLLMENT ► 92%: Kentucky residents (total 120 counties) ► 60%: EKU Service Region (20 counties) ► 13%: 2 largely urban counties ► 19%: remaining 98 Kentucky counties ► 8%: other states/international DEMOGRAPHIC ► 61% with B-average or better (HS); 37% graduate within 6 years ► First Year, First Generation students: approx. 60% EKU students report that many of them: ► work off-campus ► do not participate in co-curricular activities ► spend a lot of time caring for dependents who live with them ► Retention from freshman to sophomore: 64.5% ECONOMICS Median income Unemployment rate US $41,994 5.80% Kentucky (State) $33,672 5.70% Eastern Kentucky (region) $24,859 8.60% EDUCATION Less than HS graduate Bachelor's Ninth grade or more or more US 7.50% 80.30% 24.40% Kentucky (State) 11.70% 74.10% 17.10% Eastern Kentucky (region) 21.91% 60.30% 9.70% (US Census and Kentucky State Data Center) Strangers in a Strange Land 6 Linda Klein, EKU Libraries
Recommend
More recommend
