MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN:

BLACKBOARD VISTA, INFORMATION LITERACY, AND COLLEGE FRESHMEN

KRISTIN JOHNSON, M.L.S.REFERENCE LIBRARIAN, NORTHEAST LAKEVIEW

COLLEGE

JULIE NICHOLS, M.L.S.LIBRARY INSTRUCTION

COORDINATOR, NORTHEAST LAKEVIEW

COLLEGE

CONTACT US:JNICHOLS32@ALAMO.EDU

KJOHNSON244@ALAMO.EDU210-486-5388

NORTHEAST LAKEVIEW COLLEGE

The newest of the Alamo Colleges, Northeast Lakeview College began offering classes in outreach centers in 1996 and became a fully operational college in 2007. It was set up to serve the varied residential areas of northeast Bexar County, Randolph AFB, and the expanding business community.

EnrollmentFall 2009: 5,197Spring 2010: 5,055Fall 2010: 5,686Spring 2011: 6,062

Dean 3 FT Librarians (2 inst. services, 1 tech services) 3 Adjunct Librarians (PT) 3.5 Staff Open 71.5 hours per week 142 instruction sessions taught in Fall 2009, reaching 3137

students 104 instruction sessions taught in Spring 2010, reaching

2410 students 162 instruction sessions taught

in Fall 2010, reaching 4220students

163 instruction sessions taught in Spring 2011, reaching

4078 students!

NLC Library – Who We Are

MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN: INFORMATION LITERACY AND FRESHMAN

ENGLISH

NLC Library

Why? Desire to formalize info lit

instruction into the core. Critical thinking included as outcome in many core courses.

Selected courses– English 1301/1302.

ACRL standards mapped to English learning outcomes.

English 1301: Freshman Composition I ◦ Training in reading and writing skills with emphasis

on critical thinking and evaluation. Course requires expository essays based on provocative and critical readings. Also emphasizes defining need by certain criteria like audience, purpose, etc.

English 1302: Freshman Composition II◦ Builds on learning outcomes of 1301 as a writing

intensive course. Introduction to research process with defining need, evaluating resources, accessing information, and ethical use of information by appropriate documentation and citation.

Why English?

English 1301◦ Degree requirement ◦ Introduction to using creditable research sources in argumentative/persuasive essays◦ #1 in terms of enrollment in Alamo Colleges

English 1302◦ Builds on this use of library sources in formal research◦ Used to evaluate the educational objectives specified by

the THECB in the formal research paper◦ Provides data that can be used for continuous

improvement◦ #5 in terms of enrollment in Alamo Colleges

Why English?

Largest demand for information literacy instruction in English. 50% or more of total requests in Fall, 60%+ in Spring.

ENGL 1301◦ Fall 2009 – 29 sections with 726 students◦ Spring 2010 – 25 sections with 593 students◦ Fall 2010 – 26 sections with 646 students◦ Spring 2011 – 26 sections with 644 students

Learning outcomes logical match to

information literacy standards

Why English?

Accessibleo Online formato Can take anywhere at any timeo Self-paced – ability to go back and forth

Assessmento Tests and quizzes - easy data creationo Grades sent to English professorso Commitment by Department to using post-assessment

score as a graded event in ENGL 1301 Base to build from

◦ Our ENGL 1301 instruction is comprised of BBV modules AND face-to-face instruction

o Face-to-face instruction sessions can assume knowledge base

o Time for knowledge base not taken from class

Why Blackboard Vista?

Research 101 – University of Washington TIP (Tutorial for Information Power) –

University of Wyoming SearchPath – University of Michigan

Open Source Tutorials Considered

Our course consists of◦ Begin Here module◦ Orientation quiz (course agreement)◦ 20-question pre-assessment◦ Six content modules

Basics Information Cycles Research Topics Searching Finding Evaluating

◦ Modules conclude with a 3-question quiz that must be completed before the next module is available

◦ 20-question post-assessment◦ Anonymous Student survey

Our BBV Modules

Modified contento Edited content for relevanceo Added specifics

Quizzes to move forwardo Demonstrate understandingo Demonstrate completion

Pre and Post assessmento Assess knowledge baseo Assess tutorial effectiveness

Module Contento Each module covers a separate research skillo Relevant to national Information Literacy standards and our

college English Department learning outcomes

Tutorial Creation

The module content and the assessment questions are mapped to ACRL’s Information Literacy Standards http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm

The Association of College and Research Libraries Information Literacy Standards defines an information literate individual as one who is able to:1. Determine the nature and extent of information needed2. Access needed information effectively and efficiently3. Evaluate information and its sources critically and

incorporates selected information into one’s knowledge base4. Understand the economic, legal, and social issues

surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally

5. Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose

ACRL IL Standards

We view ENGL 1301 AND ENGL 1302 as a complete entity and skill development is on a continuum

Our ENGL 1302 instruction consists of:◦ Two face-to-face library instruction sessions◦ Pre- and post-assessments given in the Library

using SynchronEyes, a classroom management system

◦ Competencies based on ACRL and department standards (established Student Learning Outcomes)

ENGLISH – The Big Picture

Don’t wait until the last minute! OK, so don’t procrastinate.

Better planning is highly recommended!

Problems & Solutions – US!!

Browser Compatibility• testing in different browsers• knowledge of coding problems in various browsers• knowledge of coding languages

Java Headaches• ensuring correct Java version is installed• using browser checks from BBV

Problems & Solutions - Technology

Delivery methods – initially, BBV self-registration by students caused confusion◦ Camtasia tutorials and Word/PDF documents with

screen shots created to help students with this process

New course creation – LIBR 0001 – linked to ENGL 1301

Beginning in Fall 2010, students who registered for ENGL 1301 were required to also register for LIBR 0001

This course now appears in a student’s “My Courses” in ACES (portal to student information) - no more self-registration

Problems & Solutions - Students

Student understanding of how to use Blackboard Vista◦ Camtasia tutorials and Word/PDF documents with screen

shots helped students learn how to navigate our course These tutorials were first included on a Library wiki

page http://nlclibrary.pbworks.com/ In Summer 2010, the “getting started in Research 101”

Camtasia video and text documents were imbedded in the BBV course

In Fall 2010, we began conducting 10-minute “how to” demos in each ENGL 1301 class.

Student access to the course now begins only AFTER these in-class demos

Problems & Solutions - Students

DIALOGUE!! Faculty Buy-In

◦ Relevance to department/faculty objectives◦ Emphasizing that modules do not take away from class

time Faculty comfort level with BBV technology

◦ Handouts and workshops for faculty◦ Spring 2010 - BBV assessment results emailed directly to

faculty How faculty use the results

◦ Students often ask: “Is there a grade for this?”◦ Surveys indicate most use this as a quiz grade, also used

as a participation or assignment grade DIALOGUE!!!

Problems & Solutions - Faculty

What our faculty said in response to: Do you feel your students benefited from using Research 101?

Students had fewer questions about research

Makes the library visit

more worthwhile

Qualified yes … those who read and

follow directions benefited

Fantastic

program

Lower research paper grades from those who

did not complete modules

Fall 2009 ENGL 1301: ◦ 6.61% increase in score on post test◦ 58% of completed students improved◦ 71% of enrolled students completed◦ Average scores: 70.55/77.16

Spring 2010 ENGL 1301:◦ 3.52% increase in score on post test◦ 54% of completed students improved◦ 66% of enrolled students completed◦ Average scores: 71.22/74.75

Interpreting Results Pre TestPost Test

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 951000

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0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 951000

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Fall 2010 ENGL 1301:◦ 5.65% increase in score on post test◦ 61% of completed students improved◦ 60% of enrolled students completed◦ Average scores: 72.06/77.70

Spring 2011 ENGL 1301: 6.00% increase in score on post test 60% of completed students improved 68% of enrolled students completed Average scores: 69.82/75.83

Interpreting Results Pre TestPost Test

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1000

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100

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 951000

102030405060708090

100

ENGL 1301 BBV year ata glance◦ Fall 2009- Spring 2011:

5.59% increase in scoreon post test

59% of completed studentsimproved

66% of enrolled studentscompleted

Average scores: 70.98/76.57

ENGL 1302 Fall 09 & Fall 10 semesters at a glance◦ Students who had taken BBV tutorials in previous semesters improved their

ENGL 1302 post assessment scores by 5.40% ◦ Students who did not take or complete the BBV tutorials in previous

semesters improved their ENGL 1302 post-assessment scores by 3.88%

Interpreting Results

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Interpreting ResultsQ2 Post/PreWhich of the following is the most effective way to use keywords and the connectors AND, OR, or NOT to find information about the topic, Immigration along the US border with Mexico?a. Immigration and illegal aliensb. Immigration and Mexicoc. Immigration or Mexicod. US border and Mexico

Distributions Test=Pre

2a 2b 2c 2d

Distributions Test=Post

2a 2b 2c 2d

Level Count Prob2a 42 0.094812b 174 0.392782c 5 0.011292d 222 0.50113Total 443 1.00000

Level Count Prob2a 64 0.121212b 203 0.384472c 7 0.013262d 254 0.48106Total 528 1.00000

Interpreting Results

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q

•ENGL 1302 Post Test Scores by Instructor

• Very different scores• Number of factors

•Potential problemso Not apples to apples comparison – number and content of questionso Factors beyond our control – ENGL faculty, grades attached, etc.o Each 1302 section can potentially have different librarian providing

instructiono Faculty buy-in – if they don’t use the assessment grades, students won’t

careo Still new – not a lot of data

Interpreting Results

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Instructor 1302

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE CONFLICTED – WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAID

It’s cool

…too long and time

consuming

Well put together

I give it 5 stars out

of 5

very informativ

e

I almost fell

asleep

I already knew most of this information

I learned something valuable

without even stepping into the library

… didn't like taking all

those quizzes

More visuals and pictures

Analyzing data … and RE-analyzing data◦ Assessment results◦ Survey responses from students and faculty

More dialogue with faculty about content and use of assessment

“Tweaking” the assessment questions:◦ Linking question results to English & Reading Department

student learning outcomes for SACS accreditation purposes

◦ Assessing current questions Adding more interactive features to the BBV

modules Expanding to other courses (need for more

librarians!)

What the Future Holds

QUESTIONS?