Post on 16-May-2015
description
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Library Research Skills and New College Students
Richard Eissinger
Southern Utah University
Today’s Entering College Student
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CIRP Freshman Survey*
HS grade inflation: 1966-2004 A- or higher: 20% to 48% C+ or lower: 22% to 5%
HS student – frequently felt bored in class 1985: 29% > 2004: 43%
Studying 6+ hours per week 1987: 47% > 2004: 34%
Faculty perspectives on student preparedness 45% agree that most students they teach lack
the basic skills for college level work* http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/freshman.html
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CIRP Freshman Survey*
* http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/freshman.html
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An ever-increasing proportion of high school students in the US today aspire to college.
Percentage of college students receiving bachelor’s degrees has remained relatively constant over the past 25 years.
It now takes on average 5 years to get a 4-year college degree.
Between 30%-60% of students now require remedial education on entry to college, depending on the type of institution they attend.
Average public undergraduate education = $12,000/yr
David T. Conley. College knowledge : what it really takes for students to succeed and what we can do to get them ready. 2005.
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First Year Experience*
Increased freshman retention National average: 63-70% SUU: before FYE 51% - after FYE 59%
58.9% report increased persistence to sophomore year 58.4% report improved student connections with peers 51.2% report increased use of campus services 50.6% report increased student satisfaction with the institution 45.0% report increased out-of-class faculty/student interaction 41.6% report increased level of student participation in student
activities 36.0% report increased academic abilities 31.1% report increased student satisfaction with faculty 26.7% report improved grade-point-averages 18.3% report increased persistence to graduation
* http://www.sc.edu/fye/index.html
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New Students: The Millennials
Echo boomers, net generation, gamers Most ethnically diverse generation in US history Tend to be visual learners, get bored quickly (lectures) Hold a positive view of technology It’s been suggested that these students are often
overconfident because they equate their technology savvy with information literacy.
OCLC white paper on information habits of college students found that 80% of undergrads use Web search engines for all or most assignments, while only half used the library’s subscription-based resources.*
* http://www.oclc.org/research/announcements/2002-06-24.htm
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Millennial Searching Habits
Many high school teachers endorse the internet as a good research resource.
Tend to find information in a chaotic fashion, focusing on speed and convenience.
Show little evidence of coherent search strategies. Easily accessible information enables students to stop
at the first answer they find. They expect the research process to be easy – like
Google. Email still a fixture in teens’ lives, but IM is preferred. Size of wired population surges at the 7th grade mark They may be whizzes on communication devices, but
their communication skills – both in writing and in person – have a long way to go.
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Beloit College Mindset List*
Gas has always been unleaded. What Berlin wall? They never “rolled down” a car window. They don't remember when "cut and paste" involved
scissors. Libraries have always been the best centers for
computer technology and access to good software. Digital cameras have always existed. They’ve grown up with bottled water. They learned about JFK from Oliver Stone and
Malcolm X from Spike Lee.
* http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset
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High School to College Transition
The best predictors of whether a student will graduate or not are academic preparation and motivation.
High schools focus on making students college-eligible – to meet admissions requirements. They may or may not be college-ready.
Many students enter college with poor time management, study skills, and research skills.
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High School / College Differences
Change from a teacher-directed to a student-directed environment.
High school teachers often spend considerable time attempting to motivate students to learn.
Experience culture shock when they enter learning environments that different from their past experiences.
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High School / College Differences
Instructors do not always collect homework Fewer tests Professors are trained experts in their field & not in
teaching methods Extra credit usually not available Students are expected to synthesize concepts between
textbooks, class readings, and the real world College classes larger, longer, don't meet every day More writing required in college More academic freedom
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High School / College Differences
High school is more textbook focused; college more lecture focused
In high school the parent is held responsible; in college student is held responsible for actions (FERPA)
In high school the school creates social, cultural activities to enhance students’ education; in college student must seek out social interactions
High school students can remain in school despite poor academic performance; they can be dropped in college.
Added concerns:
Increased numbers of high school graduates through 2015
Decreasing numbers of school librarians Students reading less Students have limited library research skills Students not adept at using the Web The myth of multitasking
The Next Generations of College Students
Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates by State and Race/Ethnicity, 1992 to 2022. http://www.wiche.edu/
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Percent change in graduates from high schoolsBetween 2004-5 and 2014-15
ALA/AASL: For Immediate Release, April 21, 2008
Mesa, Ariz., public schools' has announced the decision to remove teacher-librarians from 87 schools. School library media specialists and advocates of school libraries across the country are joining together to decry the elimination of every teacher-librarian over a three-year period. The Mesa public school system is the largest in the state, with almost 74,000 students.
The positions were eliminated primarily because of a deficit of more than $20 million—caused by declining student enrollment and a state budget deficit of $1.2 billion.
The Next Generations of College Students
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Web 2.0
anonymous authors public editing
iSkills – Educational Testing Service
2% students could judge web site's objectivity 65% could judge authoritativeness 40% correctly used multiple search terms 44% could identify statement that stated
demands of an assignment
ETS, http://www.ets.org, iSkills
Research: the Student View
1. Locate information using Google
2. Take the first search results
3. Print out EVERYTHING
4. Put your name on it
5. Done
If it's on the Internet, it must be true.
If it's on the Internet, it's public information and free for us to copy.
The Next Generations of College Students
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“The Google generation is a myth according to a new report by the British Library - just because kids grow up using the Internet doesn't mean they're adept at using the Web. Although young people demonstrate an ease and familiarity with computers, they rely on the most basic search tools and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to assess the information that they find on the web.”
Information Behavior of the Researcher of the Future.
January 11, 2008. Report by British Library.http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/reppres/gg_final_keynote_11012008.pdf
The Next Generations of College Students
To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence.
Americans are spending less time reading. Reading comprehension skills are eroding. These declines have serious civic, social, cultural and
economic implications
2007. National Endowment for the Arts. http://www.nea.gov
The Next Generations of College Students
The Myth of Multitasking
Walter, Kim. (Nov. 2007).
The Autumn of the multitaskers.
Atlantic Monthly, 300(4), 66-80. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200711/multitasking
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Freshman Library Research Skills
Freshmen research problems
Lots of experience with computers; little with academic research
Little experience with library hard copy Difficulty determining academic value of
information they find Understanding of bias is limited Skill at tracking down original source is lacking Many don’t know what they don’t know
Information Literacy
Information Literacy in Utah Colleges
GE credit courses: DSC, SUU, WSU Pass a competency exam: USU Integrated with English composition: UofU,
BYU, UVSC
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LM1010
SUU Information LiteracyLM 1010
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Skills Survey > Test-Out Exam
0.010.020.030.040.050.060.070.080.090.0
100.0
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Skills > Test-Out > Final
0.010.020.030.040.050.060.070.080.090.0
100.0
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Boolean Searching
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Fr So Ju Sr Average
Class Standing
Perc
en
t C
orr
ect
Pre-test
Post-test
Boolean searching by class
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Scholarly vs. Popular
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
120.0%
Fr So Ju Sr Average
Class Standing
Per
cen
t C
orr
ect
Pre-test
Post-test
Scholarly vs popular by class
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Learning outcomes
Learning Outcomes
100.0%
91.3%
60.9%
89.9%
76.8%
90.4%
85.9%
32.6%
85.2%
46.7%
Understand ethical and legal use of information.
Evaluate relevance of information.
Develop successful information search strategies.
Locate materials in the library.
Identify appropriate information sources.
Post-test Pre-test
Information Literacy Tutorials
ACRL – PRIMOhttp://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/is/iscommittees/webpages/emergingtech/primo/index.cfm
CLUEhttp://clue.library.wisc.edu/
Internet Navigatorhttp://www-navigator.utah.edu/
Marriott Library - Instruction Tutorialshttp://www.lib.utah.edu/instruction/tutorials.html
Research 101http://www.lib.washington.edu/uwill/research101/
TILThttp://tilt.lib.utsystem.edu/nf/intro/internet.htm
Research Skills and New Freshmen
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Library anxiety
New college students indicate that they are not comfortable with library research
Size of library is intimidating Lack of knowledge about terminology and
locating items Don’t know how or where to begin Libraries in different buildings Dewey vs. LC – numbers are subjects and a
classification system
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Library Phobias *
*Research Strategy: Overcoming Library Phobias. BYU. 1993.
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Overcoming library phobias
Visit local university libraries and develop a relationship with a local university librarian
Teach searching a university OPAC Online chat Libraries are frequently the only place to go
after 5 pm to get answers Ask a librarian!
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Searching skills
Dewey decimal vs LC Boolean searching Look for the help page Databases operate in similar ways Reading an index Using a table of contents or index (chapters in
an OPAC)
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Searching skills – Boolean, etc.
Boolean terms – and, or, not Truncation and wildcards OPAC vs online resources – understanding
difference between electronic record and full text
Selecting an index – where to begin Subject headings vs keywords
subject headings usable across databases especially good in subject indexes
Searching skills
Google advanced search site:.gov + and – “open source” or open-source
Search engine ranking jux 2 Meta Search Engine
http://www.jux2.com/ Thumbshots.com Ranking
http://ranking.thumbshots.com/
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Searching skills - keywords
Your results are only as good as the keywords you use
Brainstorm using a thesaurus (Tools in Word) Note how often their keywords show after
searching (Edit/Find in Word) Use multiple keywords Correct spelling is important
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Locating sources
Abstracts vs citation colleges have abstract and citation databases
available some try to use abstracts as the full text don’t understand what a citation is
Microfilm, microfiche – colleges have variety of formats available
Full text Bound periodicals Interlibrary loan – usually within school districts;
colleges have ILL
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Scholarly sources
Understand academic journals vs. magazines Peer-reviewed, refereed, scholarly, academic Scholarly research
Start them in high school to understand these distinctions (e.g., in Utah MasterFILE Premier is used as the high school default database)
Open-Access Journals
DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journalshttp://www.doaj.org
PLoS – Public Library of Sciencehttp://www.plos.org/
BioMed Centralhttp://www.biomedcentral.com/
Open J-Gatehttp://www.openj-gate.com/ s
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Evaluating sources
MLA authority, accuracy/verifiability, currency
Source / authority Purpose Content / coverage Currency Bias Why evaluate?
Students will need to defend their information choices to their professors
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Citing sources
Style guides don’t know about the different styles and
formats by discipline Plagiarism
Most students have not been taught the skills of paraphrasing, quoting and summarizing
Citation machines ProQuest, Questia Citation Machine, EasyBib, NoodleTools,
RapidCite
Citing sources
Citation help Research & Documentation Online. Diana Hacker
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/hacker/resdoc Zotero Firefox Add-on
http://www.zotero.org
Citing sources
Ethics - Plagiarism Prevention ACRL - Plagiarism and cyber-plagiarism:
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2003/june4/plagiarismcyberplagiarism.cfm
Plagiarism Prevention and Detection Resources and Software: http://www.erie.psu.edu/academic/lrc/ethos/index/Plagiarism.htm
Read-write-think: http://www.readwritethink.org/ Turnitin: http://plagiarism.org
Assessment
Information Literacy tutorials TRAILS: http://www.trails9.org/index.php?
page=home
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Notetaking
Systematic notetaking leads to good research RefWorks, EndNote, Reference Manager Cornell method, outlining, graphic organizers
Cornell Notetaking, Dartmouthhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/notes.html
Cornell Notetaking System, BYUhttp://ccc.byu.edu/learning/note-tak.php
Microsoft OneNote
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Microsoft OneNote
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Conclusions
Discuss how their skills are transferable Prepare them for the size of college libraries Help your students see librarians are their
best resource
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