What do you want to see? Assessing students’ skills

+

What do you want to see? Assessing students’ skillsPh.D. candidateYusuke Ishimura

+

GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

2

Connection to This Class

Students’ research process

in a real environment

Very personal, messy process

How? Why?

What IL skills?

Complete picture of

the research process

Implications for librarians


3+Research Questions

What are Japanese students’ information

behaviours during their research tasks as

compared to Canadian students?

• What factors (e.g., personal, social, and linguistic) are

involved in information behaviour during the research

task?

• What are their actual behaviours in relation to

information literacy standards?

• What differences and similarities in behaviour exist

between the two groups of students?

+


4

Conceptual Framework

Information literacy standards(Quality oriented)

Information needs

Information seeking

Information use

Information behaviour model (Process oriented)

Corresponds with

Outcomes Outcomes Outcomes

Potentialeffects

Users’ context- Cultural- Educational- Linguistic- Personal- Psychological- Social


5+Data Collection

Interviews• Reveal context of behaviour

Portfolios• Collect evidence

Flowcharts• Visualisation of entire process

Yusuke Fitzgibbons

What kind of evidence?

+


6

Data Collection Timeline

Assignment schedule

Portfolio(Ongoing)

Interviews

Flowchart

Analysis

1st interview- Guidance for the study- Past experience

2nd interview- Contemporary experience- Reflection on meaning

EndStart

Start Assignment submission

Making flowchart

Full analysis starts

Portfolio analysis


Gender Selected paper discipline Length of stay

Japanese

Female Psychology 5 years

Male Economics 6 months

Female Political Science 5 years

Female Marketing 6 months

Female Religious Studies 6 months

Canadian

Female Education -

Female English literature -

Male History -

Female History -

Male History -

Female Political Science -

Female Linguistics -

Female Political Science -

Male History -

+


8

Sample Flowchart

+


9

Information Behaviour & Literacy

Information needs

Information

seeking

Information use

Feedback

Low

IL

skill

s

Information needs

Information

seeking

Information use

Feedback

Hig

h IL

skill

s


10+Finding Focus

Starting points• Class topics• Previous knowledge• Personal interests

Process characteristics• Often vague• Start with brainstorming• Information availability is key

Action• Searching catalogues• Searching databases• Searching Google• Searching Wikipedia• Talking with instructors

Yusuke Fitzgibbons

I guess you'll explain this, but what do you mean by "characteristics"?


11+Starting Points: Quote

“I picked that one [out of 15 topics provided by the

professor] because Diefenbaker and Eisenhower are both

very long names. If I write a paper that uses those names

a lot, it makes [my paper] longer.” [P20]


12+Characteristics: Quote

I think I'm thinking more in terms of keywords than anything

else, not in

full sentences, at least not at first.

For example, thinking of things like:• historiography of conservation

• Utah

• John Muir

• Parrots (Southern USA)

[P12]


13+Action: Quote

“To start my research, I went to Wikipedia to get a general

overview and see what kinds of references they used. On the

Wikipedia webpage for 'preventive diplomacy' it lists the UN

mission to Macedonia as a notable example of successful

preventive diplomacy.” [P16]


14+Action: Quote

“Yeah. The best strategy, I've always found, is to find 1 book, at

least. Papers are really good, they're various focused and

everything, but if you have 1 book that something to do with

your topic, it gives you this big background . . . I just read it

really quickly because I can sort of you can skip through

something or skim really, really quickly through some parts…

Yeah, just read the big bulk of it and from there, that gives you all

the issues or things you are looking for. And theoretically, it

would give you the articles where he [the author] went to. If it’s a

good book, it will mention the other people who talked about it

and like the other rival scholars or something.” [P10]


15+Locating Information

Searching library catalogue• Single/multiple/changing keywords• Browsing by LCSH

Searching journal databases• Single/multiple databases• Single/multiple/changing keywords• Advanced search options

Browsing shelves

Searching Google (including Scholar & Books)

Citation chaining

+


16

Sample Search


17+Reasons: Quote

[Y] It’s interesting you’re searching for subject headings. Where did you learn this kind of stuff?

[P10] I was on the classic catalogue and I saw “subject begins with.” I clicked on it. It makes a lot of sense.

[Y] I see. You just noticed the option is there. And then OK, like what this function is. And just try it?

[P10] Yeah.

[Y] And then you realize.

[P10] Also like from there, I, that’s sort of, that’s in my mind and I tried that a few times, like Poland history. Like OK. So there’s the Poland history page. Then later, I see a book and noticed a LC subject like Poland socialism and something else, I cannot remember what found this one. And then it would be like, oh click on that and go to the subject I was looking at. This was great and this is nice. [Y] I am just wondering are you familiar with LC subjects, what a LC subject is?

[P10] I have no idea.


18+Reasons: Quote

[P13] Yes. Thank you. I learned a bit about Boolean, I’m not very versed in Boolean, but I learned it in high school.

[Y] OK. So at least you learned how to search.

[P13] It was a bit more advanced training, it was a good high school, I guess. I know that a lot of people have to learn that a lot in a university, but I didn't take any of courses specifically.

[Y] I see. When you came to McGill, did you look at all the online tutorials to learn how to search?

[P13] I was worried about my research skills being bad and I took 1 and they again told me about Boolean and then they also explained McGill's facilities. It was like a "welcome to the library" thing. We have online journals, here's how to access online journals, and we can go through departmental studies if you want. Here's Canadian history and here's a list of journals and then you search multi-journals. I think that's valuable...and I think I was lazy in my past research in that I typically go straight to JSTOR if I am in history or English. Just go straight to JSTOR but I know that doesn't have access to everything. And recently I've been kind of been falling on a crutch of using Google Scholar a little much. It's getting better for something.

19+Information Selection

Relevance to students’ paper content

Content quality

Content coverage

Looking at book elements• Title• Table of contents• Index

Looking at content of journal articles• Title• Abstract• Main text• Citation count



20+Information Extraction/Organisation

Highlighting

Using sticky notes as markers• Colour coding by themes/topics• Specific kinds of sticky notes

Typing notes• Summarising• Paraphrasing• Copying

Making digital notes


21+Writing Process

Writing paper based on outline

Writing paper section by section

Filling in information based on own ideas


22+Writing Process: Quote

[Y] I see. I kind of feel you have specific ideas in your head, but you don’t know where you want to put it in. [P18] Yeah, Yeah. [Y] At least you know what you want to use. Just put information and then at later stage, print out and think about flow and structure? [P18] Yeah, because like I was staring the computer screen for so long, sometimes it's so hard, and scrolling and just all looks the same. So to have it on paper I find, you know, OK I don’t need any of this... so then if I have the sheets laid out--well, like this paragraph on page 8 and then like this paragraph on page 2, so like they need go together. So I can see that better when it’s laid out. And sometimes not for this paper but sometimes I have really in trouble do like highlighting and color code organization, but this was, I didn’t find this like super hard to kind of put together because I kind of all along kind of knew the things I was gonna talk about. So it’s just like you know, I wanna like a logical order. So.


23+Factors Affecting Research Process

Trial & error

Motivation toward research

Serendipity (or by chance)

Past learning experience• High school• Past classes/assignments at McGill

Time management skills

Librarians(?)

+


24

Time allocation

Information needs

Information seeking

Information use

Information needs

Information seeking

Information use

Hig

h IL

skill

sLo

w IL

skill

s


25+Findings (so far)

Process and IL skills are not isolated• Seeking information versus using information

Students shows certain levels of IL skills

If certain approaches work…• Students don’t change until the approach fails

Librarians’ presence rarely seen


26

+

What are your questions?

Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

What do you want to see? Assessing students’ skills

Education

Transcript of What do you want to see? Assessing students’ skills