The Library and 1st year Science Students: Collaboration in Teaching Information Literacy
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The document summarizes Pavlinka Kovatcheva's presentation on information literacy training provided to first year science students at the University of Johannesburg in 2012. It describes orientation sessions, library tours, subject-specific training sessions, one-on-one consultations, online resources and tutorials provided to help students develop skills in finding and evaluating academic information. It also discusses collaborations with academic staff to integrate literacy instruction and assessments into coursework. Feedback was largely positive and recommendations were made to strengthen partnerships between librarians and faculty.
The Library and 1st year Science Students: Collaboration in Teaching Information Literacy
- 1. Pavlinka Kovatcheva, UJ Faculty Librarian: Sciences E-mail: pkovatcheva@uj.ac.za Presented at the UJ Faculty of Science First Year Academy 31 October 2012
- 2. Defining Information Literacy (IL) as applied to the academic environment: “It refers to skills that enable one to recognize when they need information to solve a problem, how they can formulate their search strategy and skills of being able to identify the correct sources of the relevant information they need from books, journals, on-line databases, indexes, etc., and conducting the search itself to yield useful information. Their ability to evaluate the documents/information they get. How to extract the information they need, make proper references.” (Baro & Keboh, 2012)
- 3. Library Orientation and Tours in the Library Group Subject specific information skills sessions One-to-one library trainings Help with Searches, Assignments, Lab reports and Research projects Online support with Subject guides (Portals) Online support via EduLink: Library Resources: Sciences Online tutorials (Subject portals; EduLink) Assessment methods: Test & Trainings feedback Use Social Networking for communicating and sharing information and resources with users
- 4. According to the literature: “ Subject-specific information literacy and its integration into curricula, especially in the sciences, benefit students” (Ferrer-Vinent & Carello, 2011) “ Collaboration between classroom faculty and librarians has been identified as a key element in the success of a library instruction program” (Ferrer-Vinent & Carello, 2008) “ Competency in science information literacy is an objective of most undergraduate biology programs” (Fuselier & Nelson, 2011)
- 5. Source
- 6. Library Information sessions as part of the UJ Faculty of Science Orientation APK Campus DFC Campus Date: 24/1/2012 Date: 30/1/2012 Number of students: ~ 650 Number of students: ~ 150 Power Point presentation Power Point presentation Introduction to the: Introduction to the: • APK Library facilities • DFC Library facilities • APK Library services • DFC Library services • Library Resources (print & • Library Resources (print & online) online) • Sciences Subject Portals & • Sciences Subject Portals & Social Networking Social Networking
- 7. Library Tours as part of the UJ Faculty of Science Orientation: APK Campus DFC Campus Dates: 25/1/12 & 26/1/12 Date: 2/2/12 Groups: 11 Groups: 5 Number of students: ~ 300 Number of students: ~ 90 Assistants: Faculty & Library staff Assistants: Library staff Print-out: Sciences brochure Print-out: Sciences brochure The APK Library Tour included: The DFC Library Tour included: • Library security; Information Point; • Library security; Information Point; Lending Desk & Books on Reserve; Circulation Desk & Books on Reserve; Computers; Printers & Photocopies; Computers; Printers & Photocopies; Open Shelves Book Collections Open Shelves Book Collections; (Sciences, Level 3); Journal Journal Collections; ILL & ICL; Collections; ILL & ICL; Reference Reference Collection; Audio-Visual Collection; Sciences Librarian desk Collection; Sciences Librarian desk
- 9. Comments: The 2012 Library Orientation was better presented to the 1st year students than past years It weight more the value of the library, if it is in a slot after the UJ Faculty of Science Dean’s speech… Thus, it shows student the recognition of the library as an important component in their studies Better opportunity for the Librarian to meet with higher number of students, compared to the small groups before EduLink trainings(as in past years) The Library tours helped students to get to know more about the library, available facilities, services and resources.
- 10. Practical Report writing, Plagiarism and the use of Library Resources
- 11. Discussion with the lecturers to find a way to incorporate the library instruction during the Biology 1A course in the 1st semester of 2012 Purpose: - For students to be able to develop library research skill in finding and applying information for their Lab report. - To learn how to avoid plagiarism by citing and referencing in the correct method
- 12. Library Training Sessions; Feedback & Assessments Class list (133 students) Writing Scientific report: Part 1 Writing Scientific report: Part 2 Finding & Accessing information Plagiarism, Citing & Referencing 2 Groups: 15/2 & 16/2 2 Groups: 20/2 & 21/2 Time slot: 1 hour for each group Time slot: 1 hour for each group Venue: Labs Venue: Labs Number of students attended: ~120 Number of students attended: ~110 Training content: Steps in Online Training content: What is Plagiarism & Searching; Library Resources for Copyright; How to avoid Plagiarism by Biology; How to write a report; Article citing and referencing; Practical examples structure; Databases for e-books & of citing techniques; how to reference a journals; EduLink access to resources book; journal article; Internet resource EduLink : Library Resources; Both Assessment test after the sessions: To presentations; Mastering Biology Online reference correctly a book & article access Incorporate library questions in the Questionnaire feedback for all the Practical1 test training sessions
- 15. Some of the feedback from Biology 1 students. They found the training sessions: Informative and helpful; Need more practice; The librarian was good and she met all our expectations; Pavlinka was perfect The training really helped, because now I know how to reference a book and also how to search for article and books online I wish I knew all this earlier. After I saw these presentations everything was easier The information provided was good and helped with the practical and now we understand the concept of plagiarism
- 17. Training sessions were requested by the Academy of Computer Science & Software Engineering. Students were given an assignment to find 2 articles and answer the research question Informatics 1B: Library training “How to find Information for your Research project” Training sessions: 31/7/12 & 2/9/12 (2 sessions) Time slot: 1 hour each Venue: Lecture Halls Training content: How to access library resources (Subject Portal; EduLink); How to Search for print & Online books; How to search for journals; How to search the Databases for articles; Citing & Referencing Comments: There was no formal assessment or feedback
- 19. The Statistics 1B students had no formal library training. The lecturer requested that I’m available for students to meet and help. +- 80 students First 2 weeks in October 2012 2 Assignment topics: - Find the name of the Science librarian @ APK; which floor are the statistics books; the Classification number range - To find a scientific article on a topic (hypothesis testing).
- 20. •Library presence at the Virtual Learning Environment: EduLink •EduLink Statistics
- 28. Discussed at the UJ Faculty of Science Teaching and Learning meeting and the Deans’ Committee meeting to present the workshop to Sciences First Years The only classes where we reach all our students will be in the Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Computer Science. An hour of lecturer’s time, where the Faculty librarian: Sciences & Copyright officer will do training sessions. This is a credit bearing and the students will complete an Edulink test after the sessions. (Melanie Jacobs, Faculty of Science)
- 29. The trainings took place in the first 2 weeks of October 2012 With my colleague Thapelo Mashishi, UJ Copyright Officer we trained 12 classes – 804 students Both APK & DFC Campuses 1st year Science students Power Point Presentation that covers: - What is Plagiarism & Copyright - How to avoid Plagiarism by Citing & Referencing - 4 videos were played to enhance the presentation and to provide visual explanation
- 30. Created on EduLink test- 30 questions, which students needed to complete and have a minimum of 50% to pass the course, by 31st October. The questions were equally distributed to cover all the training material The Presentation and additional Plagiarism Resources were added to EduLink Link to the UJ Sciences Librarian Plagiarism Portal is available to students to watch relevant videos and practice their knowledge.
- 32. 780 registered students for the CSIT02 course 436 completed the Plagiarism test by 30/10 111 100 97 93 90 87 82 83 80 77 73 70 67 64 Pass % Students 48 21 16 16 2 1
- 33. Most of the students who completed the test, answer correctly between 25 and 29 questions Grade Value 35 30 25 20 Grade Value 15 10 5 0 100 111 122 133 144 155 166 177 188 199 210 221 232 243 254 265 276 287 298 309 320 331 342 353 364 375 386 397 408 419 430 1 12 23 34 45 56 67 78 89
- 36. Way forward and recommendations: Close collaboration and partnership between the Faculty and the Sciences Librarians Need to look at all possible ways to improve the teaching of IL skills for undergraduates To adapt 1st year Orientation to more practical and efficient training and assessment To work closely with lecturer and implement IL into the subject instructions, such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, etc. To provide throughout the year training courses based on need analysis
- 37. Baro, E.E. & Keboh, T. 2012. Teaching and Fostering Information Literacy Programmes: A Survey of Five University Libraries in Africa. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 38(5):311-315 Ferrer-Vinent, I.J. & Carello, C.A. 2011. The Lasting Value of an Embedded, First-Year Biology Library Instruction Program. Science & Technology Libraries, 30:254-266. Ferrer-Vinent, I.J. & Carello, C.A. 2008. Embedded Library Instruction in a First-Year Biology Laboratory Course. Science & Technology Libraries, 28(4):325-351 Fuselier, L. & Nelson, B. 2011. A Test of the Efficiency of an Information Literacy Lesson in an Introductory Biology Laboratory Course with a strong Science- Writing Component. Science & Technology Libraries, 30:58-75