Recent articles: Learning outcomes in science course; Information use after graduating; Biology students' strategies and perceptions

Articles in the last 2 issues of the open access journal Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship include:
Gainey, M. et al. (2019) The Evolution of Information Literacy Learning Outcomes in Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Science Courses. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, (93). https://doi.org/10.29173/istl21 "We collaborated with faculty at [institution name] to create [ACRL] Framework-inspired information literacy learning objectives for first-year and third-year science undergraduates and are continuously refining the objectives as the curriculum continues to evolve. This article describes our learning objective design and refinement process, challenges encountered, and ideas on how to create opportunities for embedding information literacy into a curriculum. We also share our full activity lesson plans and assessment tool."

Williams, B., Harvey, B., & Kierkus, C. (2019). Health Information Use After Graduation. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, (93). https://doi.org/10.29173/istl20 "This study aimed to determine which information resources Grand Valley State University (GVSU) alumni from four health science programs utilize in clinical practice. It also explored alumni opinions of their educational experiences at GVSU in relation to information literacy and library resources. A survey was administered to alumni who had graduated with a degree in athletic training, nursing, physical therapy, or physician assistant studies. We received 451 valid responses (12.8% response rate). The survey focused on specific resources used in the professional workplace, GVSU preparation for information literacy in the workplace, alumni confidence in information literacy skills, and additional preparation that could have been helpful after graduation. Survey responses are reported by discipline and degree earned."

Lantz, C., & Dempsey, P. R. (2019). Information Literacy Strategies Used by Second- and Third-Year Biology Students. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, (92). https://doi.org/10.29173/istl13 "Results from focus groups with 23 second- and third-year biology students revealed gradual gains in information literacy (IL) abilities and dispositions needed for them to join the community of scientific practice as laid out in the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Students were consumers of information and not yet producers of information. They interacted often with primary research articles but struggled to use research tools effectively; remembered active learning vividly; and relied on video resources, Google, and discussions with peers and instructors to define terms and understand results. "

Jankowski, A., & Sawyer, Y. E. (2019). Biology Student Perceptions of Information Literacy Instruction in the Context of an Essential Skills Workshop Series. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, (92). https://doi.org/10.29173/istl10 "The University Libraries at the University of New Mexico reconfigured their established library instruction program for biology as part of a broader grant-funded essential skills workshop series for STEM students. This initiative standardized supplementary instruction through seven in-person and online workshops delivered to students through the Biology Department’s four core undergraduate laboratory courses. Post-workshop feedback data were gathered from students throughout the two-year grant period. The present study analyzes this data set—including 3,797 completed student surveys from both library and non-library workshops over the course of four semesters—with the goal of understanding STEM student perceptions of the value of information literacy skills as compared to the general and disciplinary value of other essential intellectual and practical skills. The findings suggest that undergraduate biology students generally perceive information literacy to be among the most valuable and relevant skills introduced through the workshop series. The results have the potential to inform information literacy instruction practices and collaborative efforts with broader essential skills education programs."
Photo by Sheila Webber: The Mall, London, January 2020

Recent articles: first year students; self-efficacy; enhancing information literacy; lifelong learning

The latest issues (volume 43, no. 5 and no. 6) of The Journal of Academic Librarianship (priced publication) include (from issue 6):
- Enhancing Information Literacy Using Bernard Lonergan's Generalized Empirical Method: A Three-year Case Study in a First Year Biology Course (Pages 495-508) by Lisa Rose-Wiles, Marian Glenn, Doreen Stiskal
- Evaluation of an Embedded Program Through the Embedded Ecosystem Framework and Toolkit (Pages 532-539) by Kim Mears, Maryśka Connolly-Brown, Julie K. Gaines, Lindsay Blake, Kathy Davies, Peter Shipman, Gail Kouame
- An Academic Librarian's Search for Meaning: A Survey of Lifelong Learning in Library Literature (Pages 540-547) by Megan Hayes Mahoney
Contents page at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00991333/43/6

From issue 5:
- The Out Loud Assignment: Articulating Library Contributions to First-year Student Success (Pages 409-416) by Elizabeth L. Black, Sarah Anne Murphy
- Imposed-inquiry Information-seeking Self-efficacy and Performance of College Students: A Review of the Literature (Pages 417-422) by Melissa Clark
- Factors Influencing Information Literacy Competency of College Students (Pages 443-450) by Scott Lanning, Jill Mallek
Contents page at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00991333/43/5
Photo by Sheila Webber: Inside the piano, Sheffield Crucible, January 2018

Using #wikipedia article writing for assessments and exercises in law, biology and more

A few articles on this theme: Firstly a short article in a university newsletter
Byatnal, A. (2016, March 22). Cornell takes big red pen to Wikipedia life sciences content. Cornell Chronicle. http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/03/cornell-takes-big-red-pen-wikipedia-life-sciences-content This describes how Ashley Downs, food and agriculture librarian at Mann Library, Cornell University, and Kelee Pacion, undergraduate life sciences librarian, organised a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon for biology undergraduates as part of a biology class taught with faculty member Mark Sarvary. "The goal of the course, Sarvary said, is to use Wikipedia as a learning tool to develop stronger critical thinking and information literacy skills."

Bilansky, A. (2016) Using Wikipedia to Teach Audience, Genre and Collaboration. Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, 16 (2). Preprint https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/88338
"This essay describes a sequence of assignments to guide students though an informed effort at making contributions to Wikipedia that persist, and suggests ways this set of exercises in social informatics may also serve a number of common goals in a variety of writing, literature, and other courses: analyzing and writing for explicit editorial guidelines (“standards” in information science; “house style” in editorial practice); understanding, conforming to, and even negotiating conventions of genres and subgenres; collaborating online; writing for an audience that is not only real but talks back; and developing deep understanding of revision and the writing, editorial, and publication processes. Students first learn Wikipedia policies and practices and analyze the historical development of articles before they make contributions. The pedagogical opportunities arguably outweigh the concerns of those who doubt the credibility of an open-authored encyclopedia."

Kleefeld, J. C. and Rattray, K. (2016) Write a Wikipedia Article for Law School Credit — Really? Journal of Legal Education, 65, 597- Open access version at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2729241
"Most law school assignments are produced and consumed in a dyadic relationship of student-writer and instructor-reader. But consider a different scenario, one in which the fate of the work is presumptive publication to the world; in which feedback from any interested reader is potentially instantaneous; in which the instructor’s role is that of coach or mentor through the writing and publishing process as well as assessor of the work; and in which the student’s work, in turn, contributes to providing worldwide access to free legal information. The world we are talking about is that of writing or editing Wikipedia articles for law school credit. In this Article, we describe that world and the small part we played in it as law professor and law student in editing a Wikipedia article as an optional component of an upper-year Canadian law school course."

Di Lauro, F. and Johinke, R. (2016). Employing Wikipedia for good not evil: innovative approaches to collaborative writing assessment. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. (Priced, early publication) http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02602938.2015.1127322
"Wikipedia is an open educational resource that connects writers and editors to diverse discourse communities around the world. Unwarranted stigma is attached to the use of Wikipedia in higher education due to fears that students will not pursue rigorous research practices because of the easy access to information that Wikipedia facilitates. In studies referred to in this paper, undergraduate writing students are taught about the need to interrogate any information they find on Wikipedia just as they would other online source material. They are inducted into fact checking, editing and creating Wikipedia articles as a means to analyse source material critically and to advance their research, writing and digital literacy. Meanwhile, in a postgraduate course in magazine studies, instead of writing essays, students are promoting Australian magazines and print culture by writing Wikipedia entries about Antipodean magazines and their editors. These courses experiment with new approaches to formative and summative assessment; promote group research, collaborative and participatory writing, writing across networks and negotiating discourse communities; and challenge students’ perceptions about peer review and the legitimacy of Wikipedia."

Finally, a bonus research study about students' Wikipedia use
Selwyn, N. and Gorard, S. (2016) Students' use of Wikipedia as an academic resource — Patterns of use and perceptions of usefulness. The Internet and Higher Education, 28, 28–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2015.08.004 (Priced article) "Draws on survey data examining 1658 undergraduate students' uses of digital technologies for academic purposes; 87.5% of students report using Wikipedia for their academic work, with 24.0% of these considering it ‘very useful’; Use and perceived usefulness of Wikipedia differs by students’ gender; year of study; cultural background and subject studied; Wikipedia mainly plays an introductory and/or clarificatory role in students information gathering and research." Open access version, embargoed til March 2017 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/16387/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Donnie, Lady Dinah's cat cafe, March 2016

New issue of Liber Quarterly: one-shots, data literacies

The latest issue (volume 24 no. 3) of Liber Quarterly (the Open Access journal of the Association of European Research Libraries) has 2 articles:
- Just in case, just in time, or just don't bother? Assessment of one-shot library instruction with follow-up workshops by Hilde Terese Daland
- Developing data literacy competencies to enhance faculty collaborations by Don MacMillan
http://liber.library.uu.nl/index.php/lq/issue/view/565
Photo by Sheila Webber: fog in Sheffield, photoshopped, February 2015

New articles in: International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education

This open access journal has a new issue, including:
- Yager, Z., Salisbury, F., and Kirkman, L. (2013) "Assessment of information literacy skills among first year students." The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 4(1). 59-71. The authors are from La Trobe University, Australia "The development of research and information literacy skills in first year students is essential, but challenging. Approaches to developing these skills that are embedded within subject design, and use a blended approach between online and face-to-face delivery are considered best practice in this area. However research has yet to identify the most appropriate form of assessment of these skills. We used constructive alignment to embed research skills in a first year subject. Students were assessed on their research skills using a diagnostic online quiz in week one, and then in week six, their application of their skills in their assignment was assessed using a rubric. We created a matched sample of the results on these two forms of assessment that included 227 students. Our main aim was to determine whether there was a relationship between quiz and rubric scores, and to assess the practical relevance of the quiz in terms of identifying students who might be in need of additional support. We found a small, but significant, positive correlation between quiz and rubric results and conclude that both the quiz and the rubric are useful forms of assessment, and that there are benefits to using both within an embedded curriculum."

The following aren't specifically about information literacy, but caught my eye.
- Willis, E., Abery, E. and Leiman, T. (2013). "Interrogating education of the heart." The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 4(1). 21-32. (Developing alternative assessments for health students, focusing on creative responses to the lived experience of patients etc.)
- Bone, E., and Reid, R. (2013). "First course at university: Assessing the impact of student age, nationality and learning style." The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 4(1). 95 - 107. (In fact they were looking at students' approach to learning, rather than learning style, and found that students with a surface approach to learning were still getting good marks: they note this as a stimulus to changing how they teach "... the general finding that most students were using reproducing strategies in MGC [the module] suggests that learning activities within the course may not encourage independent learning." (p105).
Go to https://fyhejournal.com/issue/view/7/showToc

Also there is a new issue of open-access journal Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, including:
- Murtagh, P., Morris, K., and Thorpe, P. (2013) "'A fish in water’ - Supporting transition to Higher Education and Initial Teacher Training." Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 8(1). (Describes and evaluates a pre-entry module for part time trainee teachers: it doesn't mention IL as such, but problems with citation and synthesis are mentioned).
- Cunningham, S. (2013) "Teaching a diverse student body – a proposed tool for lecturers to self-evaluate their approach to inclusive teaching." Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 8(1). (Includes "a Self Reflective Tool which ... is mapped with the UK Professional Standards for teaching and supporting learning dimensions and encourages consideration of the context, preparation, evaluation, strategies for promoting learning and affective and sensory elements of learning.")
Go to:  http://www.pestlhe.org.uk/index.php/pestlhe/issue/view/23
Photo by Sheila Webber: budding bluebells, April 2013

Recent articles in Journal of Academic Librarianship

Catching up with the last three issues of this priced publication, they include:

- Bandyopadhyay, A. (2013) "Measuring the Disparities between Biology Undergraduates' Perceptions and Their Actual Knowledge of Scientific Literature with Clickers." Journal of academic librarianship, 39 (2), 194-201
- Colón-Aguirre, M. and Fleming-May, R (2012) “'You Just Type in What You Are Looking For': Undergraduates' Use of Library Resources vs. Wikipedia." Journal of academic librarianship, 38 (6), 391-399.
- Costella, T. et al. (2013) "Undergraduate Program Review Processes: A Case Study in Opportunity for Academic Libraries." Journal of academic librarianship, 39 (2), 169-174.
- Denison, D. and Montgomery, D. (2012) "Annoyance or Delight? College Students' Perspectives on Looking for Information." Journal of academic librarianship, 38 (6), 380-390.
- Finch, J. and Jefferson, R. (2013) "Designing Authentic Learning Tasks for Online Library Instruction." Journal of academic librarianship, 39 (2), 181-188
- Gitari Mbabu, L., Bertram, A. and Varnum, K. (2013) "Patterns of Undergraduates' Use of Scholarly Databases in a Large Research University." Journal of academic librarianship, 39 (2), 189-193
- Harris, B. (2013) "Subversive Infusions: Strategies for the Integration of Information Literacy Across the Curriculum." Journal of academic librarianship, 39 (2), 175-180
- Solomon, D. (2013) "Digital Distribution of Academic Journals and its Impact on Scholarly Communication: Looking Back After 20 Years." Journal of academic librarianship, 39 (1), 23-28
- Tomaszewski, R., Poulin, S. and MacDonald, K. (2013) "Publishing in Discipline-Specific Open Access Journals: Opportunities and Outreach for Librarians." Journal of academic librarianship, 39 (1), 61-66.

Journal home page: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00991333
Photo by Sheila Webber: Wood anemones, Hellingly, April 2013