E x c e e d i n g the Limits:Teaching and Assessing

Information Literacy within Blackboard

by Jon RitterbushE-Resources & Serials Librarian

Calvin T. Ryan Library

University of Nebraska – Kearney

Nebraska C&U / Kansas CULS

Spring MeetingMay 29, 2015

Winning the invitation for classroom time

Class sizes

Reaching online/distance students

Limits to what can be taught and assessed during a “one shot” 50- or 75-minute class

Exceeding these limits by teaching online:

Teach multiple course sections of any size

Deliver IL instruction asynchronously and online

Reach on-campus and distance students

Deliver more content and learning assessments

at the student’s pace

Uses Blackboard to deliver six modular lessons and quizzes on:

1) Steps of the Research Process

2) Searching the Catalog

3) Finding Articles

4) Locating Full Text and Using Interlibrary Loan

5) Searching the Web and Evaluating Sources

6) Citing Sources, Avoiding Plagiarism

UNK’s Library Research Tutorial

“Graded” version “Guest” version

Cover all six lessons? Yes Yes

Include quizzes at the end of each lesson?

Yes,using Blackboard pools

Yes,using Qualtrics

Are quiz scores recorded and reported back to the instructor?

Yes No

Instructor must request their class be enrolled?

Yes No

Any access restrictions? Students enrolled in the Tutorial must login to

UNK’s Blackboard system.

Accessible to anyone; see bit.ly/GuestLRT

Cost to students? Free Free

“Graded” or “Guest” versions available

Blackboard’s “Smart Views” tracks classes

Students are only enrolled once, but may have the Tutorial “count” for multiple classes

• Nearly 2,400 students in 72 course sections enrolled in “graded” Tutorial since Fall 2011

• 79% of students who login to the “graded” Tutorial pass all six quizzes

• Plurality of students (39%) report Tutorial takes 1-2 hours to complete

Student outcomes by the numbers

57

57 3

Enrolled Sections

100 level

200 level

300 level

400 or graduate level

2014-15 student evaluations (n=183)

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

#1: The ResearchProcess

#2: Searchingthe Catalog

#3: FindingArticles

#4: Locating FullText & Using

Interlibrary Loan

#5: Searchingthe Web &Evaluating

Sources

#6: CitingSources,Avoiding

Plagiarism

“I learned something useful in this lesson”

Strongly Agree or Agree Neutral Disagree or Strongly Disagree

2014-15 instructor survey (N=11)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Time - Preserves scheduled classtime for lecture, discussion, etc.

Size of class - Can easilyaccommodate 27+ students

Engagement - Requires studentsinteract with content (quizzes)

“Please rate the importance of these three factors in your decision to request the Tutorial for your students.”

Essential Very important Slightly important

Not at all important Unsure / Don't know

A 2013 study suggested students enrolled in an online library research tutorial were 7x more likely to return the following semester.

Online tutorials may boost other outcomes!

Source: Soria, K. M., Fransen, J., & Nackerud, S. (2013). Library use and undergraduate student outcomes: New evidence for students’ retention and academic success. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 13(2), 147–164. doi:10.1353/pla.2013.0010

Student enrollment in online IL tutorials

Greater student-reported usage of library databases

Higher GPAs & retention rates

Thank you for attending!

Questions about this presentation?

Access the “Guest” version of the

UNK Library Research Tutorial at:

bit.ly/GuestLRT

Contact Jon at:

ritterbushjr@unk.edu

@JonRitterbush