Success in Teaching, or my presentation proposal for the ACRL Spring Virtual Institute

Here is my proposal just submitted for a 20 minute webcast in the spring of 2012 to the ACRL Spring Virtual Institute (with a significant finding in bold)

Traditional one shot information literacy sessions when only one class period is devoted to the library is still common.  Librarians try to fill most of this time with the dissemination of information even though some active learning techniques are incorporated, it is still the smaller portion of time used.  This presentation showcases a method of "flipping the classroom", changing a standard information literacy session into a ten minute lecture and a forty minute hands on activity.  This can be done with no additional access to students before or after the session as long as the class can be held in a hands-on computer lab.

The information literacy lab was conducted by introducing only one library information resource, the discovery search tool (Summon). to the students.  Its features were showcased and critical evaluation of information sources was also introduced as a concept.  The remainder of time is devoted to a group assignment on evaluating information sources both on the Web in comparison to the information resource.

Students worked in groups of two to complete the assignment which was handed out on paper.  The first part explained again criteria for evaluating information sources while the second part gave 4 example sources from a Wikipedia article.  Students were asked to identify the type of information source (scholarly journal, news, book, website) and the authors with their credentials.  Then the students were asked to infer the intended audience for the information source and the usefulness of the information for their coursework later in the semester.  Finally, the students were asked to located an item in the library's discovery search interface that was of high quality in the characteristics they had explored.

Student outcomes were assessed at the end of the semester following library instruction in different sections of the same class.  A survey was administered in three sections where traditional instruction was delivered, in another a more hands on approach was used, and in another the class was "flipped".  The questions assessed:
Did students use library resources in the class and which databases were used?
Were they more critical of information sources on the World Wide Web?
Did the library instruction help them with their assignments?
Were library resources easy to find and use?
Did the library help to improve their grade in the class?

Results of the survey were similar for a few questions, but there was a dramatic increase in positive student response in two area for only the class with the hands-on instruction lab.  71% of those students indicated that they were more critical of information on the web compared to only 48% in the traditional information literacy class.  Also 96% of students responded that the the library instruction helped them with their assignments compared to 70% in the traditional sessions.  This clear improvement in two areas with no loss in others is strong data to support the hands-on information literacy lab approach.