Wiki Technology Enhanced Group Project to Promote Active Learning in a Neuroscience Course for First-Year Medical Students: An Exploratory Study

A wiki group project was integrated into a neuroscience course for first-year medical students. The project was developed as a self-directed, collaborative learning task to help medical students review course content and make clinically important connections. The goals of the project were to enhance students’ understanding of key concepts in neuroscience, promote active learning, and reinforce their information literacy skills. The objective of the exploratory study was to provide a formative evaluation of the wiki group project and to examine how wiki technology was utilized to enhance active and collaborative learning of first-year medical students in the course and to reinforce information literacy skills.     

Developing Personal Course Plans (PCPs) as an Example of Self-Directed Learning in Library Management and Project Management Education

This article examines the education of library (MLS) graduate students in courses of library management or in special topic courses in project management in libraries and information centers. To examine the specific skill of project management, a method was employed allowing students to set deadlines as a form of self-directed learning. The student-created syllabi milestones were piloted to search for a match between student abilities and development of project management processes upon degree completion. The use of a proposed and piloted technique was implemented here through a tool named the Personal Course Plan (PCP). It was designed to assist students in learning the value of setting personal schedules for their enrolled graduate course, much as a library project manager would use in practice in libraries. Personal Course Plans (PCPs) were effectively developed by students and allowed the ability to self-monitor their performance on completing project deliverables, meeting expectations of supervisors, and judging their own performance. As the experience was a positive one for both the instructor and students, this article provides not only an operational examination, but also proposes theoretical justification for using such a teaching method in library and information science education. Described are details LIS faculty should consider in implementing the method in teaching and gives future library employers of LIS program graduates a sense of what project management skills recent graduates are receiving.     

Scrum: Enhancing Student Team Organization and Collaboration

Courses: Any communication course requiring a semester-long team project.

Objectives: After using the Scrum approach to plan and manage a group project, students will have increased awareness of collaborative needs, improved skills for sharing information in non-evaluative ways, improved time management skills, and enhanced ability to assess their group dynamic constructively.     

Service learning in the library and information science curriculum: The perspectives and experiences of one Multimedia/User Education class

This article provides a case study of a class project in Multimedia/User Education in the Library and Information Science program at the University of Iowa. The goals of the class were to develop multimedia skills, develop conceptual models for implementing multimedia in libraries, and develop a culture of collaborative teaching and learning within the group of students who were enrolled. The course used service learning pedagogy to achieve these ends. Students developed web sites for public libraries in Iowa that, in many cases, are used in those libraries. In this article, the instructor of the course describes the design of the class, and the students contribute their observations about the service learning experience.     

Rapidly going virtual without sacrificing quality: Adapting instruction for an engineering design course

As fall 2020 semester approached, librarians at Colorado School of Mines faced the task of transitioning the information literacy lesson for the university's Design I course to a fully virtual lesson. In previous semesters, the lesson had successfully been taught using a flipped model; pairing an online lesson with an in-person librarian meeting. Each semester approximately 600 students in teams of five met with a librarian to discuss their approach to the course's semester-long project. Due to COVID-19, the team conducted more than 120 team meetings online using Zoom in fall 2020. Surveys were administered to students in the course to gauge their opinions on meeting success, librarian helpfulness and sign-up logistics. The findings provide insight into the use of an online meeting to meet the needs of students in a project-based engineering design course.     

Creating an online information literacy course for concurrent enrollment students: A collaboration with a state-sponsored online school

This article discusses a collaborative project to create an online one-credit library research course for high school students in a dual credit program. The project included a team of reference and instruction librarians at a midsize public university, the university's concurrent enrollment program, and an online state-sponsored school that provided courses to high school students. Current literature related to the information literacy knowledge gap, outreach to secondary schools, dual credit or concurrent enrollment programs, and for-credit online information literacy courses is reviewed. The process of creating the course will be discussed along with the benefits and challenges of the project.     

Advancing nursing students' transition to scholarship: embedding a librarian into the Advanced Nursing Research course

Background:Nursing students often prioritize learning clinical skills rather than research skills, possibly inhibiting their growth as scholars. Supporting nursing students'' learning of information literacy skills has been shown to impact nurses'' involvement with research after graduation. This suggests a need for developing innovative information literacy teaching strategies that can enable nursing students to better understand the process of research and how to apply research to practice.Case Presentation:This article describes the implementation of the embedded librarian project at the course level at the University of Memphis. A librarian was integrated into the Advanced Nursing Research course, a semester-long course for graduate nursing students, for the fall 2020 semester. This case shares the embedded librarian project''s implementation and evaluation strategies.Conclusions:The embedded librarian project aided students'' acquisition of information literacy skills at the University of Memphis. Students reported that the embedded librarian project helped them complete assignments for their research course. Using an embedded librarian service within the graduate nursing curricula model may enhance scholarship among future nurses.     

Embedded Librarian Within an Online Health Informatics Graduate Research Course: A Case Study

The Health Sciences Library and the Department of Health Informatics & Information Management at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis piloted an embedded librarian project in summer 2012. The value and effectiveness of the pilot project was evaluated by analyzing the content of e-mail questions received from the students and the students’ answers to the pre- and post-class surveys. The project received positive feedback from the students and course faculty. Librarians collaborating with teaching faculty and interacting one-on-one with students in health information-intensive courses proved to be helpful for student learning.     

Centralized vs. Decentralized Models in Interlibrary Loan Access

ABSTRACT

In fall 1997, the University of Washington Bothell Library piloted a home-grown Electronic Reserves project to better meet the needs of its non-traditional population, consisting largely of returning, working, and/or commuting students. As the number of students commuting from greater distances increased, the need to provide remote access to course materials 24-hours a day became essential. Since no additional funding was received, the pilot began with only four classes. This enabled librarians to become familiar with the technology without being overwhelmed by demand. In-class demonstrations were provided, and quarterly surveys were distributed to students and faculty participating in the project. Results were analyzed over several quarters to determine the benefits to students and faculty. By fall 1998, 33 courses or 80% of reserves were available electronically. Issues that developed from the pilot included: (1) increased printing in the library and computer labs, (2) development of training classes for students; and (3) staff reorganization to provide the service.     

高职医学院校文献检索教学改革

介绍了医药院校开设文献检索课程的必性和特点,针对医药文检课存在的问题提出了教学改革策略,分析了教改后的文检课对学生的创新、自主学习能力以及可持续发展能力的影响。     

Faculty–library collaborations in digital history: A case study of the travel journal of Cornelius B. Gold

ABSTRACT

In this article, the authors present a case study on a teaching and learning initiative in digital humanities at Connecticut College. The article outlines a project in which students in a midlevel history course collaborated with library staff and faculty to develop a digital exhibition on a nineteenth-century journal in the College's collection. The cooperative approach and institutional support that the team received provided an effective and flexible means for achieving common goals. As students applied emergent technologies to college collections, they were able to conduct meaningful research and bring archival resources to new audiences.     

Issues surrounding the administration of a credit course for medical students: survey of US academic health sciences librarians.

OBJECTIVES: For librarians developing a credit course for medical students, the process often involves trial and error. This project identified issues surrounding the administration of a credit course, so that librarians nationally can rely more upon shared knowledge of common practices and less upon trial and error. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to the education services librarian at each medical school listed in the 2000 AAMC Data Book. A second questionnaire was sent to those librarians who did not return the first one. RESULTS: Of the 125 librarians surveyed, 82 returned the questionnaire. Of those 82, only 11 offered a credit course for medical students, though 19 more were in the process of developing one. Data were gathered on the following aspects of course administration: credit course offerings, course listing, information learned to administer the course, costs associated with the course, relationships with other departments on campus, preparation for teaching and grading, and evaluation of the course. CONCLUSIONS: Because of small number of respondents offering a credit course and institutional variations, making generalizations about issues surrounding the administration of a credit course is difficult. The article closes with a list of recommendations for librarians planning to develop a course.     

When Online Instruction Doesn’t Measure Up: How Can You Tell,and What Should You Do?

At Duquesne University, freshmen are required to take a one-credit information literacy course. This course has traditionally been offered mostly face-to-face, but has expanded into more online offerings. Unfortunately, the experience for students and instructors online was not as positive as those involved with the face-to-face version of the course. Assessment results on a variety of levels and anecdotal evidence indicated that students did not work as well together to learn as those did in the face-to-face version of the course. Not only did instructors receive lower student evaluation scores, but students did not perform as well on their final, collaborative project. While there will be barriers to learning online, especially when students work together in a group, instructors and instructional designers can take distinct steps to make the experience a positive one. Instructors must use particular interventions to increase student-to-student interaction that leads to learning.     

The Impact of Library Tutorials on the Information Literacy Skills of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Students in an Evidence-Based Practice Course: A Rubric Assessment

This study measures how online library instructional tutorials implemented into an evidence-based practice course have impacted the information literacy skills of occupational and physical therapy graduate students. Through a rubric assessment of final course papers, this study compares differences in students’ search strategies and cited sources pre- and post-implementation of the tutorials. The population includes 180 randomly selected graduate students from before and after the library tutorials were introduced into the course curriculum. Results indicate a statistically significant increase in components of students’ searching skills and ability to find higher levels of evidence after completing the library tutorials.     

Hacking Blackboard: Customizing Access to Library Resources Through the Blackboard Course Management System

Academic libraries have long been trying to gain access to users through their favorite online spaces, such as social networking sites. In this article a project of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's University Libraries, which integrated library resources with the campus course management system, Blackboard, is detailed. The main objective was to push the best resources to students based on their actual needs. For years, static HTML Web pages were created, but the proliferation of these pages required tremendous maintenance. In addition it is not certain that students are able to access the most relevant resources buried deep in the Web site. Because of these challenges, the Course Resources Tool and the Library Resources Portal were created to provide high levels of customization based on information that was gathered from users as they log into Blackboard. The tools have been customized so that subject specialist liaisons can integrate library resources at the major, department, course, and course section levels. Despite some difficulties in launching and promoting these projects, there has been positive feedback. There was also an increase in usage statistics that rivals the use of the library's main Web site. This article describes the tools, documents the difficulties with each phase of the project, and discusses the lessons learned. Also, a brief overview of possible expansions of the Blackboard Course Resources Tool and the Library Resources Portal is provided.     

Four birds with one stone: collaboration in collection development

This paper reports on a collections development project undertaken by the Kent State Libraries and the School of Library & Information Science. The goal of the project was the re-drafting of collection profiles in anticipation of a changeover to a new vendor, Yankee Book Peddler (YBP). Collaboration was actually four-fold involving librarians, MLS students taking the collections course, faculty representatives from most academic units, and representatives of YBP. Participants met on several occasions to review titles purchased and to prepare new profiles. Personnel from YBP provided instruction for librarians and students in use of the company’s online selection management software, and students prepared both instructions for faculty representatives in the use of this software and reports on other aspects of the project. The paper assesses progress made and the overall value of the project to all concerned. It also anticipates potential future collaborative efforts that will serve both work and educational environments.     

文检课——一个进行学生学术规范训练的有效平台

针对学生学术规范教育缺失的问题,提出以文献检索与利用课为平台开展大学生学术规范训练的方案。利用“学术研讨会”这一活动形式,将文献检索、资料利用、学术规范三部分内容有机地串接起来,为学生营造一个学用结合的场景,引导学生对学术规范进行探究性学习。实践证明文检课可以成为也应该成为学生学术规范训练的有效平台。     

Student Responses to Contemplative Practice in a Communication Course

This assessment project explored students' responses to contemplative exercises in a required communication course. The contemplative exercises complemented the public speaking aspect of the course, with the intent that students would feel more confident when giving presentations and that they would experience other benefits of contemplative practice. A student survey revealed that half of the students identified some of the exercises as very helpful or as practices they intended to continue. Although the results suggest that some minor changes in the exercises could be made, the contemplative component seems useful to students, in the course and beyond.     

The UK's SMARTAL Project: St MARTin's College health students Access to Learning resources whilst on placement

BACKGROUND: St Martin's College pre-registration health students spend up to half their course on periods of placement, during which times they need to be able to access learning resources. The project aimed to replicate the Health and Education Northumbria Students Access to Learning resources (HENSAL) project. OBJECTIVE: To look at patterns of use and access to learning resources for health students on placement. METHODS: Questionnaires were distributed to students who had recently returned from a placement. Five Practice Placement Facilitators were interviewed to gain their views. RESULTS: There was a 60% return rate (n = 268) for the questionnaire. Most students thought access to learning resources was important yet these were not always available and varied according to placement type. Students still made regular use of the College library while they were on placement but had some difficulties. Students used electronic resources, tending to access them from home. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that there were issues which needed to be addressed by the College's Faculty of Health and Social Care, Library and IT services, the local NHS Trust libraries and the local Strategic Health Authority to improve access to and use of learning resources. The findings proved to be very similar to those of the HENSAL project.