Teacher e-mail message strategies and students' willingness to communicate online

In light of the prevalent use of e-mail between teachers and students, researchers have highlighted the need to assess its uses and effects. Relying on the research and thinking of teacher immediacy and extra-class communication, we developed a scale that measures those e-mail message strategies that influence students' willingness to communicate online with their teachers. Next, we isolated those reasons that students use e-mail to interact with their teachers: (1) to clarify course material and procedures, (2) as a means of efficient communication, and (3) for personal/social reasons. Finally, we examined student characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, and history of e-mail use that may (or may not) influence their attitudes toward e-mail exchanges with teachers.     

Embedding Guides Where Students Learn: Do Design Choices and Librarian Behavior Make a Difference?

This study investigated whether library guides embedded in a university's learning management system fulfill their mission to promote library resources and maintain a librarian presence in the online course environment. Specifically, the study examined whether design elements, promotional practices, or other behaviors influenced guide use. It questioned whether students located the library guides and, if so, did students find the guides helpful. Results confirmed that students who used library guides found the guides helpful. Select faculty and librarian behaviors may also influence student use of library guides. Promotion and marketing practices, however, are not the only factors encouraging students to use library guides.     

Preparing,Facilitating, Assessing: A Reflection on Digital Humanities Consultations

Abstract

A key component of the Digital Humanities Librarian’s work, the consultation, involves the skills of listening, questioning, parsing, and planning aided by an understanding of the broader digital humanities landscape, project requirements, and the campus environment. Productive consultations provide researchers the direction they need to get their projects started or advanced to the next stage, often resulting in sustained, collaborative engagement that makes assessing the impact of this work challenging.     

Using Assessment Results to Reinforce Campus Partnerships

In response to calls for accountability, academic libraries have increased their assessment efforts. Although the University Library at Colorado State University–Pueblo has been engaged in student learning outcome assessment for several years, it has recently expanded its system of evaluation to share the results of information literacy assessments with teaching faculty. This was done in an effort to demonstrate the value of library instruction to the faculty of a small, regional campus. Several benefits have been realized as a result of this move, including stronger partnerships with course instructors and other departments engaged in academic support.     

Assessment from a Distance: A Case Study Implementing Focus Groups at an Online Library

Assessing library resources and services at a distance holds unique challenges in gathering data needed to make informed decisions. This article describes the complete process of piloting virtual focus groups—from planning and implementation through the analysis of results for a completely online student population. The virtual focus group method proved effective in getting qualitative feedback to spur library improvements, and it is transferable to many different library settings.     

Closing the Loop on Nursing Library Instruction: Using Student Performance to Improve Outcomes

Two librarians analyzed nursing students’ performance on an information literacy assignment to determine how they could change their instruction to better assist the students in comprehending the material. After identifying major areas of difficulty, including the use of search techniques, they revised both the instruction and the assignment, closing the loop by utilizing their assessment data. Next, they analyzed those results to evaluate the effectiveness of their changes and to make further improvements, thus demonstrating the iterative nature of instruction and assessment. The evidence-based instruction cycle of teaching, assessing, and revising should be repeated frequently to keep the assignment fresh and relevant.     

PubMed Instruction for Medical Students: Searching for a Better Way

In 2007, Duke University Medical Center Library instituted an interactive, online PubMed tutorial and quiz for medical students to replace an in-person lecture. This article describes the events leading to this educational paradigm shift and how the tutorial was implemented. Important concerns in the switch to an online approach to PubMed training were student satisfaction and the extent to which searching skills would improve. To determine the effectiveness of the online model, two years of student quizzes and evaluations were examined. Results indicate that students benefit from and appreciate the interactive tutorial.     

Citations and RefWorks

ABSTRACT

A practicable approach to meta-assessment is reported involving the use of online research guides as an outreach tool at Western Kentucky University. A series of such guides has been produced that cover each department on campus; this approach lends its way to assessment efforts by identifying discrete and quantifiable target populations across campus. A multiple-regression model is used to predict usage rates on the basis of surrogates for size of potential usership, and variations in quality and size of the guides themselves. The “badness of fit” of the regression model can be used to suggest ways of improving the outreach effort, as the residuals left from the analysis arguably identify related lapses in coverage or promotion. If carried out on an annual basis, the approach provides an almost ideal services assessment tool, since various measures can be taken to improve those guides that during each period are identified as “underachievers.”     

Instructional Dissent as a Function of Student Conflict Styles

The purpose of this study was to examine how students’ conflict styles (i.e., integrating, avoiding, dominating, obliging, and compromising) were related to the expression of instructional dissent (i.e., expressive, rhetorical, and vengeful). Participants were 160 undergraduate students, who completed a questionnaire measuring their conflict-handling communication with an instructor and how frequently they engaged in instructional dissent throughout the semester. Results of a canonical correlation revealed that (a) when students used the integrating, dominating, and compromising conflict styles, but did not use the avoiding style, they communicated more rhetorical dissent, and (b) when students used the dominating style, but not the integrating or obliging styles, they communicated more expressive, rhetorical, and vengeful dissent.     

Using rubrics for assessing information literacy in the finance classroom: A collaboration

Business information literacy (BIL) is a core competency for lifelong learning and critical to achieving professional success. This article reports on the evolution of a collaborative framework for integrating and assessing information literacy in subject-specific upper-level undergraduate, as well as introductory MBA, courses in finance. The framework, developed over a significant period of time, provides a guide for structured and full collaboration between librarians and classroom instructors and includes a sample assignment and accompanying evaluation rubric which are adaptable across disciplines. Additionally, it provides a model for developing pedagogical methodologies for student attainment of BIL competencies and for faculty assessment of them.