Presentation delivered at the Canadian Engineering Education Conference in 2018 highlighting a paper that can be viewed at https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/PCEEA/article/view/13054
Abstract:
Incoming first-year engineering students at the University of Toronto often have difficulty navigating the library and its resources. Orientation activities at the Engineering & Computer Science Library are designed to introduce students to the library in an informal and entertaining way. In 2017, as a result of dropping interest in previous years' orientation activities, librarians at the Engineering & Computer Science Library collaborated with instructors and staff in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering to develop an orientation activity grounded in curriculum and based on the popular escape room game. Core library services and engineering resources were used to build a challenging program that introduced students to basic, but essential, research skills. Voluntary student participation in the game exceeded previous years' participation and all expectations of the game designers.
Graduate Outcomes Presentation Slides - English (v3).pptx
Leveraging escape room popularity to provide first-year students with an introduction to engineering information
1. LEVERAGING ESCAPE ROOM POPULARITY TO
PROVIDE FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS WITH AN
INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING
INFORMATION
BEN WALSH & MICHELLE SPENCE
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARIES
CEEA 2018 - UBC
2. ESCAPE ROOMS AND ENGINEERING INFORMATION
BACKGROUND
Engineering & Computer Science Library
Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
Existing partnerships
Library services supporting engineering education and research
3. ESCAPE ROOMS AND ENGINEERING INFORMATION
MOTIVATION
Research skill gap
Gamification as active learning and problem solving
4. ESCAPE ROOMS AND ENGINEERING INFORMATION
GAME DESIGN
Collaboration and consultation
‣ Learning outcomes
‣ Narrative
Iterative design process
‣ Game development and testing
Implementation
5. ESCAPE ROOMS AND ENGINEERING INFORMATION
Course syllabus
Library catalogue
TJ211 .F82 1987
Call number
Stacks
GAME DESIGN
Notebook Black light
N
USB drive
750
Combination
6. ESCAPE ROOMS AND ENGINEERING INFORMATION
DISCUSSION
Escape room orientation attracted 293 participants
74 teams = 74 hours of library orientation programming
Students asked 130 questions during game play
65% completed within 1 hour, 80% completed the game
Fastest time: 20:11 (adjusted time)
Project Goals:
1. Strengthen first-year outreach
2. Support the achievement of learning outcomes
* Find the library
* Ask a question at the Reference Help Desk
* Use the library catalogue to find a book by title
* Use a call number to find a book on the shelf
* Use a database to access a technical standard
* Find the Course Reserves/Short Term Loan collection
