NHS London Libraries Games and Info Lit w'shop Sept '14
1. Adam Edwards and Vanessa Hill
Sept 2014
Information Literacy Skills
London Health Libraries
2. Welcome
09.30-10.00 Refreshments
10:00-10:45 What makes a bad workshop?
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-13:00 The Winner takes it all
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:45 Create a game
15:45-16:00 Questions
16:00 Close
3. What makes a bad workshop?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/4869256777/
12. Björn Again
• Less is more
• Cloning
• Discussion
• Learning by doing
• Learners, not the taught
• Games
http://advedupsyfall09.wikispaces.com/Sara+Woodard
13. The name of the game
• Fun
• Quick
• Simple
• Easy
• Need or objective
Adapted from Susan Boyle, Lilac 2011
14. I have a dream
Move from
“ …lifting and transporting textual substance from
one location, the library, to another, their
teacher’s briefcases.”
To
“…searching, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing,
selecting, rejecting…”
Kleine 1987
17. Example of coursework marking criteria
10% Introduction
15% Overview
30% Critical analysis
15% Discussion
10% Conclusion
10% Referencing
10% Quality etc
Maximum marks for a well
referenced and accurate
description of [subject]
using suitable references
Maximum of 10 marks for a list of
references which is both relevant,
and correctly given in Harvard
style
Maximum of 10 marks for quality,
style of writing and presentation
19. Books
What are they:
A written or printed work of fiction or fact.
May be electronic.
Good for:
Clear overview.
Not so good for:
Up to date information.
20. Journal
What are they:
A regular publication containing articles on a particular
academic subject.
Presents new research.
Good for:
Latest research, critically reviewed by experts.
Not so good for:
Broad overview of a subject.
21. Web page
What are they:
An information resource which can be easily created by
anyone on any topic.
Electronic.
Good for:
Very up to date information.
Not so good for:
Accurate and reliable information.
22. Newspaper
What are they:
A regular publication containing current events,
informative articles, diverse features and advertising.
May be electronic.
Good for:
Daily information.
Not so good for:
Balanced and well researched information.
23. Popular (trade) journal
What are they:
A regular publication containing new products plus
information for a business sector.
Good for:
Latest product news.
Not so good for:
Detailed and objective reports.
24. Find out more
MyUniHub > MyStudy > MyLibrary > Library Subject Guides
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/EIS
26. The real thing
Your first piece of coursework for CCM2426 will be based
on the Cornish Villages 4G trial.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidelong/300188454/
•Keywords
•Alternative keywords
•More specific keywords
•Related subjects
27. Finding resources
myUniHub > My Study > My Library > Summon
Select Summon and search
for information for your project
28. Google vs Summon
Google
• Familiar and easy to use
• Finds too much information
• Fast results
• Access from any computer
• Access to some books and journals
• Designed to sell you things
• Search results sponsored
• Searches for info from any source
• Pay for academic information
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennuiislife/3450743002/
Summon
• Easy to use
• Finds lots of academic info
• Fast results
• Access from any computer
• Access to lots of books and journals
• Designed to find you information
• Search results by relevance
• Searches quality resources
• Free access to full text
30. Evaluating information
Imagine you are writing an essay on ‘Network Security’.
Have a look at the 4 items that you have been given and
consider the following:
• Which items are the most relevant to your essay?
• Which items would be no use?
• Which item has the most academic authority?
• Which items might have bias?
• Which item is the most current?
33. 004.19 PRE
Books are arranged…..
D e s i g n
D e s i g n
A n i m a l s
A n i m a l s
C o m p u t i n g
C o m p u t i n g
H i s t o r y
H i s t o r y
H i s t o r y
004.19 ABE 004.19 CR0 004.19 PRE
34. Take a chance on me
•Survey of CCM2426 students
•66 attendees, 22 non-attendees
Marks Attendees Non-attendees
Commonest mark 65% 50%
Highest mark 90% 75%
Lowest mark 40% 40%
Bibliography
commonest mark
7/10 5/10
35. “If you put me to the test, if
you let me try………”
Search tools used Attendees Non-attendees
Google 68% 63%
Wikipedia 38% 27%
Summon 68% 40%
Library catalogue 30% 59%
Evaluation criteria Attendees Non-attendees
Current 89% 59%
Relevant 76% 59%
Academic authority 67% 41%
Easy to read 24% 45%
36. On and on and on
•Develop activities
•Improve attendance
•Revalidation
•Moodle
•DProf
37. The winner takes it all
• Successful collaboration
• Changes have worked
• Teaching is more fun
• Impact…
...Library training gets you better marks!
38. When all is said and done
• Boyle, S. (2011) Using games to enhance information literacy
sessions, Presented at LILAC 2011.
http://www.slideshare.net/infolit_group/boyle-using-games-to-enchance-
information-literacy
• Kleine, M. (1987), What is it we do when we write articles like this
one-Or how can we get students to join us?, Writing Instructor 6,
151.
• Markless, S., (2010), Teaching information literacy in HE: What?
Where? How?, presented at King’s College London, 9/12/10.
[Notes taken at the event.]
http://bit.ly/GamesMDX
41. Create a game
• Reflect on our games
• Think about games you know
• Brainstorm ideas
• Create game (1 hour)
• Complete form
• Prepare presentation (15 mins)
• 5 min presentation
Adapted from Susan Boyle, Lilac 2011 http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajourneyroundmyskull/4788590225/
AE
9.30-10.00 Refreshmants
10:00-10:45 What makes a bad workshop? Opportunity to think about what makes a workshop go wrong, but also how to put it right.
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-13:00 The Winner takes it all: enhancing the quality and impact of library workshops. What we have done at Middlesex Uni.
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:45 Create a game: chance to create your own game. (Refreshments at 3)
15:4516:00 Questions
16:00 Close
VH
Divide into groups
Get to know your group
10:00-10:10 10 mins to discuss and note down ‘5 things guaranteed to make a library workshop a disaster’
10:10-10:25 Pass on to next team and spend 15 mins coming up with solutions
10:25-10:45 Feedback
VH
15 min break
VH
VH
Intros
Looking at the broader issues surrounding provision of information literacy training in HE
How collaboration with other professionals has enabled us to improve our practice eg. Learning technology experts, LDU, academics and students
How we have been inspired to change the way we teach and address the problems
What we have done and how we are developing our provision
What impact have we had
AE
AE and VH identified a number of issues regarding provision of user education:
Not embedded
workshops traditionally provided at request of academic staff on ad hoc basis
which leads to inconsistent provision
complex module structure
No central coordination of skills within the School
Inconsistent provision:
rarely see all first year students
Repetitive: Impossible to develop progressive programme of information literacy training, so end up repeating what we’ve already covered for 2nd and 3rd years
Bad timing:
Insufficient time
Wrong time, so not relevant to students
Information skills:
Students know how to use technology, but lack ability to find, evaluate and use the information found
Teaching methods (more next slide)
AE
Is teaching a Librarian’s Waterloo?
Relevance: Library workshops can be too generic and not relevant to students and what they are doing
Too much: we want to tell them everything we know
Tools based: obsessed with showing them how to use databases
Didactic: follow instructions correctly, step-by-step
Uninspiring: bore students/death by Powerpoint
Subject: Librarians fear teaching subjects they are unfamiliar with, so over complicate. What we need to remember is that we are teaching information skills and not the subject
Teaching skills: librarians not taught to teach……however things are changing
AE
Student research is finding…
Book or journal with the answers
Right amount of facts
Right number of references
Reporting back to teacher
Easy option: use Google and Wikipedia as easy
Also fear of plagiarising and criticising information, also students who have never written more than 500 words
Behaviourist librarians reinforce this
AE
Librarians have arrived……the importance role is starting to be recognised
Teaching qualifications:
PGCertHE @ MDX:
traditionally not open to librarians
Single long 60 credit module, so no stopping off points
Now revalidated as 15+15+30 credit modules (DE version for overseas campuses)
2x15 core skills for Librarians and Support Staff
Teaching Fellowships
Originally learning Support Fellowships (Teaching F’ships for academics)
Changed to TF for all c 8 years ago
Recognises contribution to teaching in the Uni
Active community within MDX, conferences etc
FHEA: Alternative route/equiv to PGCertHE
TESOL
Benefits:
Equivalent qualifications to academic staff = equal footing
Learning together: academics and support staff studying PGCert together = gain understanding of each others role, contribution etc
Language: use same language
Respect: mutual
Understanding of the theory behind teaching
VH
Inspired by ‘Teaching information literacy in HE workshop’. Attended at CILIP. Dec 2010.
We teach 3-5 times too much
When planning sessions we need to consider what will make the biggest difference given time limit/use online guides
We try to clone our expertise
We can’t distil our own experience into a one hour session.
We don’t need to show students how to search databases, but we do need to show them how to appreciate the value of academic resources, search effectively, evaluate the information found and how to use it ethically
Discussion is powerful:
Find out how the students already find info, what they already know, what they want
Learn/discover together (peer learning): don’t plan searches/demos in advance
We can learn a lot about student’s understanding from the questions they ask
Learning by doing is empowering:
Encourage active participation through a variety of activities eg. trying things out, getting feedback, solving problems, peer discussion, reflecting on mistakes etc
No demos: Interaction and exploration
Uninvolved students are less likely to learn
Students should be learners, not the taught (working together to learn):
Our role to support and facilitate
Disciplinary context is a key influence on student learning ie. one method does not fit all….devised different sessions for PDE students
Games:
Inspiration from LILAC 2011- Susan Boyle (UCD) Using games in HE.
VH
Games should be:
Fun-enjoyable
Quick -10 mins
Simple - easy to prepare and cheap
Easy to grasp and play- no complicated rules
Meet a specific need or objective
VH
AE
To put all this in context……Wider programme of activity that we were engaged in at the time
3 years ago we worked with School LTSL and AWL (LDU) to embed our workshops in to curriculum
Matched information and other academic skills against CBI employability guidelines, and then integrate them into the wider employability skills framework devised by the school eg.
finding and evaluating information = problem solving
Plagiarism and search strategy = communications and literacy
Finding info for projects = self-management
More clout > easier to approach staff if our contribution is part a school plan and easier to get appropriate time
Avoided overlap and duplication by identifying specific programmes rather than modules within structure
Created a menu of workshops ie. what we would cover in each year
Coordinate content with LDU to avoid duplication
VH
What we did:
Back to basics-we considered what we need to teach
Identified key elements (next slide): Resources, keywords, searching and evaluation
Created a game/activity for each element
Mix and match elements
Coordinate content with LDU to avoid duplication
The framework for every workshop:
Thinking about resources game in an academic context ( 3 x versions TAR, Sources and Scenario)
Keywords: using image to get students thinking about keywords (specific, alternative, related) and then using real example
The real thing: relate learning to a project
Searching (hands on) mainly use Summon = frees up time to concentrate on info skills
Evaluation using sample search results (website, newspaper article, trade journal, academic journal) and Criteria game for 3rd years.
PDE students: have taken interactivity much further eg. taking items from special collections into their studio (think about how they can use them), letting them discover art and design collections themselves at HE (mini project) etc.
Now rolling out, so developing alternatives for 2nd and 3rd years and PGs
VH
Example marking criteria for this project.
In this session we are going to show you how to improve your marks.
Worth considering this:
Max points awarded to work which is based on good research and well referenced
Max marks awarded if refs used are relevant and correctly written ie. Harvard style
LDU can help with style of writing and presentation
VH
Hand out exercise Thinking about resources.
Groups
10 mins
VH
Good for:
broad/general overview of subject
Edited for quality and accuracy
Not so good for:
May not be specific enough
Can be out of date
VH
Good for:
Up-to-date
Specialist/focussed
Present latest research
Edited for accuracy/quality (peer reviewed)
Lots of references
Not so good for:
Can be hard to locate/access
Expensive
May be too specific
May be at wrong level
VH
Good for:
Easy to use/search
All subjects covered
Can be very up-to-date
Mobile
Not so good for:
No editorial control
Unreliable sources
Can be created by anyone
Material can lack provenance
Can be out-of-date
Not everyone has access
VH
Good for:
Up-to-date
Edited
Readily available (latest copies especially)
Not so good for:
Can be bias
Can be unbalanced
Can be sensationalist
Hard to get hold of/access (back issues)
VH
Good for:
Latest information
Current events
Concise info
Product news
Often available online with RSS/Twitter etc
Not so good for:
Detail
Objective information ie. can be bias, adverts, preferential products etc
Often hard to find old issues
Back issues/archive
VH
More information about the range of resources available on the Library Subject Guide.
AE
AE
Example of a real student project and how we get students to think about their keywords.
What are the keywords? Cornish, villages, 4G, trial
What are the alternative keywords?
Cornish: Cornwall, West Country, West of England
Villages: Village, rural communities, countryside
4G: Fourth generation technology, cellular wireless standards, networking technology,
Trial: test, evaluation
What terms can you use to make your search more specific?
Internet access
Fixed and mobile subscribers
Frequency and bandwidth
Infrastructure
BT and Everything Everywhere
Routers, antennas, and dongles
Radio spectrum
IP based mobile broadband
Services eg. ultra-broadband internet access, IP telephony, gaming services, streamed multimedia
LTE (Long term evolution)
IMT (International mobile telecommunications) advanced compliance
What are the related subjects?
Rural internet access
UK digital agenda, Digital Britain
Digital inclusion
Telecommunications
3G and 2G
Laptop computer wireless modems, smart phones, mobile devices
00:50
VH
Need to carry out a literature search:
Finding the information available on a subject
Finding information to inform, underpin and shape your research
Finding what has already been written on a subject
Analyzing, evaluating and making judgements about the info found
Identifying the main trends
Finding appropriate information: the information needs to be suitable for your need ie. right level, current if important, sufficient breadth or detail etc
VH
Searching is followed by a discussion about the advantages of using Summon to find info rather than Google.
Google
Familiar and easy to use
Finds too much information
Fast results
Access from any computer
Access to some books and journals
Designed to sell you things eg. shoes
Search results sponsored…no accident that Wikipedia, Amazon etc at top of search results
Searches for info from any source
Pay for academic information
Summon
Easy to use
Finds lots of academic info
Fast results
Access from any computer
Access to lots of books and journals
Designed to find you information: up-to-date, focussed/specific
Search results by relevance
Searches quality resources eg. Peer reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings , research etc
Free access to full text ie. Information not freely available elsewhere
AE
Introduce the importance of evaluating information for quality
What do you think about this quote by Abraham Lincoln?
AE
Divide class into group
Hand out worksheet and 4x items.
Discuss. No right or wrong answers. All items found by doing a search on Network Security.
Which items are most relevant:
Academic journal and Wiki most relevant.
Newspaper article is sensationalist and trade journal is a review of software.
Which items would be no use:
Newspaper article useless, and trade journal probably not unless needed to know about software packages.
Which item has the most academic authority:
Academic journal. It has biography of authors, references, in-text citations and uses academic language. Article has been peer reviewed.
Wikipedia has refs, but don’t know who has added information.
Are any of the items bias:
Newspaper
Trade journal is reviewing software and may be swayed by advertisers.
Which item is the most current:
Wikipedia
Academic journal is very out-of-date 2004
Would not use any of them and would continue search. Discuss the importance of evaluating the information that you find.
AE
Authority : Who is the author? What is their knowledge base/qualifications? How have they carried out their research?
Relevance : Is this what I need? Will it answer my question? Is it at the right level?
Intent : What is the purpose of information e.g. financial gain, propaganda, academic etc?
Objectivity : Balanced view? Opposing views represented? Links to supporting information?
Currency: How old is this information? When was it last updated and by whom?
VH
Ask students what they think?
Before we explain, run DEWEY GAME.
VH
Books arranged in subjects
Each subject has a number, so books on same subject are at same number on the shelves
We use a 3 letter suffix (usually first 3 letters of authors name) to help you find books within a number
Books arranged alphabetically by suffix within each number
AE
Those who attended average 65%, rather than 50 % for non attendees ie. 15% higher
Attendees 7/10 for bibliography, rather than 5/10 ie. 20% difference
AE
Resources used shows better choice of resource by attendees….in the case of this project, very little current info, so Library catalogue not a good choice
Evaluation criteria shows better understanding by attendees ie. Academic authority and currency seen as impo rather than easy to read.
AE
Develop activities so appropriate for level and not repetitious
Have developed further versions of the games for 2nd and 3rd years and PGs.
Further developing 2nd year workshop so substantially different to 1st and 3rd.
Improve attendance: any ideas…..problem is not just ours
University is introducing much more rigorous attendance monitoring
CS and other progs substantially changing way do 1st yr teaching (projects and workshops) which is more attractive to students and harder to skive off.
Revalidation and new courses in our school an opportunity to embed our teaching further
Simpler course structure, so easier to see all students without duplication
Have been able to influence the Learning Outcomes to include info lit skills
CSD4040 LDU and Libs have been given 12 hours to teach info and academic skills and listed as course tutors. Working closely with AWL (LDU) to develop sessions for CSD4040
Working with Steve Chilton (Learning Technologist) to develop online courses, support etc
Moodle: old VLE being phased out and Moodle introduced. Opportunity to reassess our contribution and influence content. Working closely with Educational Development Unit (Steve Chilton)
DProf
AE
Successful collaboration is getting things moving plus team teaching
Changes to methods have worked: survey shows that we have made an impact, plus many colleagues have used and adapted our workshops for their students
Teaching is more fun for students and for us
But we can now say...
...Library training gets you better marks
AE
AE
Any questions
Lunch 1-2
During lunch think about a particular group of users that you are concerned about in relation to library workshops.
AE
1hour 15 mins (3.15pm) to create game:
Reflect on our games
Think about games you already know eg. Monopoly, Scrabble etc
Brainstorm ideas
Create game (1 hour)
Complete form to cement your ideas
Prepare presentation (15 mins)
5 min presentation
