Interactive Teaching Using the Student Response System

Greg Gulas Reference LibrarianLisa Williams Coordinator of Instructional Services

University of North Carolina at Wilmington

The Problem

Lack of Participation

Don’t want to be singled out

Embarrassed about giving the wrong answer

Student Instruction Session surveys ask for more participation

Are the students really understanding what the librarian is teaching?

Searching the LiteratureLorenzen, Michael. “Active Learning and Library Instruction.” Illinois Libraries 83.2(2001): 19-24

Drueke, Jeanetta. “Active Learning in the University Library Instruction Classroom.” Research Strategies 10.2(1992): 77-83

Prorak, Diane. “Button Pushing vs. Concepts: Library Instruction, Technology, and the Swinging Pendulum of an Old Debate.” PNLA Quarterly 67.4 (2003): 4-5

Cudiner, S; Harmon, O. “Comparing the effectiveness of different presentation formats for workshops on introductory library skills.” Research Strategies 18.1 (2001): 49-61

CollaborationCan be more that a buzzword

Allows libraries to take advantage of technical advances without having to make them

Yet another advantage of keeping channels open to faculty

Stand on the shoulders of giants!

Development of SRSOriginally developed by UNCW Chemistry and

Computer Science Departments to be used with hand held computers

Development of SRSWritten by graduate students, entire printed code is

less than 50 pages.

Designed to test student knowledge in real time.

How SRS WorksDesigned to be easy to use for both instructor and

students, the program is web based and requires very little computing power at the client end. All the processing is done on a central server.

Uses ASP, visual basic and MS SQL. All computing is done on the server side.

How SRS Works: Beginning a SessionStep 1

How SRS Works: Step 2

How SRS Works:Creating Questions

How SRS Works:Creating Questions

Types of QuestionsMultiple Choice

True / False - Yes / No

Graphics (students can indicate a point on the graphic)

Opinion (agree / disagree)

Confidence (sliding scale)

Multiple Choice

                                                                        

Multiple Choice

Multiple Choice: Student’s View

True / False

True / False Students View

Graphics

Using SRS for Library InstructionExamples of Library Instruction Sessions:

Question About Evaluating Web Pages

Student’s Response

Question about Periodical Databases

Student’s Response

Question about Plagiarism

Student’s Response

Last Question

Results and Conclusions

How the Librarian’s feel about the SRS systemEasy to Use

Attention holding

Interactivity level has increased

Change of Subject

Allows students to feel involved

Reinforces main points of the session

How the Students Feel About the SRS System

How the Students Feel About the SRS System“Don’t require people to take it multiple times”

“More questions for those who still do not understand searching”

“Use words that everyone can understand”

“More explanation of why the wrong answers were wrong”

“Don’t make the questions too long – It takes too much time to read them”

“Too easy” “ More in-depth questions” “More discussion questions”

How the Students Feel About the SRS System“I think it is good to allow students who may not be

sure of the correct answer a chance to guess without fear of embarrassment, however I think that when they get the answer right they won’t receive the praise they need”

Did you enjoy being able to answer questions without speaking out loud?

Yes 88% No 1.6% Maybe 10%

Do you feel like the SRS system prevented you from answering or asking a question out loud?

Yes 11% No 80% Not Sure 8%

Do you feel more comfortable with the information taught during the instruction session due to the SRS system?

Yes 67.5% No 11% Not Sure 22%

SRS was?

Pretty Interesting 34% Somewhat Interesting 55% Boring 11%

Survey Responses

How Do I Get an SRS Account?

contact Ron Vetter (vetterr@uncw.edu)