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Dig
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y Why Study Users? Use and Users of Digital Resources in Humanities/Social Science (H/SS)
Undergraduate Education
Diane Harley, Ph.D.Principal Investigator; Senior Researcher
Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE)University of California, Berkeley
Full Report/Project Website: http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy/
Copyright Diane Harley 2007. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational
purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.
Educause/ELI Conference: Atlanta, GA. January 23, 2007
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Research Project Overview
Three-year project (2003 – 2006)
Funding: A.W. Mellon and Hewlett Foundations
Goals: Environmental Scan
• Describe and map the vast universe of digital resources, uses, and users in the H/SS.
• Determine how digital resources are currently used or NOT used in H/SS undergraduate education.
• Explore how (or if) an understanding of use and users can help the integration of resources into teaching/ learning environments.
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Why Bother?
Strategic Planning and Investments- More attention has been paid to supply than demand.
- How do you pay for something that you are giving away for free?
- Who supports “non-affiliated,” “non-matriculated,” “non-paying” users?
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Why Bother?
Focus on the Humanities and Social Sciences-Understand variation in user and non-user types by discipline and institution—focusing on a subset of the HE disciplinary landscape
-H/SS different than science and technical courses?
-H/SS not a monolith
-Primary source material and communication tools important
-Future role of technology in the delivery of general/liberal arts education?
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Why Bother?Consolidating Effective Strategies for Understanding Use
and Users Across Projects
• Is it possible, or even desirable, to have projects share methods and results?
• Challenge: Variation among projects along numerous dimensions
– Content, objectives, and targeted users
– Funding models and need for understanding users
– Knowledge of users (and methods for studying them)
• Lack of clear picture about users makes coordination (of user methods, findings, business models, strategic planning) across projects challenging.
• Importance of codifying content, users, and contexts
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Research Activities
• Ongoing discussion with faculty, librarians, educational technology professionals, and resource/site owners.
• Faculty survey:– Sampling opinions about digital resource use among
various disciplines and institutions.
• Consolidating knowledge about users of online educational resources (OER), and convening site owners, funders, and use researchers.
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Associated Research Challenges
How can digital resources be defined?Challenge: Agreeing on a working definition/many different perspectives/stakeholders.
• Objects that employ rich media and span text, images, sound, maps, video, and many other formats.
• Sources include collections developed by large institutional entities (e.g., libraries and museums), those developed by individual scholars, canned curricula, and everything in between.
• Particularly interested in free, unrestricted content, but considered any resource faculty say they use, regardless of whether it is restricted or not—“authentic use”
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Ask Faculty: Survey
• Survey design and implementation:– Random stratified sample of:
• Calif. community colleges (CCs)• Liberal arts colleges (LACs)• University of California campuses (UCs)
– Range of H/SS disciplines – Challenges: IRB, finding/tracking respondents– Online survey: Pros and cons– Response rates (~18-20%: 830/4400)– Determining representativeness of sample—non-response survey– External check: HNet survey (~ 450 responses/~350 completes)
• Rigorous methodology is resource intensive, but reduces misinterpretation and guesswork
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Survey Instrument
Discussion Groups and Surveys
Four overarching questions:– What digital resources do you use in undergraduate
teaching?– How do you use them?– What obstacles do you encounter?– In a perfect world, what would you do with digital
resources?
We assiduously avoided judgments about “value” of specific resources.
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
A Complex Universe
• Digital collections vary in type, purpose, and perceived value.– Dizzying range of objects used, including personal
collections. Mix of free and commercial resources.– Used for wide range of educational “purposes” and goals
• Variation in faculty enthusiasm and involvement.– A semblance of non, light, heavy, and fundamental users.
Some actively negative—“they can’t substitute for the teaching methods I use”
• Different disciplines/institutions, different needs
• Wide range of obstacles to using resources —cultural, economic, as well as technical.
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Types of Resources Used• Images or visual materials
(75%)• News or other media sources
and archives (64%)*• "Portals" that provide links or
URL's relevant to particular disciplinary topics (63%)
• Online reference resources (62%)
• Digital film or video (62%)• Maps (53%)• Online or digitized documents
(50%)• Audio materials (46%)• Curricular materials and
websites that are created by other faculty and/or other institutions (35%)*
• Digital readers or coursepacks (30%)*
• Online class discussions (28%)*
• Government documents (27%)• Data archives (27%)• Digital facsimiles of ancient or
historical manuscripts (23%)• Simulations or animations
(19%)*• Personal online diaries/blogs
(9%)
(Write-ins < 2%: JSTOR, Google, OED, LOC, Lexis/Nexis, Project Muse, Perseus, MLA)
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Faculty survey responses by discipline: What resources people use (principal components)
-0.12
-0.18
0.35
0.00
0.19
0.05
0.89
-0.01
-0.67
0.11
-0.05
-0.18
0.88
0.27
0.02
-0.20
-0.74
-0.16
0.99
0.02
0.44
0.00
-0.75
0.03
0.48
-0.09
0.53
-0.31
-0.25
-0.11
0.15
-0.13
-0.32
-0.28
-0.08
-0.35
0.20
0.51
0.97
-0.38
-0.34
-0.02
0.28
0.45
-0.26
0.16
0.51
-0.77
0.00
0.48
-1.50 -1.00 -0.50 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50
Anthropology & archaeology Art & architecture HistoryPolitical science Writing Foreign languageLiterature & English language Geography Ethnic, gender, & cultural st.Media st. & communic.
Dat
a, n
ews/
med
ia, a
nd
gove
rnm
enta
l res
ourc
esD
iscu
ssio
n a
nd c
urr
icula
r m
ater
ials
Gen
eral
-purp
ose
and
refe
rence
mat
eria
lsH
isto
rica
l doc
um
ents
, map
s,
and p
rim
ary
sourc
esIm
ages
and a
udio
visu
al
mat
eria
ls
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Curricular Materials x Discipline
Curricular materials • Aggregate: 35%• CC’s higher @ 45%
Curricular Materials x Discipline• Foreign Language 49%• Writing 47 • Art/Architecture 46• Geography 44• Anthropology 35 • Literature/Language 31 • History 28• Political Science 21
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Where People Find Resources
• Search Engines (e.g., Google; 81%)
• Personal Collections (69%)
• Public Online Image Database (62%)
• Online Journals (62%)*
• Media Sites (58%)*
• Library Collections (58%)*
• Portals (55%)
• Online exhibits (37%)*
• Campus Image Databases (24%)
• Commercial Image databases (9%)*
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Where People Find x Institution
77%
69%
62%
5%
21%
53%
36%
57%
65%
52%
88%
64%
60%
10%
31%
59%
43%
70%
80%
60%
87%
71%
62%
15%
26%
58%
37%
52%
46%
69%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
6a. digital resources from... Search
engines/directories
6b. digital resources from... My own personal
collection of digital materials
6c. digital resources from... Public online image
databases
6d. digital resources from... Commercial image
databases
6e. digital resources from... Campus image
databases from my own institution
6f. digital resources from... "Portals" that provide
links or URL's relevant to particular disciplinary
topics
6g. digital resources from... Online exhibits
6h. digital resources from... Library collections
6i. digital resources from... Online journals
6j. digital resources from... Media sites
% of respondents (at least sometimes): Univ of Calif (N=522)
Liberal arts (N=90)Community Coll (N=206)
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
How Are Resources Used in Teaching?
Aggregate Data
- Presented during my lectures/class (e.g., images, audio, etc.) (71%)
- Assigned to students for review and/or study (59%)
- Assigned for student research projects or problem-based learning assignments (56%)
- Posted directly on/linked from my course website (52%; 49%)
- Used in tests and quizzes (25%)
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Motivations for Using
Aggregate
- To integrate primary source material into the course (78%)
- It improves my students’ learning (78%)
- To provide students a context for a topic (75%)
- To get students excited about a topic (73%)
- Allows me to do new things in the classroom (68%)
- Provides access to materials I don’t have at my college (61%)
- To teach critical thinking (56%)*
- To teach info lit skills (56%)*
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Motivation for Use x Institution (1 of 2)
72%
69%
76%
53%
25%
36%
47%
21%
77%
75%
82%
60%
35%
54%
61%
13%
81%
84%
82%
59%
49%
56%
75%
27%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
12a. ...to provide students a context for a topic.
12b. ...to get students excited about a topic.
12c. ...to integrate primary source material into the
course.
12d. ...to integrate my research interests into my course.
12e. ...to provide students with both good and bad
examples of different kinds of scholarship.
12f. ...to teach information literacy (i.e., evaluating the
online materials themselves).
12g. ...to teach critical thinking skills.
12h. ...to provide students a preview of the course before
they register.
% of respondents (at least sometimes): Univ of Calif (N=522)Liberal arts (N=90)Community Coll (N=206)
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Faculty survey responses by discipline: How people use digital resources (principal components)
-0.23
0.40
-0.05
0.24
0.52
0.06
0.12
0.31
-0.18
0.05
-0.06
0.47
-0.31
0.29
-0.08
-0.17
0.32
-0.21
0.44
-0.51
0.13
0.12
-0.12
0.01
0.03
-0.28
-0.07
-0.31
-0.03
0.01
0.28
0.62
-0.37
0.10
-0.08
0.17
0.14
-0.22
0.55
0.18
-1.50 -1.00 -0.50 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50
Anthropology & archaeology Art & architecture HistoryPolitical science Writing Foreign languageLiterature & English language Geography Ethnic, gender, & cultural st.Media st. & communic.
Studen
t ass
ignm
ents
Web
pos
ting
Online
cours
esIn
-cla
ss p
rese
nta
tion
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Barriers & Frustrations
Aggregate
- They cannot substitute for the teaching approaches I use. (75%)- I don’t have time (66%)- I don’t have reliable access to physical resources in my classroom.
(53%)- They distract from the core goals of my teaching (47%)- The digital resources are distributed in so many places that it is
difficult for me to organize them for use in my teaching. (45%)- There are too many resources out there for me to take advantage of
— I am overwhelmed.(44%)- I don’t have time to assess the credibility of the available resources.
(43%)- The content I need or want is just not available online. (41%)
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• Given a teaching style and materials that require one-on-one and/or group discussions regularly, … the computer is a poor substitute for being in a classroom where ideas bong off of each other and where we “talk” as people to people, where I can see body language, and where I can manage the flow.—Literature instructor, UCLA
• I find digital technology inherently alienating and a distraction from the sense of human community and interpersonal communication I try to create.—Writing and art instructor, UC Santa Barbara
• I think there is a real danger of students’ becoming too computer literate and “connected” in ways that undermine, or at least compete with, other crucial skills: argumentative writing, careful and critical reading of long texts, and oral argument.—Political science instructor, UCLA
• Frankly, I just don’t really want to use digital resources. What’s wrong with books anyway?—History instructor, UC Berkeley
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Faculty survey responses by discipline: Reasons for use and non-use (principal components)
0.05
-0.07
-0.25
0.01
-0.14
0.04
0.39
0.16 0.20
0.09
-0.32
-0.11
0.40
0.10
0.08
0.03
0.31
-0.22
0.08
-0.03
-0.25
0.07
-0.10
0.07
-0.27
-0.40
0.09
-0.21
0.10
-0.17
-0.02
-0.07
-0.10
0.54
0.31
0.11
0.22
0.61
-0.14
-0.44
0.39
0.06
0.19
0.03
0.12
-0.40
0.06
-0.10
-0.18
-0.01
0.26
0.07
-0.22
0.21
-0.11
-0.16
0.21
-0.30
-0.98
-0.02
0.26
0.26
0.12
0.11
0.27
-0.19
-0.03
0.36
-0.35
-0.14
0.28
-0.19
-0.18
0.16
-0.46
0.13
0.09
0.18
0.35
-0.35
-1.50-1.00
-0.500.00
0.501.00
1.50
Anthrop
ology & archaeology
Art &
architecture
History
Political science
Writing
Foreign language
Literatu
re & E
nglish language
Geograp
hyEthnic, gend
er, & cu
ltural st.
Med
ia st. & com
munic.
Pedagogical reasons
Inappropriate-ness
Concerns re: students'
interpretation and info. literacy
Time, convenience, and
access
Teaching info. literacy and
critical thinking
Making information
publicly available
Using free and publicly available
materials
Expectations and reputation
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
• I came across an adage that “email allows me to do in one hour what I never had to do before.” So it goes with course WWW sites and digital instructional media too. —Art history instructor, UC Berkeley
• I am excited about the possibilities here to truly enhance teaching. For me the primary stumbling block is in having the time to explore and evaluate sources, not a lack of sources or a lack of belief that quality resources are out there.—English and writing instructor, Mendocino Community College
• I have not devoted enough time to finding out what is out there. I feel like I need a sabbatical just to learn to make efficient use of digital matter.—History instructor, Pomona College
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Activities for Which Support or Assistance is Important
- Obtaining or setting up technical infrastructure (servers, computers, smart classrooms, etc.) (82%)
- Creating my own website; importing resources into my website (82%; 79%)
- Digitizing existing resources (80%)
- Learning how to use; integrating resources into a LMS (79%; 78%)
- Gathering, organizing, maintaining materials (78%)
- Interpreting/securing copyright (65%)
- Assessing credibility of; evaluating appropriateness of resources
(42%; 50%)
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• I find that the computer in class anchors me to a certain spot and at times to a certain order of presentation. I need freedom to improvise, change direction, and physically move around…Finally, I hate the tension that equipment introduces into the classroom, the fear of breakdown, the suspense, the frequent waste of time.…
—English instructor, UC Santa Barbara
• The physical teaching facility is a big issue. I am currently carrying my laptop and projector from classroom to classroom and having to reconnect two or three times per teaching day. The rooms in which I teach have no online hook-ups, which is also a limitation. The physical burden of this technology can sometimes discourage me from using it.
—History instructor, LA Harbor Community College
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Personal Collections
90%
42%
86%
46%
78%
27%
63%
41%
70%
35%
78%
43%
62%
31%
72%
50%
73%
32%
73%
22%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
9a. I gather or maintain my own collection of digital resources.
9b. I make my own digital resources available to others via the internet.
% of respondents (at least sometimes): Anthro & archaeology (N=65)
Art & architecture (N=102)
History (N=99)
Political science (N=90)
Writing (N-33)
Foreign language (N=93)
Lit & English (N=235)
Geography (N=18)
Ethnic, gender, & cultural st. (N=26)
Media studies (N=13)
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Good Enough?
• Faculty use a variety of strategies for negotiating the digital morass.
• Path of least resistance is the one usually taken. EASY trumps all.
• Google search, a walk down the hall, an e-mail to a colleague/family, visit to the website of a trusted archive, or ones own personal and eclectic collection of digital stuff.
• What’s good enough for users?
Depends on problem; single individual may have different standards and strategies that are determined by the immediate objective, time constraints, budgets, personal and institutional equipment, and support staff, among other variables.
• One-size-fits-all programs or resources unlikely to serve the wide range of potential users.
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Challenges: Building Tools for Reaggregating Resources
• Difficulty of reaggregating objects that are bundled into fixed, often proprietary resources (incl w/in LMSs);
• Managing and interpreting digital rights (pulling data from one resource for integration into another);
• Unevenness of interface usability and aesthetics (and need for high-end);
• Growing demand from users for granularity (e.g., the ability to search/find particular image or piece of text within a large resource);
• Ubiquity of faculty “personal collections” and lack of support for digitizing, managing, preserving, integrating;
• Knowing about and finding digital objects—some have no idea about the availability of local and non-local resources (esp. licensed resources).
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© 2006, Center for Studies in Higher Education | Diane Harley, Ph.D. | http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy 1.23.07
Advice for Researchers
• Differentiate among types of OER content; the category of OER needs to be refined.
• Differentiate among OER users and the contexts in which OER can be potentially used.
• Differentiate users with different skill levels and learning objectives.
• Study non-users.
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Use of Digital Resources in Humanities and Social Science Undergraduate Education
Diane Harley, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), UC Berkeley
Full Report/Project Website: http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/digitalresourcestudy/
January 23, 2007
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Acknowledgements
Research Team:
Jonathan Henke, M.I.M.S.
Shannon Lawrence, M.A.
David Nasatir, Ph.D., Ian Miller, Cara Bautista
Charis Kaskiris, Alison Head, Ph.D., Sarah Ellinger
Sara Pashmfaroosh, Judy Lien