THE LIBRARY AND THE 1ST YEAR SCIENCE

STUDENTS: COLLABORATION IN TEACHING INFORMATION

LITERACY

Pavlinka Kovatcheva, UJ Faculty Librarian: Sciences

E-mail: pkovatcheva@uj.ac.za

Presented at the UJ Faculty of Science First Year Academy

31 October 2012

ABOUT INFORMATION LITERACY:WHY IS IT IMPORTANT

Defining Information Literacy (IL) as applied to the academic environment:

“It refers to skills that enable one to recognize when they need information to solve a problem, how they can formulate their search strategy and skills of being able to identify the correct sources of the relevant information they need from books, journals, on-line databases, indexes, etc., and conducting the search itself to yield useful information. Their ability to evaluate the documents/information they get. How to extract the information they need, make proper references.” (Baro & Keboh, 2012)

INFORMATION LITERACY PRACTICES FOR UJ 1ST YEAR SCIENCES STUDENTS

Library Orientation and Tours in the Library Group Subject specific information skills sessions One-to-one library trainings Help with Searches, Assignments, Lab reports and

Research projects Online support with Subject guides (Portals) Online support via EduLink: Library Resources:

Sciences Online tutorials (Subject portals; EduLink) Assessment methods: Test & Trainings feedback Use Social Networking for communicating and

sharing information and resources with users

LIBRARY & FACULTY COLLABORATION IN TEACHING & LEARNING

According to the literature:“ Subject-specific information literacy and its

integration into curricula, especially in the sciences, benefit students” (Ferrer-Vinent & Carello, 2011)

“ Collaboration between classroom faculty and librarians has been identified as a key element in the success of a library instruction program” (Ferrer-Vinent & Carello, 2008)

“ Competency in science information literacy is an objective of most undergraduate biology programs” (Fuselier & Nelson, 2011)

UJ FACULTY OF SCIENCE: FIRST YEAR ORIENTATION 2012

- THE LIBRARY -

Source

UJ FACULTY OF SCIENCE: FIRST YEAR ORIENTATION 2012 (1)

Library Information sessions as part of the UJ Faculty of Science Orientation

APK Campus DFC Campus

Date: 24/1/2012 Date: 30/1/2012

Number of students: ~ 650 Number of students: ~ 150

Power Point presentation Power Point presentation

Introduction to the: • APK Library facilities• APK Library services• Library Resources (print &

online)• Sciences Subject Portals &

Social Networking

Introduction to the: • DFC Library facilities• DFC Library services• Library Resources (print &

online)• Sciences Subject Portals &

Social Networking

UJ FACULTY OF SCIENCE: FIRST YEAR ORIENTATION 2012 (2) Library Tours as part of the UJ Faculty of

Science Orientation: APK Campus DFC Campus

Dates: 25/1/12 & 26/1/12 Date: 2/2/12

Groups: 11Number of students: ~ 300Assistants: Faculty & Library staff

Groups: 5Number of students: ~ 90Assistants: Library staff

Print-out: Sciences brochure Print-out: Sciences brochure

The APK Library Tour included: • Library security; Information

Point; Lending Desk & Books on Reserve; Computers; Printers & Photocopies; Open Shelves Book Collections (Sciences, Level 3); Journal Collections; ILL & ICL; Reference Collection; Sciences Librarian desk

The DFC Library Tour included: • Library security; Information

Point; Circulation Desk & Books on Reserve; Computers; Printers & Photocopies; Open Shelves Book Collections; Journal Collections; ILL & ICL; Reference Collection; Audio-Visual Collection; Sciences Librarian desk

UJ FACULTY OF SCIENCE: FIRST YEAR ORIENTATION 2012 (3)

UJ FACULTY OF SCIENCE: FIRST YEAR ORIENTATION 2012 (4)

Comments: The 2012 Library Orientation was better presented

to the 1st year students than past years It weight more the value of the library, if it is in a

slot after the UJ Faculty of Science Dean’s speech… Thus, it shows student the recognition of the

library as an important component in their studies Better opportunity for the Librarian to meet with

higher number of students, compared to the small groups before EduLink trainings(as in past years)

The Library tours helped students to get to know more about the library, available facilities, services and resources.

BIOLOGY 1A

1ST SEMESTER 2012

Practical Report writing, Plagiarism and the use of Library Resources

BIOLOGY 1A: COLLABORATION IN TEACHING & LEARNING

Discussion with the lecturers to find a way to incorporate the library instruction during the Biology 1A course in the 1st semester of 2012

Purpose: - For students to be able to develop library research skill in finding and applying information for their Lab report. - To learn how to avoid plagiarism by citing and referencing in the correct method

BIOLOGY 1A: LIBRARY RESEARCH SKILLS

Library Training Sessions; Feedback & Assessments Class list (133 students)

Writing Scientific report: Part 1 Finding & Accessing information

Writing Scientific report: Part 2Plagiarism, Citing & Referencing

2 Groups: 15/2 & 16/2Time slot: 1 hour for each groupVenue: LabsNumber of students attended: ~120

2 Groups: 20/2 & 21/2Time slot: 1 hour for each groupVenue: LabsNumber of students attended: ~110

Training content: Steps in Online Searching; Library Resources for Biology; How to write a report; Article structure; Databases for e-books & journals; EduLink access to resources

Training content: What is Plagiarism & Copyright; How to avoid Plagiarism by citing and referencing; Practical examples of citing techniques; how to reference a book; journal article; Internet resource

EduLink : Library Resources; Both presentations; Mastering Biology Online access

Assessment test after the sessions: To reference correctly a book & article

Incorporate library questions in the Practical1 test

Questionnaire feedback for all the training sessions

BIOLOGY 1: LIBRARY QUESTIONS IN PRACTICAL TEST

BIOLOGY 1A: LIBRARY RESEARCH SKILLS

Some of the feedback from Biology 1 students. They found the training sessions:

Informative and helpful; Need more practice; The librarian was good and she met all our

expectations; Pavlinka was perfect The training really helped, because now I know

how to reference a book and also how to search for article and books online

I wish I knew all this earlier. After I saw these presentations everything was easier

The information provided was good and helped with the practical and now we understand the concept of plagiarism

INFORMATICS 1B

TRAINING & ASSIGNMENT

INFORMATICS 1B: ASSIGNMENT

Training sessions were requested by the Academy of Computer Science & Software Engineering.

Students were given an assignment to find 2 articles and answer the research question

Informatics 1B: Library training “How to find Information for your Research project”

Training sessions: 31/7/12 & 2/9/12 (2 sessions)

Time slot: 1 hour eachVenue: Lecture Halls

Training content: How to access library resources (Subject Portal; EduLink); How to Search for print & Online books; How to search for journals; How to search the Databases for articles; Citing & Referencing

Comments: There was no formal assessment or feedback

STATISTICS 1B

LIBRARY ASSIGNMENT

OCTOBER 2012

STATISTICS 1B: LIBRARY ASSIGNMENT

The Statistics 1B students had no formal library training.

The lecturer requested that I’m available for students to meet and help.

+- 80 students First 2 weeks in October 2012 2 Assignment topics:

- Find the name of the Science librarian @ APK; which floor are the statistics books; the Classification number range- To find a scientific article on a topic (hypothesis testing).

EDULINK LIBRARY RESOURCES: SCIENCES2012•Library presence at the Virtual Learning Environment: EduLink

•EduLink Statistics

Click icon to add picture

EDULINK: LIBRARY RESOURCES SCIENCES

EDULINK: LIBRARY RESOURCES SCIENCES

EDULINK SCIENCES STATS: FEB – MAR 2012

EDULINK SCIENCES STATS: APRIL 2012

EDULINK SCIENCES STATS: MAY - OCT 2012

SCIT02 COURSE: PLAGIARISM & COPYRIGHT

(OCTOBER 2012, 2ND SEMESTER)

SCIT02 COURSE: PLAGIARISM & COPYRIGHT (1)

Discussed at the UJ Faculty of Science Teaching and Learning meeting and the Deans’ Committee meeting to present the workshop to Sciences First Years

The only classes where we reach all our students will be in the Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Computer Science. 

An hour of lecturer’s time, where the Faculty librarian: Sciences & Copyright officer will do training sessions.  

This is a credit bearing and the students will complete an Edulink test after the sessions.

(Melanie Jacobs, Faculty of Science)

SCIT02 COURSE: PLAGIARISM & COPYRIGHT (2)

The trainings took place in the first 2 weeks of October 2012

With my colleague Thapelo Mashishi, UJ Copyright Officer we trained 12 classes – 804 students

Both APK & DFC Campuses 1st year Science students

Power Point Presentation that covers:- What is Plagiarism & Copyright- How to avoid Plagiarism by Citing & Referencing - 4 videos were played to enhance the presentation and to provide visual explanation

SCIT02 COURSE: PLAGIARISM & COPYRIGHT (3) Created on EduLink test- 30 questions, which

students needed to complete and have a minimum of 50% to pass the course, by 31st October. The questions were equally distributed to cover all the training material

The Presentation and additional Plagiarism Resources were added to EduLink

Link to the UJ Sciences Librarian Plagiarism Portal is available to students to watch relevant videos and practice their knowledge.

EDULINK PLAGIARISM STATS: OCTOBER 2012

EDULINK PLAGIARISM STATS: TEST RESULTS

780 registered students for the CSIT02 course 436 completed the Plagiarism test by 30/10

10097

9390

8783

8077

73

67

21

64

70

111

82

48

16 16

2 1

Pass %Students

EDULINK PLAGIARISM STATS: TEST RESULTS

Most of the students who completed the test, answer correctly between 25 and 29 questions

1 17 33 49 65 81 97 1131291451611771932092252412572732893053213373533693854014174330

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Grade Value

Grade Va...

THE USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING IN COMMUNICATING AND SHARING OF INFORMATION

UJ SCIENCES LIBRARIAN PORTALhttp://

ujsciencelibrarian.pbworks.com/w/page/6193643/FrontPage

IN CONCLUSION:

Way forward and recommendations: Close collaboration and partnership between

the Faculty and the Sciences Librarians Need to look at all possible ways to improve

the teaching of IL skills for undergraduates To adapt 1st year Orientation to more practical

and efficient training and assessment To work closely with lecturer and implement IL

into the subject instructions, such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, etc.

To provide throughout the year training courses based on need analysis

REFERENCES:

Baro, E.E. & Keboh, T. 2012. Teaching and Fostering Information Literacy Programmes: A Survey of Five University Libraries in Africa. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 38(5):311-315

Ferrer-Vinent, I.J. & Carello, C.A. 2011. The Lasting Value of an Embedded, First-Year Biology Library Instruction Program. Science & Technology Libraries, 30:254-266.

Ferrer-Vinent, I.J. & Carello, C.A. 2008. Embedded Library Instruction in a First-Year Biology Laboratory Course. Science & Technology Libraries, 28(4):325-351

Fuselier, L. & Nelson, B. 2011. A Test of the Efficiency of an Information Literacy Lesson in an Introductory Biology Laboratory Course with a strong Science-Writing Component. Science & Technology Libraries, 30:58-75

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN 2012