Centering Student Success on Information Literacy: One Institution’s

Information Literacy Modules

Dr. Kelvin ThompsonUniversity of Central Florida

Elizabeth KillingsworthSouthern Methodist University

@kthompso @ekilling#infolitmods

http://bit.ly/thompson_sacs13

CONNECTING TO INFORMATION

All Rights Reserved by Flickr user The Great Work Used with permission. http://

www.flickr.com/photos/graywolfouroboros/7000028698

“A Wall of Books” by mikecogh on FlickrCC BY 2.0 license

http://www.flickr.com/photos/activeside/2367540964/

“Personal Ecosystem” by ActiveSide on FlickrCC BY 2.0 license

http://www.flickr.com/photos/activeside/2367540964/

All Rights Reserved by QuartzUsed with permission.

http://qz.com/150861/a-snapshot-of-one-minute-on-the-internet-today-and-in-2012

Data: GP Bullhound, Intel, Facebook, Twitter Quartz

1 Internet Minute: 2012 v. 2013

Students “Very Likely to Use…”• Google, etc. (94%)• Wikipedia, etc. (75%)• YouTube, etc. (52%)• Their peers (42%)• Cliff Notes, etc. (41%)• News sites of major news organizations (25%)• Print or electronic textbooks (18%)• Online databases (EBSCO, etc.) (17%)• A research librarian (16%)

http://bit.ly/pewreport_full

“…the internet has opened up a vast world of information for

today’s students, yet students’ digital literacy skills have yet to

catch up…”

http://bit.ly/pew_summary

Employer Expectations

“…baseline information competencies… knowing how and where to find information online, without much guidance, to use a search strategy beyond the first page of Google results, and to articulate a “best solution” and conclusion from all that was found.” [emphasis added]

http://bit.ly/employer_study

For Discussion

• What brought you to this session today?

• What specific information literacy needs are you facing at your institution?

• What is preventing you from addressing current needs?

ENTER UCF’S INFORMATION LITERACY MODULES

Origins

• QEP on Information Fluency• “create or acquire accessible information

literacy learning modules… easily incorporated into existing discipline courses and… available to students at all times”

plus• “Alpha” stage learning object system

What’s So Special?

Other Modules UCF’s Info Lit Mods

Very short/very lengthy Complete-able in one sitting

Extra-curricular Designed for integration

Derivatives impractical Designed for instructor customization

No assessment Competency-based assessment

Limited user data Robust user data

What Is a Module?• A module is a complete, automated instructional resource

(no instructor intervention required).

• Each module based upon one identified learning outcome and contains content presentation, practice with feedback, and assessment of learning.

• Each module object is completable in one sitting (no more than 30 minutes).

• Designed for assigning by instructors or student self-selection

What is a Module?

• Content presentation may be text, graphics, video, interactive media, or a combination as appropriate.

• Practice/Assessment may be “traditional” (i.e., true/false or multiple choice) or “non-traditional” (e.g., simulation/authentic assessment) as appropriate.

Start Time End Time

Total Elapsed Time

Time spent on each page within each section

http://bit.ly/module_platform

Demo Video: Module Platform

See info about WCET WOW Award

http://bit.ly/platform_award

Module Topics

• Topics derived from ACRL standards + felt needs• 15 modules total• Includes several style-guide-specific versions• 12 discrete module topics with terminal learning

objectives guiding assessments• “Avoiding Plagiarism” remains most

assigned/completed module

See topics/outcomes

http://bit.ly/infolit_topics

Faculty Use Cases

• Reference material (no record of completion)• Completion "check off" (no connection to grades)• Extra credit opportunity• Score contributes to grade of another assignment• Stand-alone graded assignment

See elaboration at

http://bit.ly/infolit_faculty

Timeline

Year One (2007-2008): 4 modulesYear Two (2008-2009): 4 new modules (8 total)Year Three (2009-2010): 4 new modules (12 total)Year Four (2010-2011): Add question bankYear Five (2011-2012): HTML 5 + 1 new moduleYear Six (2012-2013): 1 new module (14 total)Year Seven (2013-2014): 1 new module (15 total)

Note: Revisions/maintenance annually

Terminology

• Module = complete, automated instructional resource (no instructor intervention required).

• Instance = module version provided to one group of students with group-specific settings

• Completion = submission of an assessment attempt

How Are We Doing?

Between June 23, 2008 – September 30, 2013 there have been:

150,882 "completions" by 29,010 students taught by 349 faculty who created 5645 instances of 15 modules with an average score of 84.6% across all modules’ summative assessments

In end-of-term questionnaires...•Most faculty say they assign modules as stand-alone graded assignments.•On average, faculty report moderate impact on student knowledge/skills.•Few technical problems. (6% of student respondents indicate problems hindering completion. Tech support logs show far fewer numbers.)•On average, students say they have prior experience with content but get value from practice/feedback and find that the summative assessments accurately gauge their competence.

SUPPORT

http://infolit.ucf.edu

CDL Developers

Tiered Help Desk

BADGING THE INFOLITMODSAn Institutional Pilot

• 13,840 assessment completions by

• 4,433 students in

• 422 course sections taught or led by

• 94 faculty members who created

• 430 instances of

• 4 information literacy modules with an average score of

• 85.30% across all modules' summative assessments.

InfoLitMods Year One (2008-2009)

• 38,423 assessment completions by

• 8,082 students in

• 159 unique courses taught or led by

• 160 faculty members who created

• 1275 instances of

• 13 information literacy modules with an average score of

• 85.19% across all modules' summative assessments.

InfoLitMods Year Four (2011-2012)

BADGING MINI-PRIMERWhat Can I Read?

http://bit.ly/CT_badges

http://bit.ly/7things_badges

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Structure of Pilot Project

http://credly.com

So How’s It Going?Initial Findings (as of 11/13/2013)

Initial Data

11,254 - assessments that should have delivered a badge

11,566 - badges sent via institutional email addresses

4039 - individual students who’ve earned badges

53 - students earning badges from non-assigned mods

56 (10+ students) - Number of badges claimed via Credly

Observations

• Earners driven by assignment (currently)

• Watching for student-driven uptick later

• Potential value in each phase of badging:

○ Notification email

○ Claiming (“Save and Share”)

○ Making public

○ Linking to specific badges

CURRENT STATUS

Maintenance Mode

• Funding cuts after 5+ years• New development on hiatus• Maintenance = Annual review/revision

BOILING IT DOWNGuiding Principles/Lessons Learned

Guiding Principles/Lessons Learned

• Student-centered• Faculty-focused• Technology-enabled• Design-conscious

See expanded list at

http://bit.ly/infolit_principles

Excerpted Principles/Lessons

• Look for complementary partnership(s)• Ground modules in what students need to do• Strategically align with faculty (make teaching

role easier)• Get module topics right• Get granularity right• Collect data constantly

See expanded list at

http://bit.ly/infolit_principles

Your Personal Action Plan

• Reflect upon today’s session• Review your notes• Identify one or more ideas you can put into

action• Write down how you will apply the idea• Tell one other person what you plan to do• Discuss 30-60-90 feasibility• Exchange contact info and plan to touch base

QUESTIONS?COMMENTS?DISCUSSION?

54

Follow-Up

Dr. Kelvin Thompsonkelvin@ucf.eduhttp://about.me/drkelvinthompson

Elizabeth Killingsworthelizabethk@smu.edu@ekilling

http://bit.ly/thompson_sacs13