The Washington State University Honors College course, UH 290, "Science as a Way of Knowing," engages freshmen in scientific inquiry and scholarly literature research. The UH 290 instructor, a learning design consultant, and two librarians collaborated to develop and deliver the course's information literacy curriculum. The team used student surveys, research blogs, case studies, library instruction sessions, homework problem sets and exams. Students gained from scaffolded instruction including hands-on practice activities and feedback; embedded assessments informed adjustments to the course syllabus and activities. This case study details the progressively improved use of this approach and these tools over two semesters.
In 2003, an evaluation of journal use statistics at Washington State University was undertaken to determine if the selection of electronic journals in the Owen Science and Engineering Library was changing student and researchers’ choice of journals. Use statistics showed that most print journals were being used more than they were prior to the advent of electronic journals. Generally, electronic journals were used heavily and the availability of electronic format greatly enhanced the total use of most titles. However, some electronic journals were used little or not at all, and there was a substantial increase in the use of some print titles.
This study examines journal use in three scientific disciplines. A previous study found that print use increased after electronic access was added. This article uses the same methods to determine if the increase in the use of the paper has continued. A cultural shift has happened between the two studies. Although the use of paper journals increased with the advent of e-journals, a shift in use patterns has occurred and patrons now favor electronic format. There are disciplinary differences in the use of paper and electronic formats. Most journal titles showing increases in print use also were available in electronic format.
The Owen Science and Engineering Library incorporates use statistics for both print and electronic versions of journals into their journal retention decisions. Continuous in-house statistics have been taken over the last seven years for the print versions of the journals. The library has been able to gather electronic use statistics from 39% of the publishers, which account for over 99% of the titles to which they subscribe. This data is manipulated to establish number of uses for each year for each title, and cost-per-use for each title. Using this information as a starting point, decisions on journal retention are made each year.
The learning goals of a lower division honors course, Science as a Way of Knowing, include critical thinking, scientific literacy, quantitative reasoning, communication, and teamwork. To help students develop skills and competencies for the course learning outcomes, we used a case study and developed scaffolded activities and assignments that targeted discipline-relevant tasks, for example, primary literature search, evaluation of source credibility, hypothesis construction, data interpretation, and restatement of scientific content into lay terminology. We then implemented group take-home exams, which feature rigorous, open-ended questions in authentic contexts, requiring students to apply knowledge and competencies cooperatively to new situations. Data from five semesters show that, in comparison to traditional exams, many students feel that group takehome exams reduce test anxiety, foster interpersonal skills, are more rigorous, and better enable them to apply and synthesize knowledge and deepen their comprehension of the subject matter. Our study augments research on group exams that use an open-ended response format.
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