Does course guide design impact student learning?

Abstract

Course and research guides are a common tool of teaching librarians, expanding the reach of instruction sessions. Traditionally these guides were designed in a pathfinder-style with lists of resources by type (e.g., websites, books, etc.). Guides can also be designed pedagogically, where the guide walks a student through the research process. This paper reports the results of a pilot Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) A/B study that examined whether guide type had an impact on student learning. Results indicate students using the pedagogical guide may learn and retain Information Literacy concepts better than students using the pathfinder guide.

Building Positive Learning Experiences through Pedagogical Research Guide Design

“…Still, Ouellette (2011), in a small focus group study, discovered that while students do not use subject guides often, they might if guides were customized to meet their needs. For a more extensive discussion on guides, especially best practices and design, and the use of guides in instruction see the literature review of the complementary in-classroom study (Stone, Lowe, and Maxson 2018).…”

“…If a student is in a class without a course guide, a distance education class, or doing an independent research project, they may be likely to access to a subject, rather than a course guide. As stated previously, the present study complements an in-classroom research project that studied student learning via course-specific guides (Stone, Lowe, and Maxson 2018). The subject of Political Science was chosen for a number of reasons.…”

“…Therefore, duplicating this study with course guides may be useful. There should also be more assessment of the pathfinder and pedagogical guides in a classroom setting (e.g., building on prior research by Greenwell 2016 andStone, Lowe, andMaxson 2018) to identify which guide designs students prefer after library instruction.…”

“…This usability study sought to answer the question: Does a pedagogical design, where the guide leads a student through the research process, aid in learning IL competencies more effectively and positively than a traditional pathfinder guide, especially if used outside of a classroom setting? This study complements a separate in-classroom study using course, rather than subject, guides, see Stone, Lowe, and Maxson 2018. Many usability studies on library research guides focus on design components such as the optimal number of tabs, boxes, or effectiveness (e.g., whether students can find resources). Few have studied students' learning experience.…”

“…Organization of side menu for each subject guide(Pathfinder, left, vs. Pedagogical, right) Infographic of the Research Process in the Pedagogical Guide (Stone, Lowe, and Maxson 2018) Boxplot of Keywords, Article (Relevance), and Evaluation Scores Between the Two Guide Design Groups Boxplot of Research Question and Article (Scholarly) Scores Between the Two Guide Design Groups Figure 5: Average Usability and User Experience Score for the Pedagogical and Pathfinder Guides Figure 6: Emotional Response Frequency Based on Reactions to the Research Process, Using Databases, and Using the Assigned Library Guide Figure 7: Boxplot of Student Interactions Including Time Spent on the Guide, Number of Interactions, and Number of Resources Selected Student Self-Efficacy through Guide Design 1 Modified Infographic of the Research Process(Stone, Lowe, and Maxson 2018) …”