One-shot or Embedded? Assessing Different Delivery Timing for Information Resources Relevant to Assignments

Abstract

Objective – This study aims to determine if the timing of library in-class presentations makes a difference in the type and quality of resources students use for each of four assignments in an introductory speech class. This comparison of content delivery timing contrasts a single, 50-minute lecture early in the semester with four approximately 12-minute lectures offered just before each assignment. 
 
 Methods – First-year engineering students taking Fundamentals of Speech Communication provide the study group. Each speech assignment requires students to turn in an outline and list of references. The list of references for each student was given to the librarians, after the assignments were appropriately anonymized, for analysis of resource type, quality of resource, and completeness of citation. Researchers coded a random sample of bibliographies from the assignments using a framework to identify resource type (book, periodical, Web, facts & figures, unknown) and quality, based on intended audience and purpose (scholarly, entertainment, persuasion/bias), and compared them to each other to determine if a difference is evident. The authors coordinated what material would be presented to the students to minimize variation between the sections.
 
 Results – The study found a statistically significant difference between groups of students, demonstrating that the frequent, short library instruction sessions produce an increased use of high-quality content. Similarly, the sections with multiple library interactions show more use of periodicals than websites, while completeness of references is not significantly different across teaching methods.
 
 Conclusions – More frequent and timely interaction between students and library instruction increases the quality of sources used and the completeness of the citations written. While researchers found statistically significant differences, the use of a citation coding framework developed for specific engineering research and design tasks means the analysis done in this study is not as accurate as it might be with a framework designed for analyzing the resources required for researching and writing speech assignments.

One-Shot Library Instruction Sessions May Not Increase Student Use of Academic Journals or Diversity of Sources

“…To date, several studies report that one-off workshops, tailored to the needs of student groups, may result in the increased use of specific databases (Rafferty, 2013;Van Epps, 2013). Similar to the results of this article, these studies found that the educational interventions used had a positive impact on student assignments.…”

A Double Shot of Information Literacy Instruction at a Community College

“…In 2001, Michael Lorenzen noted that "cooperative learning is a model many librarians have turned towards" (Lorenzen 2001, 19). This is demonstrated in many examples such as interactive instructional games (Walker 2008;Elzen and Roush 2013), active learning information literacy instructional techniques (Stec 2006;Dabbour 1997;Van Epps and Nelson 2013;Detlor, Booker, Serenko, and Julien 2012), and fully integrated librarian-faculty collaboration (Hall 2009;Jacobs and Jacobs 2009). Active learning is especially important for the students with below-proficient information literacy skills.…”

“…Research also indicates that multiple information literacy sessions are more effective than single (one-shot) instructional sessions (Hollister and Coe 2003;Badke 2009;Mery, Newby, and Peng 2012;Van Epps and Nelson 2013). As Yvonne Mery, Jill Newby, and Ke Peng state, "information literacy is best taught through a well-designed online course where students have multiple opportunities to engage with information literacy concepts that they can apply in their English 102 courses and other courses in which they may be enrolled" (Mery, Newby, and Peng 2012, 374).…”

“…As Yvonne Mery, Jill Newby, and Ke Peng state, "information literacy is best taught through a well-designed online course where students have multiple opportunities to engage with information literacy concepts that they can apply in their English 102 courses and other courses in which they may be enrolled" (Mery, Newby, and Peng 2012, 374). Amy Van Epps and Megan Nelson (2013) found in a comparison of one-shot 50 minute sessions and four 12 minute sessions, that students attending the multiple sessions showed improvement in the type and quality of resources used for academic writing (Van Epps and Nelson 2013). It is through multiple visits that active learning activities can be implemented and student learning is enhanced through repetition.…”

How Do Our Students Learn? An Outline of a Cognitive Psychological Model for Information Literacy Instruction

“…21 The temptation, then, is to pack as much content into a session as possible to maximize students' exposure to library resources and research skills. However, research in cognitive science indicates that this strategy is ineffective, and that by limiting the amount of content delivered in a single classroom session, instructors can improve the amount of information students retain.…”