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Using interactive technology to teach information literacy concepts to undergraduate students

Teaching information literacy 491

Annie Armstrong and Helen Georgas Richard J. Daley Library, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA Abstract Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to measure the effectiveness of a highly interactive animated tutorial that aims to teach basic information literacy concepts to undergraduates and to determine which factors enhance online learning. Design/methodology/approach – The tutorial was evaluated using 30 undergraduate students. Each test consisted of a pre-tutorial questionnaire and a post-tutorial questionnaire. Findings – Data from the evaluative testing of the tutorial shows that the tutorial is effective in imparting information literacy concepts to undergraduate students. Students responded positively to the interactivity and game-like nature of the tutorial. Originality/value – The high degree of interactivity and the game-like quality of the tutorial are key factors in its success. Thus, developers should aim to incorporate these elements into future online tutorials for undergraduate students. Keywords Interactive devices, Tutorials, Action learning, Library instruction, Information literacy Paper type Research paper

Introduction Interactivity is a key factor contributing to the success of online library instructional tutorials (Dewald, 1999; Tricarico et al., 2001; Donaldson, 1999; Dewald et al., 2000; Hrycaj, 2005; Durrington et al., 2006). This article outlines the development and assessment of a highly interactive animated tutorial developed by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) using Macromedia Flash software. Entitled “Doing Research: An Introduction to the Concepts of Online Searching”[1], the tutorial introduces undergraduate students to basic information literacy concepts including selecting keywords for a research topic, identifying synonyms and related terms, using the search term “AND”, and reading a citation. The research skills covered in the tutorial prepare students to search any online search tool with Boolean search options. The exercises in the tutorial focusing on identifying synonyms and reading citations can be applied to almost any online database, regardless of whether or not it requires the use of Boolean searching. The tutorial includes minimal text, and users are almost always in motion, synthesizing information as they play a series of animated games designed to illustrate basic research concepts. Interactive software such as Macromedia Flash allows librarians to facilitate learning experiences that are simultaneously interactive and fun. User feedback gained from testing of the Doing Research tutorial (see Figure 1) indicates that its consistent interactivity and game-like nature are key factors in its success in imparting information literacy concepts to undergraduate students.

Reference Services Review Vol. 34 No. 4, 2006 pp. 491-497 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0090-7324 DOI 10.1108/00907320610716396

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Figure 1. Doing Research tutorial – table of contents

Review of the literature Numerous articles cite the importance of integrating interactivity and active learning exercises into online library instruction tutorials in order to fully engage students (Dewald, 1999a; Tricarico et al., 2001; Donaldson, 1999; Dewald et al., 2000; Hrycaj, 2005; Durrington et al., 2006). Tutorials focusing on the search mechanics of a particular index or catalog have not generally taken advantage of creative design, or provided a fun, game-like atmosphere conducive to enjoyment, a key factor that enhances learning for students of all ages. Nancy Dewald (1999) posits that successful instruction in a web environment incorporates the following elements: . active learning; . collaborative learning; . multimedia; . clearly outlined objectives; . concepts versus mechanics; and . offering a librarian’s help. Furthermore, in an article by MacDonald et al. (2001), it was noted that the best web-based learning programs should be “interactive, engaging, easy to use, responsive to learners’ experiences, and satisfying”. It has also been well documented that online games can provide engaging learning experiences for students and that games can serve as models for instructional design (Kiili, 2005; Dickey, 2005; Corbit, 2005). Informed by research emphasizing the effectiveness of active learning and games in conveying content in online learning environments, the librarians at UIC determined that their design would involve interactivity and game-playing whenever possible.

Methodology Development of tutorial The development of the Doing Research tutorial was initiated via the librarians’ participation in an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership grant designed to measure the effectiveness of multimedia for library user education. The principal investigator of the project was Karen Markey, a professor in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. Librarians at the University of Notre Dame, Purdue University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago participated, and each participant received training in Flash development and instructional design prior to developing a tutorial geared towards library users at their institution (Markey et al., 2004). The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is a research university that serves nearly 25,000 students. The instruction program of the Richard J. Daley Library focuses primarily on freshman students enrolled in a required English composition class (English 161). As freshmen in English 161 frequently have little or no library or research experience, the library instruction sessions are designed to introduce students to basic information literacy concepts and research skills. The UIC librarians designed the outline, learning objectives, content, and storyboard for the Doing Research tutorial, and hired a graduate assistant at the University of Michigan’s School of Information to develop it using Flash software. The librarians decided to focus on basic Boolean searching and keyword and synonym selection. They chose this content because it presented a recurring instructional challenge in the classroom setting. The UIC librarians observed that after demonstrating these concepts to students, the students frequently proceeded to employ Boolean logic incorrectly. They wondered if students would gain a greater understanding of these concepts by performing an interactive exercise rather than by passively listening to and watching the librarian in the classroom. Once the tutorial was completed, the librarians conducted usability testing in order to ensure that the tutorial was user-friendly and functional. Ten undergraduate students participated in this usability testing. For each test, the participant worked through the tutorial as the librarian observed and noted parts of the tutorial that posed challenges to users due to either inadequate instructions or technological malfunction. Following each subject’s completion of the tutorial, they were asked a series of questions aimed at identifying any difficulties they encountered while using the tutorial, and how it could be improved. Once the usability testing was complete, feedback from the students was incorporated into further development of the tutorial to optimize its functionality and user-friendliness. Evaluative testing of tutorial Following the completion of the usability testing, the librarians conducted evaluative testing using 30 undergraduate students. Evaluative testing involved three stages: . each student completed a pre-tutorial questionnaire; . each student completed the Doing Research tutorial; and . each student completed a post-tutorial questionnaire. The pre-tutorial questionnaire contained ten questions designed to measure the student’s knowledge of information literacy concepts outlined in the tutorial, as well as

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questions about the student such as their academic major, gender and previous experience using libraries and online resources. The post-tutorial questionnaire consisted of ten multiple-choice questions measuring the student’s knowledge of information literacy concepts outlined in the tutorial, seven Likert-scale questions gauging the student’s experience taking the tutorial and nine multiple-choice and narrative response questions about the student’s perceptions of their future use of multimedia tutorials. Of the 30 undergraduate students tested, 56.7 percent were freshmen, 60 percent were female and 40 percent were male, and 90 percent had never previously attended a library workshop. Results and discussion The data from the evaluative testing demonstrates that the tutorial successfully imparts basic information literacy concepts to students. Students averaged 7.138 correct answers (out of ten) on the pre-test questions focusing on their knowledge of basic concepts of doing research online. On the post-test questions, students averaged 9.0 correct answers (out of ten). The difference of 1.862 correct answers is statistically significant (Markey et al., 2004). The students were very enthusiastic in terms of rating the usefulness of the tutorial’s content. On a scale of 0 to 10, almost half (46.7 percent) gave the tutorial the highest (10) rating or next to highest (9) rating. The mean rating was 8.1. A major objective of creating the tutorial was to provide students with an enjoyable learning experience. As such, the librarians aspired to make the tutorial as visually engaging, interactive and game-like as possible. On a scale of 0 to 10, 13 of the 30 students responded with the highest ratings of 9 (three students) and 10 (ten students) for level of enjoyment. Overall, the students gave the tutorial a mean rating of 8.1 in terms of enjoyment (where 0 represents “not enjoyable” and 10 represents “very enjoyable”). A second major objective was to create a tutorial that was unique in terms of its animation, level of interactivity and game-like nature. When students were asked to rate how different the Doing Research tutorial was from other websites or tutorials they have used to learn about academic topics, students gave the tutorial a mean rating of 7.1 (on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 represents “not different” and 10 represents “very different”). A concern of the librarians in developing an animated and fun tutorial to teach basic research concepts to undergraduate students was that students might perceive it as too rudimentary or juvenile for their level of education. In the post-tutorial questionnaire, we asked students to rate how appropriate the tutorial was for their level of education. On a scale of 0 to 10, students gave the tutorial a mean rating of 7.3 for appropriateness based on their level of education (where 0 represents “not appropriate” and 10 represents “very appropriate”). When asked whether students would recommend the Doing Research tutorial to friends, 80 percent of students said they were “highly likely” or “somewhat likely” to recommend it. When asked whether students wanted more multimedia tutorials like Doing Research, 83.3 percent responded affirmatively. In their narrative responses about future use of the Doing Research tutorial, students who stated that they would use or recommend the tutorial in the future frequently mentioned one or more of the following attributes:

. . . . .

innovativeness; interactivity; game-like nature; fun; and ability to cater to various learning styles.

One student remarked that the tutorial was “an innovative and clear way to teach various skills in researching”. Multiple students praised the high level of interactivity in the tutorial, one stating that “It was awesome. Like a movie except interactive”. Another student stated that “it teaches you something and provides an exercise so that you can actually perform what’s been taught”. Several responses indicated an enjoyment of the games in the tutorial. One student said that “the tutorial was helpful for those who don’t know how to research and the games were enjoyable”. Another student said: “it was fun to watch – almost like a video game, because it was an interactive movie”. Another student said that they would recommend the tutorial to others “because it is helpful and the way that it teaches you is easy to understand and remember by using simple games to relate what you have just learned”. Many students used the word “fun” in remarking about the tutorial. One student stated, “It’s short, fun, and easy to learn from”. Another student stated: “I might consult the Doing Research tutorial in the future just for fun”. Students were also asked if they would prefer learning the content of the tutorial in a classroom setting or by asking a librarian. The majority of responses indicated that students would rather learn by taking the tutorial than by attending a class or asking a librarian for help. One student remarked that that a traditional setting was “more confusing and boring”, and it was therefore “better to do it online”. Another student remarked that “a tutorial is less confronting than a librarian or classroom, this is private and enjoyable”. One student stated that “online was more fun to do”. Another stated that “the visual effects helped”. At least five students used the word “pace” in their narrative responses to this question. One student commented that “you can learn at your own pace whenever you like”. Another student simply stated “I enjoyed going at my own pace”. Another student said that “sometimes people just want to learn things on their own at their own pace”. Yet another student remarked that “the online tutorial is better cause I am a more visual, go at my own pace person, which the tutorial satisfies”. These responses indicate that the tutorial caters to students who prefer to learn independently and in a self-paced environment. The results of the evaluative testing of the tutorial support many of the assertions of Dewald (1999) and MacDonald et al. (2001) pertaining to the factors responsible for the success of online tutorials in general. Quantitative and qualitative data indicate that the following factors contributed to the success of the tutorial: . high degree of interactivity; . visually engaging (“like a movie”); . emphasizes active learning; and . concept-based games.

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Other elements of the tutorial that students did not explicitly cite but may have contributed to its success are: . employs both visual and content repetition in order to convey key concepts; . requires synthesis of information; . contains very little text; . progresses from simple to more complex concepts; . provides immediate feedback and embedded instruction; and . short in length. Implementation After evaluating the Doing Research tutorial, UIC Librarians began incorporating it into their teaching of English 161. The students take the tutorial at the beginning of the class. Afterwards, the librarian presents students with a research topic relevant to their class and uses the tutorial as a “jumping off point” to engage the students in an interactive discussion about Boolean logic and the steps involved in doing online research. Deploying the tutorial in the classroom has been a successful means of introducing basic information literacy concepts to undergraduate students. This approach supports Dewald’s assertion that “Web-based library tutorials are best used in connection with academic classes rather than in isolation” (Dewald, 1999).

Conclusion The data gained from evaluative testing of the Doing Research tutorial suggests that students are receptive to and often enthusiastic about learning through interactive tutorials. When used to its full potential, technology allows for fully engaging and interactive learning. While making interactive online learning fun could be viewed as the “icing on the cake”, the developers of the Doing Research tutorial view “fun and games” as essential components contributing to the success of the tutorial with students. In terms of future tutorial topics, one student remarked that they would like to see tutorials “using actual databases and how to maneuver and utilize them to their full potential”. Others wanted to see interactive multimedia tutorials on writing papers, citing sources, additional Boolean operators, the Dewey Decimal System, finding books and journal articles, internet searching and evaluation, government information and plagiarism. The challenge to future developers at UIC and other libraries will be to create animated and engaging tutorials that demonstrate more advanced information literacy concepts and to successfully design resource-specific tutorials that are simultaneously fun and visually engaging.

Note 1. The Doing Research tutorial is available at: www.uic.edu/depts/lib/reference/services/ tutorials/DoingResearch.shtml

References Corbit, M. (2005), “Moving into cyberspace: game worlds for learning”, Knowledge Quest, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 18-22. Dewald, N.H. (1999), “Transporting good library instruction practices into the web environment: an analysis of online tutorials”, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 26-31. Dewald, N.H., Scholz-Crane, A. and Booth, H.A. (2000), “Information literacy at a distance: instructional design issues”, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 33-44. Dickey, M.D. (2005), “Engaging by design: how engagement strategies in popular computer and video games can inform instructional design”, Educational Technology Research and Development, Vol. 53 No. 2, pp. 67-83. Donaldson, K.A. (1999), “Library research success: designing an online tutorial to teach information literacy skills to first-year students at Seneca College in Toronto”, Internet and Higher Education, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 237-51. Durrington, V.A., Berryhill, A. and Swafford, J. (2006), “Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment”, College Teaching, Vol. 54 No. 1, pp. 190-3. Hrycaj, P.L. (2005), “Elements of active learning in the online tutorials of ARL members”, Reference Services Review, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 210-8. Kiili, K. (2005), “Digital game-based learning: towards an experiential gaming model”, Internet and Higher Education, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 13-24. MacDonald, C.J., Stodel, E.J., Farres, L.G., Breithaupt, K. and Gabriel, M.A. (2001), “The demand-driven learning model: a framework for web-based learning”, The Internet and Higher Education, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 9-30. Markey, K., Armstrong, A., De Groote, S., Fosmire, M., Fuderer, L., Garrett, K., Georgas, H., Sharp, L., Smith, C., Spaly, M. and Warner, J. (2004), The Effectiveness of Multimedia for Library-User Education: Final Report of the LUMENS Project, School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. Tricarico, M.A., von Daum Tholl, S. and O’Malley, E. (2001), “Interactive online instruction for library research: the small academic library experience. web-based BI at Emmanuel College”, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 220-3. Corresponding author Annie Armstrong can be contacted at: [email protected]

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