ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ M ay 2002 / 335 College & Research Libraries news Teams and tasks Active bibliographic instruction with high school students in a summer engineering program by Sharon Huge, Bob H oudek, and Sherri Saines W h a t’s black a n d w hite and read all over? Bar codes, of course!” And so b egan one of the group presentations from the sum m er 2000 W omen in Engineering and Technology program at Ohio University. This witty o p e n in g d em o n strated th e stu d e n t’s enthusiasm for a team s-and-tasks approach to a library introduction. MENT and WENT Minority Men in Engineering and Technol­ ogy (MENT) and W om en in Engineering and Technology (WENT) are program s designed to encourage high school sophom ores and juniors to consider careers in engineering and the sciences. The tw o-w eek intensive program intro­ duces students to research and lab w ork in engineering w hile em phasizing team work. The experience culminates in small groups w orking to build a battery-operated LEGO truck that can carry a bag of sand up a hill. Because the academ ic part of the p ro ­ gram is intense, recreation a n d su p p o rt ser­ vices are offered to provide a com plete ex­ perience for the students. A day at an am use­ m ent park, a pool party, and a c ookout are part of the fun. A trip to a local factory in­ volves students in real-life applications. One evening activity even includes attending a formal dinner to learn etiquette. The students live in dorm s a n d are ch a p ero n e d by m en­ tors a n d counselors w ho are full-time juniors and seniors enrolled in the College of Engi­ neering. Library in v o lv e m e n t In 1997, Ohio University librarians were asked to p a rticip a te in o n e -h o u r sessio n s w ith MENT/WENT. We first offered a short library overview; the next year, an overview with an assignment; the next, a lab session. In 2000, our role expanded, and w e w ere given half­ days to w ork with four separate classes, two MENTs and tw o WENTs. O ur approach came out of the team-build­ ing activities the students w ere already par­ ticipating in and the em phasis o n team w ork in the engineering education literature. Us­ ing teams to do research w ould also mimic the w ay engineers collaborate “in the real w orld.” The bibliographic instruction sessions that accompanied the program in 2000 w ere aimed at giving students a taste of literature in the field a n d academ ic research. After a brief hands-on introduction to resources, students w ere divided into small groups that w ere as­ signed to find a book, a journal article, a sci­ ence encyclopedia entiy, and a Web site on a prescribed topic. The h our’s research becam e the basis of a 20-minute group presentation displaying research, evaluation, and presen­ tation skills. About the authors Sharon Huge is d ire c to ro fth e Hannah McCauley Library, Bob Houdek is science reference librarian and LAN manager, and Sherri Saines is in s tru c tio n a l lib ra ria n a t O hio University Libraries, Athens, Ohio, e-mail: huge@ oak.cats.ohiou.edu, rhoudek@ohiou.edu, and saines@oak.cats.ohiou.edu mailto:huge@oak.cats.ohiou.edu mailto:rhoudek@ohiou.edu mailto:saines@oak.cats.ohiou.edu 336 / C&RL News ■ May 2002 S tu d e n ts’ re s p o n se s to this form at w e re m ore p o sitive th an to prev io u s y e a rs ’ short lec tu re /d em o n stra tio n attem pts at covering th e sam e m aterial. The lib ra ria n s’ e x p e ri­ en c e w as so positive th at w e have su ccess­ fully a d a p te d th e form at for o th e r classes, rep e a te d it for the engineering sum m er p ro ­ gram in 2001, a n d are p re p a rin g for su m ­ m er 2002. Topic s e le c tio n Looking for w o rk ab le a n d a p p ro p ria te to p ­ ics to o k far lo n g er th a n w e h a d im agined. We d isc o v e red a n u m b e r of constraints: topics h a d to be w ell-defined; th ey h ad to b e com prehensible to high school students; th ey n e e d e d to b e c u rre n t e n o u g h th a t re ­ se arc h w as still occurring; a n d th ey h a d to b e n e ith e r to o easy n o r to o h a rd to locate. For e x am p le, “fam ous w o m e n e n g in e e rs ” is n ’t a g o o d to p ic b e c a u se th ere is a p a u ­ city of inform ation, a n d XML is too abstract. W e fin a lly s e ttle d o n th re e to p ic s th a t s e e m e d to m eet o u r criteria: b a r c o d es, sh ap e-m em o ry alloys, a n d Stirling engines. S ources w e re c h o s e n to p ro v id e e x ­ am p les o n th e m argins o f th e e n g in e e rin g litera tu re — o n e m ove aw ay from g e n e ra l so u rces, b u t n o t to o difficult for o u r a u d i­ ence. We d e c id e d to sh o w stu d e n ts o u r o n lin e catalog; tw o p e rio d ica l d a ta b a ses, A pplied Science a n d Technology Index and Suggestions fo r success • Limit le a rn in g o b jec tiv e s to key points. • Select topics ahead of time to ensure searching success. Test each one thor­ oughly. • Show the students how to use the sources. • Limit the team to four to six indi­ viduals. • D o n ’t be afraid to intercede in group processes if the team gets hung up. • Team teach! • After each presentation, go over any­ thing that needs further em phasis or was m isunderstood, but d o n ’t correct students during their presentations. • Evaluate the process and the o u t­ comes. Periodical Abstracts; a n d tw o e-science e n ­ cy clo p ed ias, A ccess Science (M cG raw Hill online) a n d Wiley Encyclopedia o f E lectron­ ics a n d E lectrical E ngineering. We c h o se th e In te rn e t se arc h e n g in e A llth e w e b 1 b e c a u s e its results b ro u g h t up links to local c o m p a n ies involved in re ­ lated com m ercial v e n tu re s. W ith th e se re ­ sources, w e co u ld req u ire in fo rm a tio n on b a c k g ro u n d , c u rre n t literatu re, a n d future a p p lic atio n s o f th e topics. At th e e n d o f th e sessio n s, e a c h g ro u p w o u ld rep o rt its findings to th e w h o le class in an a tte m p t to m im ic th e c o n fe re n c e stru ctu re o f k n o w le d g e tra n sfe r in th e sci­ ences. This w o u ld also force th e qu ick u n ­ d e rsta n d in g a n d recall th at o fte n o c c u r in office tea m w o rk settings. The fin a l p la n After a trial run in w h ic h w e refin ed o u r topics a n d p ro cess, th e MENT/WENT se s­ sions w e re set u p as th re e -h o u r sessions d iv id e d in to th re e blocks: th e first a n d sh o rte st b lo ck w as a n in tro d u c tio n to li­ brary reso u rc es; th e s e c o n d b lo ck w as the stu d en t research phase; a n d th e third block w as the stu d en t g roup-report section. Three librarians w o u ld team tea c h ea ch session. T he first b lo ck b e g a n w ith a b rie f in tro ­ d u c tio n to th e library catalog, se arc h in g in p e rio d ica l d a ta b a se s, a n d In te rn e t s e a rc h ­ ing u sing A llthew eb. We realized th at w e also n e e d e d to p ro v id e th e stu d e n ts w ith so m e inform ation o n p re s e n ta tio n skills. T hese topics w e re d iv id e d b e tw e e n th e li­ brarians, w ith o n e d o in g th e p re s e n ta tio n a n d th e o th e r tw o h e lp in g stu d e n ts k e e p u p w ith th e h a n d s -o n e x a m p les offered. S tudents w e re th e n d iv id ed into g roups of four to six a n d given a h a n d o u t w ith th e g r o u p ’s topic, fo u r in fo rm a tio n -se e k ­ ing tasks (b o o k , jo u rn al article, W eb site, a n d e n c y c lo p e d ia article), a n d h in ts on h o w to c o m p le te th e a ssig n m e n t. Each sm all g ro u p w as a ssig n e d a lib rarian as h e lp e r/e x p e rt. T he nex t h o u r w as d e v o te d to sc o u rin g th e library. Next, a b rief b u t im portant cookie break o c c u rre d d u rin g w h ic h th e g ro u p s d is ­ c u sse d th eir p re s e n ta tio n strategies. The last h o u r of the session w as divided into three 20-m inute reports. Students w ere in stru cted to p re s e n t b o th th e inform ation C&RL News ■ M ay 2002 / 337 th ey d isc o v e red a n d an analysis o f w hy they thought the sources w ere reliable, and th e m ean s of discovery. P re se n ta tio n style a n d c o n te n t w e re entirely u p to the group. The real th in g The form at m et w ith success. Students w ere politely attentive du rin g th e lib ra ria n s’ lec­ tu re -d e m o n s tra tio n , a n d m o st w e re e n ­ g ag e d e n o u g h to click along. H aving the ro am in g librarians in th e lab d u rin g this tim e w as very h elp fu l in k e e p in g stu d e n ts o n track. As th e se c o n d b lo ck o p e n e d , g ro u p s h a d varying d e g re e s o f initiative. Librar­ ians a tte m p te d to stay on th e sidelines, al­ low ing stu d e n ts to o rg an iz e them selves. Som e g ro u p s to o k th e assignm ent, tu rn e d to th e ir c o m p u te rs, a n d b e g a n tackling the e n tire list of tasks individually. A librarian h a d to in terv en e to h e lp th e m get o rg a­ n iz e d a n d w o rk to g e th e r as a team . For o th e r g ro u p s, th e g ro u p p ro ce ss se e m e d to com e m o re n aturally a n d th ey w o u ld h u d d le a n d d isc u ss b e fo re ta c k lin g th e liste d tasks. O n c e s ta rte d , h o w e v e r, all g roups did accom plish all tasks acceptably. T he rep o rts b a c k to th e w h o le g ro u p w e re su rprisingly w ell d o n e . Most small g ro u p s o p te d to have th e p e rs o n w h o h a d d o n e a particular p art of the research show h o w a n d w h a t he o r she fo u n d , o fte n u s­ ing o v e rh e a d Web p ro je c tio n to p o in t o u t interesting facts or sources. W hile som e in ­ correct or in com plete inform ation w as p r e ­ se n te d , all g ro u p s fo u n d a n d r e p o rte d the m ost im p o rta n t facts re q u e ste d . T he to p ­ ics w ere com plicated; if after only a n h o u r ’s re se a rc h in a c o m p letely n e w setting s tu ­ d e n ts u n d e rs to o d th e s e few b a sic s, w e c o u n te d th at as success. D uring th e q u e stio n p e rio d at th e e n d o f ev ery p re se n ta tio n , th e librarians tried to ask th e g ro u p at least o n e c h a llen g in g q u estio n . After th e first g ro u p a tte m p te d to blu ff th eir w ay a ro u n d th eir ig n o ran ce, w e let p e o p le k n o w it w as all right to say, “I d o n ’t know . ” How ever, it w as still a great te m p ta tio n for th em to try to a p p e a r m ore k n o w le d g e a b le th a n th ey w ere. E x p e rie n tia l le a rn in g w o rk s W hat d id w e learn? W e c o n firm e d w h a t w e alw ays knew : stu d e n ts like h a n d s-o n instru ctio n , a n d th ey lea rn m o re from it th an from straight lecture. H aving to d i­ gest th e in fo rm atio n m ak es th e n e e d im­ m ed iate. H aving to re p o rt b a c k forces a r­ tic u la tio n o f lessons. H earing so m e th in g from y o u r p eers m akes it m ore m em orable. All o f th e s e activities rein fo rc e learning. H aving fo u r sessio n s also a llo w e d us to se e th at it w as n o t just c o in c id e n c e that this stru c tu re w o rk e d w ell. S tudents w ere en g a g ed , th ey e n jo y e d th e p re se n ta tio n s, a n d th ey d u g into th e research. We have since trie d a d a p tin g the sam e id ea s in to s h o rte n e d s e ss io n s fo r o th e r classes, w ith g o o d results. O ur a n n u al rush o f library in tro d u c tio n sessio n s for in te r­ p e rso n a l c o m m u n icatio n s (p u b lic s p e a k ­ ing) classes, for e x am p le, u s e d th e g ro u p - re se a rc h m o d el w ith a 50-m inute scaled- d o w n v e rsio n in g e n e ra l sources. Im p ro v in g th e process Several areas for im p ro v e m e n t have m er­ ited discussion am ong us as w e have evalu­ a te d th e team s-an d -task s a p p ro a c h . • G iven tim e con strain ts, is it m ore im ­ p o rta n t to lea rn h o w to u se th e library by trial a n d e rro r o r is it m o re im p o rta n t to g a th e r m any a ccu rate facts quickly? H ow m u ch s h o u ld w e tell s tu d e n ts a b o u t r e ­ search and h o w m uch sh o u ld w e give them th e o p p o rtu n ity to discover? • H ow c o u ld w e im prove u p o n th e u n ­ e v e n co v e ra g e o r u n d e rs ta n d in g o f facts? Was this c a u se d by a p o o r p re s e n ta tio n of reso u rc e s o n o u r p a rt or a lack o f b a c k ­ g ro u n d o n theirs? (For e x am p le, to u n d e r ­ stand Stirling Engines, one m ust u n d erstan d p ro p e rtie s o f gases. D o th ey k n o w these?) • W hat is the role o f th e lib rarian d u r­ ing th e rese a rc h phase? S hould th e librar­ ian b e th e g ro u p facilitator? H ow m u ch sh o u ld he or sh e help? • S hould w e care a b o u t th e q uality of th e g ro u p p resen tatio n s? Should th ere be so m e fe e d b a c k o r evalu atio n ? If so, by w h o m — p eers, advisors, librarians? In a d d itio n , w e w o u ld like th e MENT/ WENT org an izers to in clu d e som e q u e s ­ tio n s a b o u t th e library se ssio n s in th eir e v a lu a tio n s by stu d en ts. N o te 1. Visit h ttp ://w w w .a llth e w e b .c o m . ■ http://www.alltheweb.com