ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 58 6 / C&RL News ■ July/August 2000 news College & Research Libraries Reality check Asynchronous instruction works! by Sheila R. Curl, Leslie J. Reynolds, Brent Mai, and Alexius E. Smith Macklin N ever before had I asked a student to cite an emoticon. In traditional classroom instruction, it is unlikely that this would come up at all. However, in an asynchro­ nous course, you never know w here an online threaded discussion on citation for­ mats will lead. As library educators, we have the oppor­ tunity to have an impact on a stu d e n t’s chances for success in locating and manag­ ing information. We must draw upon the stu­ dents’ familiarity with new technologies and teach them how to effectively articulate their information need, identify appropriate re­ sources, evaluate what has been retrieved, and redirect their continued searching. The challenge that confronts us is com pounded by the fact that many students enter the li­ brary only through a virtual door. In recognition of the shifting paradigm in­ volving information and new technologies, Purdue University's Electrical Engineering Technology (EET) program asked the Purdue Libraries to develop a credit course that would teach the students how to effectively locate, evaluate, an d p resen t inform ation. The course. Information Strategies, has been a required course in EET was designed and taught by the libraries’ faculty since 1993. It has subsequently been adapted to other dis­ ciplines, as well. As evolution of new technologies contin­ ued, course instructors proposed the devel­ hav opment of an asynchronous version of this course to the Indiana Higher Education Tele­ e communications System (IHETS). The devel­ opment grant was awarded and the first Web- based version of this course was offered Spring 1999. The purpose of the IHETS course devel­ opment grant was to “enhance and convert [the Information Strategies course] to a digi­ tal format, which will allow asynchronous statewide access.’’ In July 1998, the investi­ gators, Professors Sheila Curl, Leslie Reynolds, Brent Mai, and Alexius Smith, began adapt­ ing the traditional course for delivery over the Internet. Course developm ent Initially we planned to adapt the conventional linear format that had been used in the class­ room. We began course developm ent by deconstructing the course itself. We realized it was critical that we integrate search strate­ gies, evaluation and citation formats, as well as address Web sites to draw in the students’ interest. We decided to adopt and adapt Subramanyam’s circular model of the evolu­ tion of scientific information as the frame­ work on which to hang the course.’ The spe­ cifics of this adaptation will be addressed in forthcoming papers. Once this model was in place, we de­ signed the online lecture and discussion materials, activities, assignments, quizzes, and About the authors Sheila R. Curl is head o f the Engineering Library, Leslie J. Reynolds is an assistant engineering librarian, and Alexius E. Smith Macklin is user education librarian a t Purdue University, Brent M a i is director o f Walker M anagem ent Library a t Vanderbilt University; e-mail: curl@purdue.edu; reynolds@purdue.edu; alexius@purdue.edu; brent.mai@vanderbilt.edu mailto:curl@purdue.edu mailto:reynolds@purdue.edu mailto:alexius@purdue.edu mailto:brent.mai@vanderbilt.edu C&RL N ew s ■ Ju ly/A u g u st 2000 / 587 c a s e s tu d ie s . D u rin g c o u r s e d e v e lo p m e n t, w e le a r n e d a b o u t W ebC T , a W e b -b a s e d c o u r s e m a n a g e m e n t s o ftw a r e p a c k a g e . B y u sin g this c o u r s e m a n a g e m e n t so ftw a re w e c o u ld m e e t m o s t o f o u r e d u c a tio n a l o b ­ je c tiv e s w ith o u t h a v in g to e m p lo y s o m e ­ o n e to p ro g ra m th e s e fe a tu re s . W ebC T e n a b le s th e in s tru c to rs to in te ­ g ra te a s s ig n m e n ts , te sts a n d s e lf-te s ts , d is­ c u s s io n via b u lle tin b o a rd s a n d c h a tro o m s , an d it p ro v id e s a g ro u p w o rk a re a fo r stu ­ d en ts. T h e p r o c e s s o f e v a lu a tio n b e c a m e cen tral to th e c o u rse: identify re s o u rc e s and e v a lu a te , lo c a te r e s o u r c e s a n d e v a lu a te , u s e r e s o u r c e s a n d e v a lu a te . T h e c o u r s e d e s ig n c h a n g e d to p u t e v a lu a t io n a n d s e a r c h t e c h n i q u e s first. T h e r e d e s ig n e d c o u r s e in c o r p o r a te d c a s e s tu d ie s as w ell as p r o b le m -b a s e d le a rn in g . C o u rse o ffe r e d T h e c o u r s e w a s in c lu d e d in th e P u rd u e, W e st L afay ette, C o u rse S c h e d u le fo r sp rin g 1 9 9 9 . W e c o n ta c te d a c a d e m ic a d v iso rs in th e D e p a rtm e n t o f E le c tric a l E n g in e e rin g T e c h n o lo g y an d fa c u lty r e p r e s e n ta tiv e s in th e S ta tew id e T e c h n o lo g y P rog ram s o th e y w o u ld b e a w a re o f th is o p tio n w h e n r e g ­ iste rin g s tu d en ts. N in e te e n s tu d en ts w e re e n r o lle d in th e c o u r s e in Ja n u a r y 1 9 9 9 : fifte e n fro m W est Lafayette an d fo u r from th e Statew id e T e c h ­ n o l o g y P r o g r a m a t I n d ia n a U n iv e r s ity K o k o m o . W e a re c u r r e n tly te a c h in g th e c o u r s e fo r th e th ird c o n s e c u tiv e s e m e s te r (th ir te e n W est L a fa y ette stu d e n ts a n d o n e K o k o m o s tu d e n t) a n d it is o n th e s c h e d ­ u le fo r fall 2 0 0 0 . W e a re a lso d e v e lo p in g a v e r s io n o f th is c o u r s e fo r s tu d en ts in th e S c h o o l o f M a n a g em e n t an d a v e r s io n that c a n b e tau g h t as a n in d e p e n d e n t stud y. W e a re in v e stig a tin g th e in c lu s io n o f m o d ­ u le s fro m th e a s y n c h r o n o u s c o u r s e in to o th e r P u rd u e c o u r s e s ta u g h t u s in g W ebCT. In itia l e v a lu a tio n Originally, w e did not plan to m eet w ith the students fa c e-to -fa c e. H ow ever, after several students con tacted instructors to e xp ress c o n ­ fu sion and frustration, w e d ecid ed to m eet in p erson w ith the entire class. T h o se w ho could n o t attend the m eetin g in -p erso n jo in e d the d iscu ssion via th e W ebC T chatroom . W e m et w ith them again fa c e-to -fa c e tw o w e e k s later to discuss con tin u ed progress. T h e level o f the stu d en ts’ frustration and co n fu sio n had b e e n reduced. T h e re d e s ig n o f th e c o u r s e fo r Fall 1 9 9 9 in c lu d e d a m a n d a to ry f a c e -to -fa c e m e e t­ in g d u rin g th e first w e e k o f c la s s . T h e p u r p o s e o f th e m e e tin g w as to re d u c e th e a n x ie ty o f le a rn in g o n lin e and to e lim i­ n a te th e m o st c o m m o n te c h n ic a l p ro b le m s e x p e r ie n c e d b y th e s tu d en ts. T h e first ite r a tio n o f th e c o u r s e u s e d e - m ail a c c o u n ts in W ebC T an d ca m p u s/ c o m ­ m e r c ia l p ro v id e rs . T h is led to c o n fu s io n fo r b o th th e in s tru c to rs a n d th e s tu d en ts. T h e in s tru c to rs n o w o n ly s e n d th e in itial c o u r s e m e e tin g a n n o u n c e m e n t a n d c o u rs e lo g in in stru ctio n s to s tu d en ts ’ cam p u s/ com - m e r c ia l e-m a il a d d r e s s e s ; a ll o th e r c o r r e - Web course development timeline N o v e m b e r 1 9 9 7 : C ourse p ro p o sed and IHETS grant app lication subm itted A p r il 1 9 9 8 : IH E T S g r a n t a w a rd a n ­ n o u n ced J u l y 1 9 9 8 : IHETS grant funding received F a l l 1 9 9 8 : Student p rogram m er hired, eq u ip m en t p u rch ased , co u rse m od el d e ­ signed J a n u a r y 1 9 9 9 : C ou rse o ffered and 19 students enroll (first tim e) M a y 1 9 9 9 : 16 stu d en ts c o m p le te th e cou rse S u m m e r 1 9 9 9 : C o u r s e r e v is e d an d W ebCT u sed exclu sively F a l l 1 9 9 9 : Course o ffered and 30 students enroll (s e c o n d tim e) S e p t e m b e r 1 9 9 9 : Final grant report su b ­ mitted W in ter 1 9 9 9 : C ourse revised S p rin g 2 0 0 0 : C ourse o ffered and 14 stu­ dents enroll S u m m e r 2 0 0 0 : C ourse revision planned , co u rse ad ap ted for m an agem en t students F a ll 2 0 0 0 : Course scheduled to b e offered 588 / C&RL News ■ July/August 2000 sp o n d en ce o ccu rs w ithin the cou rse Web site. T he students must “co m e to c la s s ” to kn ow w hat is going on and take responsi­ bility for their education. Development o f the course for subsequent semesters uses only the WebCT e-mail, thereby reducing student’s confusion about communication locations. Since the students cannot see the instruc­ tors or on e another, the e-mail, chatrooms and topic discussions must carry the em o­ tional content o f our message in addition to the message itself (hence, the aforementioned discussion that led to the request for the cita­ tion for em oticons). These students are com ­ fortable in online discussions. There is a sig­ nificant use o f humor by both instructors and students, which makes otherwise technical content engaging. What did w e learn? Students w ho can expect to b e successful in an asynchronous course are those w ho com e to the course W eb site a few times a week, for ten to fifteen minutes each time. Coming to the course W eb site regularly is analogous to coming to a traditional class. Students who keep up with readings and assignments and participate with their group are more likely to successfully com plete the course. Prelimi­ nary analysis logs, o f course, show a strong correlation betw een frequency o f visits and grade earned. Typically, the students who use their own computers do better than those who use only com puter labs. Those who rely only on com ­ puter labs, where hours and the number of computers may be inadequate, are most likely to becom e disengaged with the learning pro­ cess. The com puter skills that students brought to class w ere uneven. Some w ere proficient with using computers, others lacked the skills and confidence to try new things. For e x ­ ample, w e found ourselves demonstrating cutting and pasting from a document to a window in the course Web site to help a stu­ dent com plete an assignment successfully. Students reported liking the flexibility of scheduling that an online course allows. Cooperative and collaborative learning was evident throughout the course. The in­ structors taught the students, the students taught each other, and the instructors learned from the students. The instructors taught the stu­ dents, the students taught each other, and the instructors learned from the students. Conclusion As library educators, w e must address the information literacy process and not just the skills for retrieval. This information literacy process facilitates a lifelong learning habit that forces one to think beyond the button-push- ing o f a particular technology. Today, students go to the Web first— if we teach them how to apply skills for the Web to other resources, then w e have accom ­ plished our goal. Since many people only enter the library through a virtual door, our online presence as research facilitators is es­ sential. Note 1. K. Subramanyam, S c ie n tific a n d T e c h n ic a l In fo r m a t io n R e s o u rc e s (New York: Marcel Dekker, 1981), 5. ■ ( C h ild r e n ’s L ite r a tu r e . . . c o n tin u e d f r o m p a g e 5 7 9 ) print version. Also included are selected H orn B o o k , resources for parents, authors, and il­ lustrators. Access-, http://www.hbook.com/. • S ch o o l L ib ra ry J o u r n a l. The primary audience for S c h o o l L ib ra r y f o u r n a l is school librarians, media specialists, and children’s librarians. This trade publication offers ar­ ticles, book, media, and Web site reviews. T he electronic version provides selected ar­ ticles, best b o o k lists, editorials, and an in­ dex to the print version o f SLJ to 1997, with an index to reviews to 1995. A ccess: http:// www.slj.com/. Note 1. T he Caldecott Medal was nam ed in h o n o r o f 1 9 -c en tu ry E n g lish illu s tra to r Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Chil­ dren, a division o f the ALA, to the artist o f the most distinguished American picture book for children. Permission to reproduce granted by the ALA. ■ http://www.hbook.com/ http://www.slj.com/ C&RL News ■ July/August 2000 / 589