The Research Basics Lessons were the first to be developed under my instruction plan. They fall into Stage 2 of the instruction plan since the objective is to provide an orientation to the research process not just an orientation to the SSC Digital Library as a place.
Tools Used: Articulate, ANGEL
These lessons were created through a partnership with an instructional designer in our eLearning Department. We initially hoped to design them ourselves using Articulate but our departments were unable at the time, to justify that purchase. We wrote a proposal to contract out with a faculty member on campus that was already using Articulate. We supplied him with the content and design and he created it for us. It was a very clunky and time consuming process with many edits needing to be made.
The lessons were created then housed in our LMS (ANGEL) for faculty to access and load them into their classes. Directions were sent to all faculty in END 124 but there was much confusion about loading the lessons. Many faculty simply skipped them all together. The following semester eLearning staff agreed to manually load them into all required courses.
Results:
The lessons were released in fall 2011 and had great success.
View a sample of those lessons here:
In 2013 I released the library component for the new college wide orientation course called SSC 101. This lesson falls under Stage 1 of my instruction plan. The coordinator of the course approached me to see if I could create an assignment on scholarly articles for this new course that would eventually be required for all students. The course is taught both online and face to face. I knew that I would not be able to teach these sections face to face. So the decision was made to create an stand alone component that could be modified and used in both settings. I would no longer allow 1 credit hour, orientation classes to book face to face classes in the library.
Tools Used: LibGuides, Glogster, Soft Chalk, Xtranormal, Prezi, Camtasia, Publisher and ANGEL
The lesson is 30-40 minutes long and includes active learning activities and 2 assignments worth a total of 20 points. The instructors instruct their students using the content provided. The classes do not come into the library for face to face instruction.
Results:
The lesson was initially placed in the first week of classes by the coordinator. General feedback I gathered from faculty was that they couldn't complete it in the time allowed. I was able to take that feedback to the coordinator and request that the library component be moved back. It now occurs in the fourth week of the semester.
View the lesson here:
Over time the initial versions of the library lessons became outdated. Faculty were requesting new versions and I was being asked to gather more data. I was unable to secure Articulate or funds to update them using an outside person. I was tasked with recreating them almost from scratch using existing paid tools such as LibGuides or Soft Chalk or utilizing free tools.
Additionally the English department had now seen the benefit of the lessons and the impacts they made on reaching their students. They were now going to make the library lessons a mandatory part of the ENG 124 (Composition I) courses.
Tools Used: LibGuides, Pixton, ScreenCast- Matic, PowerPoint, Google Forms
The lessons were revised and re-released in fall of 2014. They are worth 10 points. The new versions include short quizzes at the end of each lesson in which that data is collected on a Google form and sent to me. In order to give the required participation points I had to add a final quiz in ANGEL that ties into the instructor grade book. Students are to view the lessons then take the final quiz. Included in the re-release are two new lessons on Opposing Viewpoints and primary sources that were designed to fit with ENG 231 (Composition II) coursework.
Results:
The lessons are a little less polished than the Articulate version but since they are in LibGuides I have the ability to update as things become outdated without requiring eLearning to reload them. Faculty are overall pleased and more people are using them since they are required.
View the lessons here: