ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 1 9 2 /C & R L N ew s ■ M a rc h 2 0 0 3 C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s news The LEADER p ro ject Becoming an information LEADER at Purdue University by Alexius Smith Macklin and Michael Fosmire S tudents and faculty are quickly adapting to electronic information sources as a con­ venient w ay of conducting research, doi some quick fact-finding, and even getting up- to-the-m inute new s reports. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo! are making data on demand a reality, and even a downright expec­ tation. Our academic users increasingly con­ nect to computers in their offices or dorm rooms rather than go to a physical library for their information needs. While the technology saves them from traveling to a remote location, they may actually be wasting valuable time online not knowing w here or how to begin an effi­ cient search process. With the growing volume of conveniently accessible information, “drinking from the fire hose,’’ as the phrase has been coined, user edu­ cation is more critical today than ever before. The ease with which one can find “something” on the Internet that ostensibly answ ers stu­ den ts’ questions can lead to a state of func­ tional information illiteracy.1 In other words, many users are able to conduct basic, fact-find­ ing searches but they are not skilled at locating relevant information to solve deeper or more abstract information needs. The limited skill set students use to solve their information problems continually chal­ n lenges librarians to find new ways of convinc­ ing the com puter-savvy that they still have gso mething to learn about the information-seek­ ing process. In order to create a compelling instruction tool, Purdue University devised the Learner EnAbled Digital E nvironm ent Re­ source (LEADER). D eveloping LEADER The LEADER project is a prototype learning tool designed to teach in-depth, subject-ori­ ented information literacy skills as an integrated part of the curriculum. In this learning envi­ ronment, users are challenged to solve real- world problems by defining information needs, testing and evaluating inform ation retrieval strategies, an d d eveloping advanced-level search skills to use in a variety of information storage and retrieval systems. These problems require learners to do more than simple fact­ finding on the Web, and, for example, may re­ quire the use of online indexes to find litera­ ture of a professional and scholarly nature. While there are many successful online tu­ torials aimed at first-year students, these tools were designed to teach the basic, non-subject- specific information retrieval for a broad body of popular literature. They do not address the needs of the more advanced user. As students About the authors Alexius Smith Macklin is assistant professor and user instruction librarian, e-mail: alexius@purdue.edu, and Michael Fosmire is science librarian at Purdue University, e-mail: fosmire@purdue.edu mailto:alexius@purdue.edu mailto:fosmire@purdue.edu C&RL News ■ March 2003 / 193 grow b ey o n d the orientation level, there is little to help th em u se th e professional literature and in fo rm atio n so u rc e s in th e ir selected fields o f stu dy. B e c a u se th e stru c tu re o f sch o larly in ­ form ation is different in each subject area, stu­ d e n ts n e e d to u n d e rs ta n d w h ic h k in d s o f in ­ fo rm a tio n re s o u rc e s a re m o s t im p o rta n t fo r th e ir c h o s e n d iscip lin e, w h a t k in d s o f in fo r­ m a tio n n e e d s e a c h ty p e o f re s o u rc e c a n fill, a n d h o w th ey can b e efficiently se a rc h e d an d e v a lu a te d fo r quality a n d relevance. LEADER is a w ay to reach this advanced-level learner w ho w ants to refine his o r h er information skills. Creating integrated tools O u r g o a l fo r th e LEADER p ro je c t is to cre a te to o ls th a t a re in te g ra te d d irectly in to c o u rs e c o n te n t by providing relevant an d interesting, y et c o m p le x a n d fully developed, inform ation problem s that require skills beyond simple Web surfing. Identifying these real-life prob lem s re­ quires a u n iq u e collaboration b etw een subject area e x p erts a n d librarians. To g a th e r th e b e s t in fo rm a tio n p o s s ib le fo r th is p r o je c t, th e te a m in te r v ie w e d a n d su rv e y e d stu d en ts, alum ni, an d e m p lo y ers o f s tu d e n ts in th e S ch o o l o f S cien ce a t P u rd u e U n iv e rs ity . We a s k e d th e m to ra te th e im ­ p o r ta n c e o f th e fo llo w in g skills in th e ir d is ­ c ip lin e o n a scale fro m 1 (u n im p o rta n t) to 5 (v e ry im p o rta n t): • form ulate a research q u e stio n /d e v e lo p a thesis statem ent, • u se a variety of inform ation sources, such as books, journals, an d the Web, • use information effectively to complete a project, • d e m o n s tra te a n u n d e rs ta n d in g o f in te l­ lectual p ro p e rty (e.g., co p y rig h t a n d fair use, plagiarism), an d • ev aluate resources for credibility an d rel­ evance. T he feedback from these questions allow ed us to identify typical problem -solving e x p e ri­ en ces a n d th e inform ation literacy co m p e te n ­ cies associated w ith them . From this point, w e w e re a b le to sta rt c o lla b o ra tin g w ith facu lty by identifying w h e re inform ation skills best fit in to th e c o u rs e co n ten t. We w a n te d to fin d a n atu ral fit w h e re inform ation literacy in stru c­ tion w o u ld n o t d isru p t th e flow o f th e regular instruction. T he tw o m ost im portant skills w ere: evalu­ ate resources for credibility a n d relevance an d u se a variety o f inform ation sources. Recruitment For th e b e g in n in g p h a s e o f LEADER, w e d e ­ cided to concentrate o n faculty in the physical sciences a n d engineering because there w as al­ read y a relationship b e tw e e n th o se subject ar­ ea s a n d th e librarians. We c reated a list o f fac­ u lty likely to b e in te re s te d in le a rn in g a b o u t in fo rm atio n literacy (b a s e d o n th e ir o w n u se o f th e lib ra rie s o r s tu d e n t u s e o f th e lib rary for c o u rse -re la te d p ro jects) a n d invited th em to lu n ch in May 2001 to discuss th e goals a n d o b jectiv es o f th e project. It is i m p o r t a n t to n o t e th a t th e f a c u lty k n e w this in v itatio n w a s selectiv e a n d n o t a m ass m ailing. O u t o f th e 20 in v itatio n s sent, w e re c e iv e d 8 “y e s ” re s p o n s e s , w ith a n u m ­ b e r o f o th e r s e x p re s s in g in te re st, in c lu d in g 3 p e o p le w h o w e re n o t o n th e o rig in a l list. At th e lu n c h , w e s p e n t a n h o u r in tro d u c ­ in g in fo rm a tio n lite ra c y c o m p e te n c ie s as a m e a n s fo r raising stu d e n t-le a rn in g o u tco m es th ro u g h im p ro v ed pro b lem -so lv in g a n d criti­ cal th in k in g sk ills. At th e e n d o f th e m e e t­ ing, tw o faculty m e m b e rs w e re re a d y to start w o rk in g w ith u s im m e d ia te ly . A n u m b e r o f fa c u lty m e m b e r s e x p r e s s e d a n in t e r e s t in p a r t i c i p a t i n g in th e LEADER p r o j e c t th e fo llo w in g spring. C o lla b o ra tio n D u r in g th e s u m m e r o f 2 0 0 1 , w e w o r k e d w ith th e in s tru c to rs to w rite p ro b le m s th a t w o u ld b e c o n te n t specific, m eaningful to th e s tu d e n ts , a n d in n e e d o f r e le v a n t in f o rm a ­ tio n to p ro v id e p o s s ib le so lu tio n s. T h e p r o ­ c e ss s ta rte d w ith a n in te rv ie w o f w h a t s p e ­ cific le a r n in g o u tc o m e s w e re e x p e c t e d fo r th e c o u rs e . We u s e d a m o d ifie d v e rs io n o f th e 22 p e rf o rm a n c e in d ic a to rs fro m th e n a ­ t i o n a l c o m p e t e n c i e s 2 to h e lp e a c h o f th e p ro fe sso rs d e c id e w h ic h w e re m o st relev an t to h is s tu d e n ts . We also review ed th e syllabus w ith th e fac­ ulty partner an d determ ined th e im portant to p ­ ics to b e co v ered , w h a t k in d s o f assignm ents w e re re q u ire d , a n d w h a t in fo rm a tio n skills w o u ld b e n e e d e d to accom plish th o se assign­ m ents. T he first pilo t p roject w as for a n intro­ ductory survey course in Earth an d Atmospheric S ciences, w h ic h is re q u ire d o f all m ajors. In o rd e r to address all o f the inform ation co m p e ­ te n c ie s r e q u e s te d b y th e in stru c to rs, tw o o f the course lab sessio n s w e re c o n v e rte d to in ­ fo rm a tio n labs. 194 / C&RL News ■ March 2003 Showtim e T h e p ilo t o f th e LEADER p ro je c t w as a lab s c h e d u le d fo r 10:30 a.m . o n S e p te m b e r 11, 2001, arguably not the best time to co n d u ct a m eaningful learning experience. D espite the terrible tragedy that occurred that day, classes continued as scheduled. Even though concen­ trating o n th e task at h a n d w as difficult th at day, the students w ere actively engaged in our pro ject d u rin g th e en tire th re e -h o u r lab. In ­ deed, as wildly different accounts o f the events o f th at d ay circulated am o n g the students, it p ro v id ed th em a strong lesson in the n e e d to evaluate information. In th at first lab session, w e org an ized the class into tw o-person teams and assigned each team a different p ro b lem to solve. T he class­ room w as fully eq u ip p ed with com puters and Internet connections for each team of students, a demonstration computer connected to an LCD p ro je c t in th e fro n t o f th e class, a n d a w hiteboard. Because w e w ere allotted the full th ree hours, the pilot w as b ro k e n d o w n into one-hour increments with the following learn­ ing objectives for each part. PαrtI After reading various problem scenarios related to the origins of the Earth, the students will be able to: • develop a question/hypothesis/problem sta te m e n t b y id en tify in g w h a t th e y alread y know about the given problem scenario and • identify keyw ords for constructing search statem ents/strategies to test in various search engines. Part II By w orking th ro u g h problem -solving activi­ ties d esig n ed to u se p e e r m entoring to teach advanced strategies for inform ation retrieval, the students will be able to: • construct search statements and test them in a variety o f electronic databases, • c o n d u ct p eer-review evaluations o f the information gathered by classmates, and • revise search term s/strategies to increase quality o f inform ation found. Part III After g ath erin g high-quality inform ation re­ sources, the students will be able to: • ex tra c t re le v a n t in fo rm a tio n fro m r e ­ sources selected, • s y n th e siz e in fo rm a tio n from m u ltip le sources, • present a coherent, docum ented, solution to their problem , and • correctly cite information used. The legend of the roasted tanner Following is a sample problem w e developed o n th e o zo n e layer for the first pilot project. Did you h ear the story ab o u t th e w om an w h o died as a result o f injuries sh e suffered w h ile u sin g in d o o r ta n n in g eq u ip m en t? It seem s th at th e day before h e r w edding, she decided to go for the bronzed bride look. She spent the day going from salon to salon, tan­ ning for u p to an h o u r at each place. By th e e n d o f th e day, h e r sk in w a s so severely b u rn t that she later died from those bums. D o yo u believe this story? Read on. A ccording to a re p o rt pu b lish ed in 1995 b y th e U.S. G lobal C hange R esearch Infor­ m ation Office, the "hole” in the o z o n e layer will have serious im pacts o n hum an health: Any persistent drop in the am ount o f pro­ tective ozone resident in the stratosphere will increase th e am o u n t o f so lar ultraviolet ra­ diation that reaches the surface o f the Earth, at th e risk o f d irect a n d d e le te rio u s effects o n h u m a n health: th at m uch is k n o w n w ith certainty. Likely effects include eye dam age, hig h er levels o f m alignant m elanom a (skin cancer), and w eakened immune systems caus­ ing increased potential for infection and disease. As a te a m o f w riters fo r th e u n iv ersity ’s new spaper, The Exponent, you are scheduled to su b m it an article, rig h t b e fo re Spring Break, o n w h eth er o r n o t tanning bed s offer a safer so lu tio n to th e beau tifu lly b ro n z e d than a day at the beach. Organize som e facts to presen t to the ed ito r on this piece. C&RL News ■ March 2003 19 5 / Outcomes T he stu d en ts p re s e n te d th e results of their re­ search to e a c h o th e r in th e lab th e follow ing w eek . Since th e y c o n c e rn e d different topics, the presentations stayed interesting for the e n ­ tire class, an d having students d o p e e r evalua­ tio n s o f e a c h o th e r ’s p re s e n ta tio n s also k e p t th em focused. In itia l re a c tio n s to th e LEADER p ro je c t have b e e n extrem ely positive. We w ere able to re a c h m o st o f o u r goals easily an d m ea s u re d the effectiveness o f the session w ith ou r learn­ ing o b jectiv es a n d an tic ip a te d o u tc o m e s. At th e e n d o f e a c h o f th e labs w e k n e w th a t the students w ere using electronic databases they never used before, they had been challenged by th e ir p e e r s to re e v a lu a te th e ir in fo rm a tio n n e e d s a n d rev ise th e ir search strategies, an d they w ere organizing and presenting the p ro b ­ lem -solving an d information- retrieval process thoroughly. T h e faculty m e m b e rs inv o lv ed also w e re p le a se d w ith th e stu d en ts’ initial perform ance o u tco m es (o n b o th th e inform ation exercises them selves a n d a final term pap er for the class). In ou r form ative evaluation, w e n o ted that the pilot p ro ject w as m o re analog th a n digital, as w e e x p e rim e n te d w ith form at a n d u sin g the p ro b le m -b a se d learning ap p ro ach . O u r m ain fo cus w a s in th e d e v e lo p m e n t o f a so u n d in­ structional design. O u r n e x t s te p s fo r th e LEADER p ro je c t are to u se th e p ro b lem s, learn in g objectives, an d g ro u p problem -solving instruction form at created in this pilot test as tem plates for a scal­ able, com pletely online learning environm ent. T his e n v ir o n m e n t will c o n ta in in stru c tio n a l c o n te n t o v erlaid b y subject-specific inform a­ tio n p ro b le m s. Subject faculty an d librarians m ay u s e it as a to o lk it to d e v is e th e ir o w n inform ation p roblem s or bo rro w scenarios al­ read y tested. Since p e e r learning is a v aluable co m p o n e n t o f the problem -based learning ap ­ proach, real-time and asynchronous com m uni­ cation tools will b e built into th e environm ent. Notes 1. D a v id M ajka, “T h e c o n q u e r o r b o o k ­ w o rm ,” Am erican Libraries 32.6 (2001): 6 0 - 63. 2. ACRL’s “In fo rm a tio n Literacy C o m p e ­ tency S tan d ard for H ig h er E d u catio n ” can be fo u n d at h ttp ://w w w .a la .o rg /a c rl/ilc o m s ta n . h tm l. ■ http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan 196 / C&RL News ■ March 2003 C&RL News March 2003 197 ■ /