ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 3 4 6 /C&RL News PLUTO: Interactive instruction on the Web By Ann M argaret Scholz, R ichard C ary K err, and Samuel Keith Brow n Purdue University’s online orientation program E ach year large academic research libraries welcome thousands of new students who enter the university with varying levels of in­ formation literacy skills. Orienting this vast num­ ber of students in an effective and efficient manner is one of our greatest challenges. If we are successful in our efforts, subsequent instruc­ tion will be facilitated because students will have a solid foundation of basic knowledge on which to build the more conceptual understanding of the research process. At Purdue University, 6,000 to 7,000 new students enter the West Lafayette campus each year. Given the finite number of instructional librarian staff, all entering students cannot be Figure 1. reached through individual class contacts. Even if this personal contact were possible, the ques­ tion of addressing the varying levels of student knowledge in a single class session remains. Currently many schools and departments within Purdue University require an orientation course. Individual subject librarians may be invited to provide one 50-minute session on library re­ sources to some of these courses. Recently, development of a systemwide general orienta­ tion course which would be required o f all stu­ dents has been proposed. Taking a proactive approach to improve library instruction in ex­ isting orientation courses, the libraries have cre­ ated a readily accessible interactive, learner- centered World Wide Web information literacy module called PLUTO (Purdue Libraries Un­ dergraduate Tutorial Online). Purdue University Libraries have been in­ volved with computer-assisted instruction in PC- and Macintosh-based hypertext environm ents since the early 1980s.1 Since that time, new op­ portunities in networking and advanced communications have b een developed w hich allow g lo b a l a c c e ss to in stru ction through the Internet. The advan­ tages of offering instruction over the Web include its learner-cen­ tered environment, global access, easy update procedures, and cross-platform use. Some disad­ vantages of this medium include lack of display control for differ­ ing browsers, inability to ac­ cess the entire program on non­ graphical browsers, and lack of Ann Margaret Scholz is user instruction librarian a t Purdue University Libraries, e-mail: scbolz@purdue.edu; R ichard Cary Kerr is network adm inistrator a t Purdue, e-m ail: cary@lib.purdue.edu; Sam uel Keith Brown is student p rogram m er a t Purdue, e-mail: brownsk@lib.purdue.edu. mailto:scbolz@purdue.edu mailto:cary@lib.purdue.edu mailto:brownsk@lib.purdue.edu Ju n e 1 9 9 6 /3 4 7 personal contact with stu­ dents. The general intention of the libraries’ orientation pro­ gram is to concentrate on a few essential skills such as beginning database search­ ing and orienting students to THOR, the local online system. The program is de­ signed to whet the student’s appetite by covering skills he or she is likely to use in the first year o f college. PLUTO contains an interac­ tive tutorial and a quiz sec­ tion which are integrated to­ gether through a series of hypertext links. Students complete the entire program Figure 2. online and orientation in­ structors later receive students’ registration and ing: online student registration; an interactive quiz with online feedback and links back to relevant tutorial pages; the ability to track stu­ dents through the tutorial and quiz; and an easy method for gathering the names of students who had completed the program. A full-time stu­ dent programmer was hired for three months to program these functions. Graphical software, file converters, and a color scanner were pur­ chased. Developm ent Prior to creating any PLUTO pages, an initial storyboard was created which outlined the learning concepts for each of the three identi­ fied learning objectives. In developing a basic structure and layout, the user instruction librar­ ian took advantage of hypertext capabilities by including essential information at the top of the tree structure and providing more detail un­ derneath. A great effort was made to keep the program self-contained and of a manageable size, focusing on only the identified objectives and avoiding the temptation to include every­ thing students might need to know for the fu­ ture. Hypertext links were provided in every portion of the program as menu links and in­ ternal text links to improve user control. An overall look for the program was de­ signed to include a visually pleasing header and navigational button graphics that would appear on each page. Using the storyboard cre­ ated earlier, the user instruction librarian be­ gan writing the PLUTO tutorial in html format completion information. Planning Planning for PLUTO began in February 1995. During this time, learning objectives were iden­ tified, program requirements were outlined, partnerships were formed with the libraries’ In­ formation Technology Department, and fund­ ing for equipment and staff time were secured. Interviews were conducted with Purdue li­ brarians, classroom instructors, and student gov­ ernment organizations to determine key objec­ tives that orientation-level instruction should include. From this feedback, three primary learning objectives were established. After com­ pleting PLUTO, a student should be able to: • define and formulate keyword searches on a given topic; • retrieve information on a topic from THOR, the libraries’ online system; and • locate information from THOR within the Purdue Libraries System. Physical orientation to the libraries would be available to beginning students through a number o f existing programs including an au­ dio tour of the Undergraduate Library and a videotape. Once learning objectives were identified, a basic structure for the program was outlined and program requirements were identified. Requirements included necessary program func­ tions that would facilitate program use, track­ ing abilities, and instructor notification, includ­ 3 4 8 /C&RL News and creating the format for the PLUTO quiz­ zes. After PLUTO’s basic structure was identified, the user instruction librarian discussed the pro­ gram requirements with the libraries’ network administrator and worked out a schedule for implementation of specific programs, e.g., the registration process. The network administra­ tor then selected a student programmer for the PLUTO project and began training and educat­ ing the student on programming in a Web en­ vironment. The programmer created several CGI (Com­ mon Gateway Interface) programs to support page tracking, automated registration, and ran­ dom questioning. By August, PLUTO pages and programming were complete. Various test groups were used to work out possible programming bugs and linking errors and feedback was sought from all undergraduate librarians. Program The PLUTO program is composed of two main parts: a tutorial and two quizzes. The tutorial uses the three objectives to form its primary structure and the quizzes test know ledge learned within the tutorial. Students may begin PLUTO by selecting any one of the stated ob­ jectives or by selecting to begin the quizzes immediately. When a student enters the PLUTO program, each page accessed and all quiz answers are Figure 3. tracked and linked to registration information. Defined fields for registration include student name, course, instructor, and section (see fig­ ure 1). Students may check their PLUTO status at any time by returning to the quiz introduc­ tion page and selecting the status link (see fig­ ure 2). The PLUTO tutorial is divided into three sec­ tions covering basic keyword search principles, Purdue’s online system, and interpreting on­ line information (see figure 3). Each section has a number of subtopics which the student can view within the PLUTO menu. The key­ word section covers why students would use keyword searching, how to choose search terms, and how to combine keywords into phrases and concepts. The online system section covers what an online system is, databases contained in the system, basic searches, and specifics on the mechanics of keyword searching the system. The third section covers how to interpret infor­ mation found on an online screen including differences between book and journal records, linking article information to holdings informa­ tion, and basic view commands. The two quizzes in PLUTO are programmed so that when a user selects a link to begin or continue a quiz, a question is randomly pre­ sented. Students must successfully complete a specified number of questions from each quiz and must complete the first quiz before the second. The number of incorrect responses does not affect the student’s overall success. The first quiz tests four basic principles of keyword searching that are explained within the tu­ torial. Students are provided with a topic and given three keyword search statements (see figure 4). From the three search statements, students choose the most inap­ propriate search statement for that topic. Once the answer is selected, students are informed of their success. Regardless of the outcome, students are provided with an exp lan ation o f why search statements are acceptable or not, with links back to relevant portions of the PLUTO tutorial. O n ce students com p lete the specified number of questions successfully, they are informed Ju n e 1 9 9 6 /3 4 9 of their success and are given the option o f reentering the PLUTO tutorial or continuing to the next quiz. The seco n d quiz tests for comprehension o f THOR screen information. Students are pro­ vided with a sample database screen and given a q uestion about the screen information which appears, e.g., which li­ brary would contain a copy of the article or book listed. The stu­ dent then selects the appropri­ Figure 4. mation PLUTO program. Sessions held in the libraries’ nswer Electronic Classroom allowed students to ac­ ir suc­ cess the program and view key portions, but tion of actual completion took place outside of class time. Ninety-three percent of the students com­ LUTO pleted the PLUTO program within the four er in­ weeks provided. The primary browser used to regis­ access the program both in and outside o f the to do classroom was Netscape. Nongraphical brows­ d, the ers, such as Lynx, do not support PLUTO be­ een of cause o f the large amount of graphics included letion within the program. ation, A follow-up assignment reinforced the prin­ pages ciples taught in the PLUTO program. In the to a assignment, students were provided with a topic fields and told to search by keyword for relevant ar­ tor re­ ticles, locate one retrieved article, and summa­ rize its main points. Topics were related to the course assignment of developing a resume and writing a cover letter. While the user instruc­ velop­ tion librarian designed the assignment and pro­ n class vided the search topics, classroom instructors have graded the follow-up assignment. icipate eering Future chools PLUTO will be revised and refined and made skills ready for a wider audience this fall. Initial feed­ which back suggests the need for more links within stages each quiz response and enhancements in the erned registration process. with In the future, we hope to add other instruc­ Web tional modules including research strategies for Internet resources and discipline-specific in­ sched­ struction. Students could elect to enter other of four modules from the PLUTO completion screen. ineer­ r five Note 1. Judith M., Pask, “Computer-Assisted In­ s were struction for Basic Library Skills,” L ibrary Soft­ ng the w a re Review 7 (1988): 6– 11. ■ ate area of the screen by click­ ing the mouse arrow on the piece of infor which answers the question. Once an a is selected, students are informed o f the cess and provided with further explana the screen. Upon completion of the second quiz, P prompts the student to inform his or h structor. If the student has not already tered, he or she is provided with a link so. With the registration process complete student is prompted by a completion scr his or her success. A log file o f comp screens includes all registration inform time spent from start to finish, and all accessed. This information is imported spreadsheet program where individual are defined and manipulated for instruc ports. Im plem entation During the early stages of PLUTO de ment, the lead instructor for an orientatio in the Schools o f Engineering agreed to five sections o f 40 students each part in a beta test for PLUTO. First-year engin students were selected because the S o f Engineering provides a com puter training program for entering students includes Web instruction. In the initial o f implementation, we were more conc with the tutorial and programming than teaching students the m echanics o f a browser. In October, instruction sessions were uled with each section. PLUTO was one course projects given in the first-year eng ing orientation course and counted fo percent o f the overall grade. During the classroom sessions, student given instructions for accessing and usi 3 5 0 /C&RL News