Browsing by Author "Stieglitz, Tara"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Beyond usability: considering student preferences around point-of-need instructional resources
    (2017) Stieglitz, Tara; Whitson, Lindsey
    Preferences for and usage of written instructions versus video tutorial are examined for first-year chemistry students. Student preference was captured through a questionnaire. Google Analytics tracked student tutorial use before, during, and after a lab assignment. Discussion will centre on student feedback and assessment of usage data.
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    Choose-your-own learning: using Google Forms to improve asynchronous learning
    (2021) Foster, Alison; Nelson, Jody; Pitcher, Alison; Stieglitz, Tara
    This session consists of sharing experiences of online lesson creation with Google Forms, exploring challenges, sharing workarounds for those challenges, and discussing further use and reflections.
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    Choosing the best journal for your paper
    (2015) Stieglitz, Tara; Hall, Robyn
    With thousands of academic journals to choose from, deciding where to submit a paper can be a daunting task. What journal is the best fit for your area of research? Which journals have the greatest impact? Should you consider open access publishing options? Which publishers should you avoid? This session will provide insight into these questions, while giving attendees an overview of tools that can help with finding and assessing journals, including Ulrichs Web and InCites: Journal Citation Reports.
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    Demonstrating the impact of your work
    (2014) Hall, Robyn; Stieglitz, Tara
    A growing number of websites provide ways to see how many times research and teaching materials have been cited, viewed, downloaded, and shared with others. Learn how to tell a story about the scholarly and social impact of your work using both traditional and alternative metrics when documenting accomplishments in CVs, dossiers, and funding applications. This hands-on session will include finding and interpreting metrics in Google Scholar, Scopus, ImpactStory.org, ResearchGate, and more.
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    Engaging, embedded and mobile! The evolution of an online IL instruction program at MacEwan University
    (2013) Nelson, Jody; Stieglitz, Tara; Morrison, Joan
    For the past 10 years the MacEwan University library has used our online SearchPath tutorial as the foundation of our information literacy (IL) program. Over the years SearchPath has evolved dramatically, from a flash-based video file to a modular series of engaging learning objects in HTML5, changing formats as technology and the needs of our students have changed. In the new context of mobile learning and 24-7 demand for access to information and point-of-need support, we are seeking to reinforce in the virtual what is possible in face-to-face instruction, developing a sustainable, embedded, engaging, and mobile IL program. In this interactive session, participants will have a chance to try out our mobile learning modules and answer some of the skill-testing questions developed for MacEwan students.
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    Iterative design principles for learner-centred tutorial development
    (2015) Stieglitz, Tara; Whitson, Lindsey; Nelson, Jody
    Creating information literacy tutorials has been a longstanding trend in academic libraries, beginning with static web-based tutorials and moving more recently to video-based tutorials. There is recognition in the academic library community that these tutorials need to follow the guidelines and best practices for usability (Bury & Oud, 2005; Lund & Ole Pors, 2012; Mestre, 2012). Focusing on the user has become critical to the design and development of online tutorials at MacEwan University Library. Borrowing from the world of software development (Brhel, Meth, Maedche, & Werder, 2015), we have adopted an iterative design process with near-constant usability testing. This has transformed how we provide online learning to our users beyond the out-of-the-box experience offered through tutorial building software. Since 2010, the library has been building interactive online tutorials using Adobe Captivate. Although we adhered to best practices, usability testing often fell by the wayside in favour of quick production. In autumn 2014, the experience and findings of more extensive user testing of our tutorials in the mobile environment led us to revolutionise our subsequent approach to interactive tutorial building. When redesigning our online tutorials for mobile compatibility, we conducted considerable usability testing. While it was clear that we had done many things right, we were disconcerted by the number of user challenges that emerged. Watching our users struggle with frustrating tutorial interactions revealed some serious limitations of our tutorial design, particularly our reliance on the built-in options for interactions. Inspired by the difficulties we witnessed, we adopted a more iterative process of tutorial production, resulting in us conducting more frequent user testing with smaller groups of students, with the ideal being a mix of new and returning testers. This process also involved greater experimentation with the capabilities of the software to develop a more user-friendly experience on all platforms. While tutorial development has become more time consuming, it has ultimately resulted in a more engaging, responsive experience that reflects changing user needs and demands. In our presentation, we will discuss and share concrete examples of how our iterative approach of routine user experience testing and frequent updates is leading the way to more effective tutorial design at MacEwan University Library.
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    Literature reviews, citation management and other library support for your research
    (2015) Stieglitz, Tara; Nelson, Jody
    Learn how to conduct a systematic literature review taking advantage of the different strengths of different databases. Use techniques such as citation chaining and searching withe subject headings to expand your search. The presentation will also highlight the features of different citation management programs with a focus on Zotero.
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    Open data resources for teaching
    (2015) Stieglitz, Tara
    Open data is more than just a passing fad. Governments at all levels are making more and more data available for the public to download and manipulate. Learn about the principles behind open data and how to incorporate the concept of data literacy into your instruction. The session will cover sources of Canadian open data and how to incorporate that data into teaching and student assignments.
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    Text, lies, and video tutorials: examining format preference and effectiveness in blended IL instruction
    (2018) Stieglitz, Tara; Whitson, Lindsey
    Information literacy (IL) has long been integral to first-year chemistry at our university, originally comprising of written instructions in the lab manual and a 60-minute, librarian-delivered lecture. Increased enrollment rendered this model unsustainable and so collaboration ensued between the library and chemistry to develop a blended learning model. Students were given the options of watching that same content via a short video tutorial or reading it within their lab manual, followed by a 15-minute in-class librarian-led review session. Our current study examines the relative effectiveness of the two modes of instruction and whether students see the tutorial and written instructions as complementary resources or unnecessary duplication. Our approach to examining student preferences for and usage of written instructions versus video tutorials was three-pronged. First, we used an in-class questionnaire to ascertain student preferences. Thereafter, we used Google Analytics to track actual student use of the tutorials before, during, and after their class period. Finally, we examined the effectiveness of the two modes of instruction by observing non-chemistry students working through a chemistry task after either watching a tutorial video or reading the lab manual text instructions. Our presentation speaks to our multi-modal approach to students’ learning preferences and showcase findings of our mixed-methods study.