Browsing by Author "Whitson, Lindsey"
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Item Beyond usability: considering student preferences around point-of-need instructional resources(2017) Stieglitz, Tara; Whitson, LindseyPreferences 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.Item Bursaries reimagined: addressing digital inequity through a library-led, university-wide laptop bursary program(2023) King, Martina; Whitson, LindseyThe rapid switch to online learning in early 2020 exacerbated problems students were already having with obtaining and maintaining up-to-date devices and a reliable internet connection. MacEwan University Library began offering 4-month term laptop loans at the beginning of the pandemic, but it was clear this was not fully meeting student needs. In response to conversations with faculty and students, the library secured funds from the university’s Student Technology Fee to launch a laptop bursary pilot in Winter 2022, which in turn expanded to a university-wide bursary in Fall 2022. This article discusses why an in-kind laptop bursary was the right approach at the right time in this setting; how this initiative contributes to equity and accessibility; and finally, perceptions of the value of this work, its fit within the scope of the library, and how the unique position of the library as a stu-dent-focused service and academic unit positioned it well to successfully offer this bursary. Challenges and opportunities for improvement are also discussed.Item Dangled carrots and measuring sticks: motivating online learners in self-enroll library instruction(2016) Morrison, Joan; Nelson, Jody; Whitson, LindseyBeginning in Spring 2014, our undergraduate university library adopted a new self-enroll model for our flagship first-year English online information literacy (IL) tutorial. Now, with robust data covering three semesters and five subject areas, a range of promotional strategies, and a variety of experiences, we can share our successes and challenges with this self-enroll approach to effective online IL tutorials. We will discuss what we have learned about the significant role that instructional faculty endorsement plays in motivating students, not only in providing external incentives, but also in fostering student motivation through affirmative messaging tying online IL courses to student success. In addition to presenting on the effectiveness of a range of motivators that can be used to improve student enrollment and completion rates for online tutorials, attendees will go away with practical strategies for securing instructional faculty engagement for promoting and incentivizing self-enroll tutorial opportunities.Item Impact of library instruction tutorial format on student preference and performance in first-year chemistry(2023) Stieglitz, Tara; Whitson, LindseyThis research study investigates the effects of library instruction tutorial format (written versus video) on student preference and performance in chemistry education. The authors assessed the format of tutorials used to provide library instruction in an introductory chemistry course by observing 27 student participants as they took in instructions in either a video or a written format and then completed two chemistry information tasks. While participants expressed strong preferences for particular formats, neither the video tutorials nor the written instructions significantly improved task completion speed or performance. Rather, the authors determined that student preference alone is enough to justify the continued production of multiple versions of instructions for the same assignment.Item Iterative design principles for learner-centred tutorial development(2015) Stieglitz, Tara; Whitson, Lindsey; Nelson, JodyCreating 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.Item Piloting a blended model for sustainable IL programming(2015) Nelson, Jody; Morrison, Joan; Whitson, LindseyThis paper aims to describe the MacEwan University Library’s successful pilot of a fully blended information literacy (IL) instruction program for first-year English courses. Development, implementation and assessment of the pilot prior to full implementation are discussed.Item Text, lies, and video tutorials: examining format preference and effectiveness in blended IL instruction(2018) Stieglitz, Tara; Whitson, LindseyInformation 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.