Using Direct Information Literacy Assessment to Improve Mechanical Engineering Student Learning - A Report on Rubric Analysis of Student Research Assignments (original) (raw)
Related papers
Integration of Information Literacy Skills to Mechanical Engineering Capstone Projects
2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings, 2015
Searching for information and using that information appropriately is an essential part of every engineering design project. It has been reported that design engineers spend about 30% of their time searching for information. Experience shows that even senior level students have not received proper training, either directly or indirectly, in information literacy (IL). They usually search for information intuitively. For mechanical and aerospace engineering students at West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech), the Mechanical Engineering System Design I and II courses (MAE 480 and 481) are probably the last chance to teach students about IL. In this project, the information literacy outcomes were added to the course syllabus and activities and assignments were designed to instruct and evaluate IL-related skills. Three librarians from West Virginia University and WVU Tech were integrated into this course, each of which provided a workshop to present different IL skills to the students. The students' feedback and course evaluation tools have confirmed an improvement in the IL related skills in the students.
Best Practices for Engineering Information Literacy Instruction: Perspectives of Academic Librarians
2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings
Information literacy instruction (ILI) has long been an important part of undergraduate education. Subject librarians, together with undergraduate instructors, help students identify the relevant information sources in their discipline and learn how to search for, locate, and recognize highquality information effectively. Information needs, specific resources, and information practices differ across subjects and vary by workplace and discipline norms. This work, funded by the Engineering Information Foundation, presents our first step in developing a series of modules to support engineering students' development of information literacy. We have interviewed five engineering librarians at the 2018 ASEE annual conference to better understand the best practices for information literacy instruction in engineering courses. Based on the analysis of the interviews we identified and described a number of concepts that will be considered as we develop our modules. This paper also provides a list of recommendations for faculty and librarians who are involved in ILI for undergraduate engineering students.
Integrating Information Literacy in the Engineering Curriculum: A Program Approach
The paper summarizes a program-based model that has been developed at Queen's University to integrate an information literacy program into the undergraduate engineering program to meet CEAB graduate attributes in professional and design course. A program-level approach to information literacy is useful to define the purpose and goals of information literacy outcomes and also to capture evidence of student learning. It also informs instructional methods that can be developed in class or through the use of embedded learning modules at the course management system in addition to hands-on library workshops.
2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings
Engineering librarians at West Virginia University taught the majority of the freshman engineering students in both semesters of the 2011/12 academic year. Three in-class sessions were developed and delivered to over 800 students. Students were requested to complete online assessments to measure their information literacy knowledge pre-and post-instruction. The instructors were generally positive about the experience and were happy with the papers produced. One consistent complaint from instructors was they had to give up three class sessions. The librarians were concerned that more students did not take assessments connected with class sessions. During the course assessment and revision process for fall 2012, librarians worked with instructors to devise ways to deliver the same amount of information without using three class sessions. The librarians taught one session during week three, offered an out of class experience (OCE) in the library instruction room during weeks five, six, eight and nine (multiple sessions were offered to accommodate student schedules) and provided one online module on Intellectual Property to be completed in weeks ten to eleven. Paper or online pre-and postassessments were provided for each session to see what was known at the beginning and the end of each session. Students also completed a graded plagiarism tutorial and quiz. The assessment results have been much better. This paper will focus on the changes in the information sessions and delivery methods, provide assessment data for each area, and chronicle the steps taken to set up this successful collaborative effort with the engineering instructors.
Information Literacy Modules for First-Year Engineering Students
AEE Journal, 2022
The abundance of information available to us every day continues to increase, largely because of society's reliance on the internet. While the internet provides access to a wealth of information, information may be inaccurate or irrelevant because anyone can publish content on the internet. As a result, it is critical for individuals to develop information literacy, which includes the skills to gather information, assess its quality, and use it effectively. Information literacy is especially important for engineers because of the need to be lifelong learners in order to adapt to the needs of society and technological innovations. Despite the importance of information literacy, it largely remains absent from undergraduate engineering curriculum. In this work, we developed two modules that were implemented and assessed at two time points in two different first-year engineering courses. These modules focus on defining information and providing a framework to assess the information. Each module includes a short video followed by a handout with questions designed to support students in making connections between the videos and their assigned design project. The development of the modules was informed by current research within the area of information literacy as well as the first two authors' experience teaching first-year engineering students. Assessment data from the two implementations show that students were able to identify a range of resources they used to get information for their design project. While some students were
Comparing the Information Needs and Experiences of Undergraduate Students and Practicing Engineers
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 2019
Practicing engineers and undergraduate engineering and technology students seek and use information differently within the research and design process. This paper presents the results of a survey conducted by librarians at Purdue University and information specialists at Caterpillar Inc. to analyze self-reported information habits and challenges of both user populations. The authors created surveys containing similar questions for each user group, using a framework that asked participants to think about their information needs and use during a recent engineering project. The survey questions discerned users' confidence in their information abilities, and their preferences and barriers for finding and using information. The results of this study reveal differences between students and engineers and are informative for both academic and corporate librarians. Key findings affirm previous research that novices are more confident in their abilities than experts. Additionally, the findings suggest undergraduates prefer quick, easy to digest content like online videos and news, while engineers are more likely to learn by consulting a colleague or other subject expert, and through reading journals and trade literature. While students rated themselves as more confident information users, engineers reported working in a more complex information landscape, which includes internal document management systems and numerous places to look for technical information. Findings within this paper can inform the development of information literacy curricula that better parallels the corporate environment, and can give corporate librarians insight into how recent graduates may expect to interact with information in a new work environment.
2015
Information literacy in the present era, which is characterized by the multitude of information sources, information explosion, and the rapid development of information technology and communication, has become a must for the effective use of scientific and technical information for both academic and professional success. This article focuses on information literacy of future engineering students. It presents results of a study conducted among a sample of students who reveal shortcomings and gaps in information retrieval in this category. It then proposes ways of intervention for engineering schools in order to facilitate the development of these skills in the academic community. Key-Words: Information Literacy, engineering students, information competency, academic librarians, training program, higher education.
A Comparison of Beginning and Advanced Engineering Students’ Description of Information Skills
Objective – The purpose of this research was to examine how beginning and advanced level engineering students report use of information when completing an engineering design process. This information is important for librarians seeking to develop information literacy curricula in the context of engineering design. Methods – Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews about information strategies used in engineering design with 21 engineering students (10 first and second year; 11 senior and graduate). Researchers transcribed interviews and developed an inductive coding scheme. Then, from the coding scheme, researchers extracted broader themes. Results – Beginning level engineering students interviewed: (a) relied primarily on the parameters explicitly given in the problem statement; (b) primarily used general search strategies; (c) were documentation oriented; and (d) relied on external feedback to determine when they had found enough information. Advanced level engineering stu...
Integrating Information Literacy in Engineering: Librarians/Faculty
2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings
Libraries. She is also the bibliographer for mechanical and aerospace engineering, as well as for civil and environmental engineering. Previously, she worked as the Head of the Physical Sciences Library and as an Associate in the Government Documents Department. She is currently the President of the Patent & Trademark Depository Library Association and Chair of the WVU Library Faculty Assembly. She holds a M.L.I.S. from the University of South Carolina, a M.A. from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. from Calvin College.