Session devised & run by: David Stacey, Subject Librarian

Department/School: Mathematical Sciences
Level: First Year Undergraduate (Induction)
[Martin Reed is Director of Teaching for Mathematical Sciences]

Background

Aims and objectives of the lecture
The target audience were new Undergraduates in the department of Mathematical Sciences. This would be their introduction to what the Library is – more than just the physical building, stock and staff – taking in electronic resources, sources of help and information, etc. I aimed to explore how new students can best start to make use of its services and facilities. I would also give a grounding in the basics of searching for ‘known-items’ i.e. from a reading list, be they books or journal articles. This involved demonstration of the catalogue and ELIN and effective keyword searching.

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The use of ARS would underpin these goals with simple questions aimed at testing their knowledge on basic information available from the Library and also the talk itself. Some introductory TurningPoint slides were used to test with Yes/No answers whether they had visited the Library yet and also got a Library card – these also tested their use of the handsets provided.

What actually took place?
Nitin and a colleague assisted with distribution of the handsets whilst I spoke about how to use them (checking the light has gone green etc) and also reassuring them on the anonymity of the results. I gave a brief introduction to myself and the session which led into the test questions. The session consisted of a PowerPoint presentation with detailed slides interspersed with about 8 questions at intervals. Some of the information was contained in the slides and referred to in the questions, other questions referred to policies we hoped they would have found out about when they visited the Library. The aim was that if they had all visited (and I think 99% had done so) then I wouldn’t need to drop this information in prior to questioning. This would also keep them alert and avoid a purely “tell-test” format, the simplicity of which might become boring.

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What was the role of the technology? What did the technology add?
The initial questions were to reveal their experience and expectations of the session on a basic level. As all had got their library card, for example, I could skim the next slides on this and also the Library location – as they had visited. Some questions tested their knowledge prior to the session and others served to check they had picked up on the key points delivered, particularly in terms of disambiguation e.g. highlighting the zoning of floors and study spaces which can be confused easily – e.g. the distinction between silent and quiet space.

Outcomes

Were the objectives met?
I felt that the technology had been successful and kept the students engaged in the session – involvement was consistently high. The responses to the questions suggested that they had made a good start in finding the library, getting a library card, picking up on the key points in the talk, etc. For those questions where I had not covered the information directly, the answers varied a bit more, which indicates that despite signage and web based information, these points need to be covered in a direct way early on.

How did the students find it?
Having tried the questions without TurningPoint in two other similar induction sessions (for different subjects), I felt the response rate was more consistent and gained from anonymity and lack of needing to raise an arm! Also, whilst one session was almost as good, another had far less participation. As a first attempt at TurningPoint, I think this supports a more ‘active learning’ approach if it can be used well, so I will be exploring ways to use it again.

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Were there any unexpected outcomes?
Not really.

What tips do you have for others?
Get help from Nitin when you first try to use it! Keep it simple and start with a couple of questions which can serve as a test and don’t have a specific right or wrong answer.

Additional comments

1 – The anonymity aspect is particularly important for students at induction stage as they may be feeling a little too overwhelmed to volunteer an answer.

2 – We deliberately set some very simple Q&As which they’re unlikely to get wrong; this is less about seeking confirmation that they have understood than giving us the opportunity to repeat some information so they’re less likely to forget it afterwards. After all, there is a lot of information to absorb in the first weeks.