Pre and post- measures in introduction to communications
1. Pre- and Post- Measures in
COM 110 - Introduction to
Communications (Online)
Anne McIntosh, Instructor
Betty Thomas, Librarian
Mark Coltrain, E-Learning Librarian
2. Assessment Measures (6)
• Pre- and Post-Tests (Quantitative)
– Library/Information Literacy Skills
– Computer Literacy Readiness
• End of Course Surveys (Qualitative)
– Embedded Librarian
– Class Effectiveness
3. What is an Embedded Librarian?
• Makes customized contributions via:
– Blackboard
– Research Guides, course-specific web-
based tools designed in-house
– One-on-one interactions
• For classes with info lit components:
research papers, speeches, etc.
• 2013-14: 72 online sections
8. Positive Trends
• Turning to librarians for research help
– Specifically, the embedded librarian
• Using the library’s website/databases
for research
• Using C.R.A.A.P. test in website
evaluation, over 50% increase
• Understanding of citations and sites
like Wikipedia
10. Student Feedback (EOC Survey)
“The librarian was extremely helpful and
I'm glad she was there to help me! She
knew exactly how to answer my
questions and she was always prompt
with timing. I never had to wait days for
a response for [sic] neither my teacher
nor my librarian, so thank you for that
especially!”
11. Student Feedback (EOC Survey)
“…I used our librarian for every assignment we
were given…Whenever I needed help with
either research or help narrowing down a
topic, the librarian always gave good
suggestions and helpful hints, as well as ways to
help navigate through the online library in a
more productive manner. I always like to be
well-informed when it comes to my class work,
so any advice or guidance that helps facilitate
a better understanding of an assignment or a
more proficient way to do the assignment, is
very helpful.”
12. Computer Literacy
• We used a link for the Computer
Readiness Assessment in Student
Online Profiles.
• We have been unable to retrieve the
data from the pre and post
assessments. No scores.
• Future: We will use our own assessment
that we can import into Bb that will
show up in Gradebook.
13. Computer Literacy
• Recommendation: Students perform 70
percent or higher to register/enroll in
online classes to increase the likelihood of
their success in the online learning
environment.
• eLOT Committee is working on this
assessment; McIntosh hopes to pilot Fall,
2014.
• Question: What is correlation between
computer literacy score and STOPPED
ATTENDING?
14. End of Course Class
Effectiveness Survey
• 24 questions
– Multiple-choice
– Open ended
• 80% response rate (20 out of 22)
• Demographics: 70 percent or more
said this was their 4th or more online
course, 90 percent said they would
take the course online again.
15. End of Course Class
Effectiveness Survey
• 80 percent said the course was
comparable in level of difficulty to
other courses; ten percent said this
course was harder.
• 90 percent said they would
recommend this course to other
students.
• 85 percent said they liked the e-book.
16. Student Feedback (EOC Survey)
“I like the fact that she [instructor] posted her
own announcements….”
“Having a librarian AND an instructor there to
help in a course made me feel like I was always
able to get help, should I need it, which is not
the case in many other online classes I have
taken.”
“The LearnSmart quizzes were helpful because
the [sic] reiterated the information that was
provided in the text.”
17. Student Feedback (EOC Survey)
• “…The overall experience with the e-
book was pleasant and user-friendly. I
believe the e-book assisted in
delivering information in an easy to
learn fashion while being completely
engaged with the learner.”
• “I enjoyed the learn smart quizzes and
the interactive e-book.”
18. End of Course Library Survey
• 14 questions
• Deployed by librarians to all
embedded classes
• COM 110: 10 responses
• 90% said “Yes”:
– Helped grade
– Made course easier
– More embedded librarians
19. Student Success?
• 6 A’s
– all used embedded librarian
• 10 B’s
– all used embedded librarian
• 6 had more than 1 exchange
• 6 C’s
• __________________________________
• 4 D’s
• 16 F’s
– all stopped attending
20. Lessons Learned?
• Ingredients to online student success:
– Proactive, involved instructor
– Solicit student knowledge at beginning &
feedback throughout
– Added support: embedded librarian
• Current embedded model is
unsustainable due to staffing
limitations
21. More Lessons Learned?
• What makes online students
successful?
– Takes more than Instructor and Course
Content to make online students successful.
– Quality Course Review
– Online classes need “ready access” to
support services, like seated classes.
– Bring the following to the online class
environment: ITS, Tutoring, Registration,
Academic Learning Center, Advising, FA/VA,
Testing Center.
23. Bibliography
Belanger, J. and Bliquez, R. (2012). Developing a collaborative
faculty-librarian information literacy assessment project.
Library Review, Vol. 61, No. 2, pp. 68-91. DOI
10.1108/00242531211220726.
Knapp, J. A., Rowland, N.J., and Charles, E.P. (2014).
Retaining students by embedding librarians into
undergraduate research experiences. References
Services Review. Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 129-147. DOI
10.1108/RSR-02-2013-0012.
Thomas, E.A. and McIntosh, A. (October, 2013). Embedded
Librarianship: A Collaboration that Improves Student
Learning Outcomes. Innovation, Vol. 8, No.10 Retrieved
from http://www.league.org/publication/showcase/
