Understanding Student Use of Digital Learning Resources Glenda MorganChuck Dziuban Patsy MoskalFlora McMartin Alan WolfJosh Morrill Copyright G. Morgan et al. (2012). This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the authors."

Why Study Use of Digital Resources How people interact with scholarly content is changing Roots in NSDL and other digital library initiatives People had only studied how faculty used specific collections No one knew how faculty found & used materials But it gives us some provocative insights into how people work, and teach and learn and the implications of that knowledge is fairly profound

We Started Out Looking at Faculty Use of Digital Resources 2006 – 2009 – National survey of STEM instructors regarding their use of digital resources in teaching (n=4,439) 2009 – Large international survey of Physics instructors (n=9,275) 2011 – National study of Social Science faculty (n=1,037)

Research Questions - Faculty What do faculty members do with the online digital resources they find at digital libraries, online collections, etc.? Do faculty value digital resources? How do faculty use digital resources for teaching purposes? What are the barriers to their use of resources and digital libraries/collections?

How different are faculty from one another? When we look at traditionally identified faculty populations, we saw few differences. The type of institution where they serve The amount of time that they have been teaching Even discipline was less a factor than expected Differences in the types resources used As far as these traditional groups go, we have a homogenous population

Types of Digital Resources Type of Resource % Use Very FrequentlyHow Used Digital images - visual42Lecture Prof. Dev. as Teacher Animations11Review/Study aid Lecture Data Sets22Prof. Dev. as Teacher Research/PBL Teaching, Learning Exercises28Review/Study aid Lecture Online scholarly resources49Prof. Dev. as Teacher Grants, Scholarship

Digital Resources – other findings Google favorite starting point for searching Iterative process (satisficing) Tend to use DRs developed by others ‘as is’, regardless of the type of DR (digital image, data set, etc.)* Importance of Peer review – 50% Organized to find materials quickly – 40% Supplemental teaching materials – 8% Supplemental PD materials – 2%

Motivations Strong Agreement Top – Improve student learning (Social desirability?) Stay abreast of professional developments Keep material fresh Help students learn difficult concepts Agreement Incorporating DR’s in class is fun Saves time Ambivalent Accommodation for students with disabilities

Barriers to use Agreement More time More useful DR available More/better training in Ambivalent Institutional rewards for use Disagreement More dependable technology Not access to technology Greater priority to institution Photo Credit: Brandon

Physics & Social Science Instructors Results tend to parallel those of larger study All valued DRs highly Similar broad patterns of digital resource type – but some interesting differences across disciplines Barriers are the same regardless of demographic e.g. social science discipline, type of school

Frequency of Use of Digital Resource by Type Never UseRarely UseOccasionally UseFrequently UseMean Freq% % % % Use of Still Images/Photos Physics Social Sciences All Disciplines Use of Simulations Physics Social Sciences All Disciplines Use of Online Datasets Physics Social Sciences All Disciplines Use of Learning Exercises Physics Social Sciences All Disciplines Use of Videos and Animations Physics Social Sciences Use of Audio Physics Social Sciences = Never Use; 2= Rarely Use, 3 = Occasionally Use, 4= Frequently Use

Frequency of Use of Digital Resource by Type There are significant differences in utilization of different kinds of resources This example is use of simulation:

Conclusions about Faculty Data are still relevant – Instructors change more slowly than the educational landscape? Need activation to overcome barriers and encourage adoption Knowing about & valuing resources does not always translate to use Intrinsic motivation is a powerful force (but people do not have limitless reservoirs) Students are a powerful extrinsic motivator Faculty tend not to turn to online resources that focus on teaching improvement

What instructors think of student use of resources? This question always sparks debate BUT …. For those who would like student use supervised, it is too late

But it does raise the question How do students use digital resources in their learning?

Student Study – Interviews & focus groups Qualitative data analysis Survey instrument development Survey Survey data analysis Follow up interviews & focus groups Case study of Physics students & other intensive users Summary Report & findings

Research Questions - Students Do student believe DRs contribute to greater learning? What are the circumstances that motivate students to look for DRs? Where to students start searching? What criteria to students use to assess DRs? What barriers to students face in finding & using DRs? What kinds of DRs do students prefer? How to DRs contribute to student learning? Do students value “collections”?

Qualitative Findings Students making far more independent use of DRs than anticipated Students desire content that is well organized and that teachers teach it to them They seek information/explanation when teachers are doing a poor job of it. Students seek video, but it is unclear if they prefer it Differences between recordings of full lectures vs. chunks. Students may be turning to new or different content providers faster than we discover them e.g. YouTube channels Students may value collections more than their propensity to turn to Google may indicate, especially when directed to ‘authoritative’ sources

How and Why Students Use Digital Resources

Formal Syllabus Learning happens both inside and outside Outside is the realm of the “free range learner” Learners have always been a bit “free range ” Hypothesis That we are seeing more free range learning – or a different type of free range learning Who are the free rangers? Are there different types of free ranger? Free Rangers Demographics Motivation Barriers Non Free Rangers Are there students who don’t free range, and why not? What are they doing to fill that role

Quantitative Data Collection Trying to determine what kinds of learners students are

Student Survey Lines of Inquiry Where do students turn when they run into problems with schoolwork Where do students turn when they are interested in a topic General motivations for studying and academic work Use of digital resources in class and students preferences

Student preferences about the “collection-ness” of data

Additional Lines of Inquiry Perceptions about college affordability Questions about textbook use and affordability Wikipedia use Technology ownership Demographics

Survey strategy

Survey Strategy Used data gathered from focus groups to formulate and refine questions Brainstorming sessions to tie the survey to our objectives and formulate a plan

Pilot survey Online survey Ease of data collection Ease of administration Conducting pilot Asked 2 faculty at UCF to advertise to their classes ~50 responses Asked students for feedback regarding questions that were confusing

Some preliminary pilot survey results

Likely to do the following to help with course material (n=51)

Use of technology in class (n=51)

Prefer frequent use in class Video/ Audio Wikis/ Blogs E-booksMobile Apps Simulations/ Online games Other Websites (n=51)

Steps taken in the past year to reduce textbook costs Shared book Checked out from library Didn’t buy book Borrowed book Rented book Found materials online Other (n=51)

Plan to purchase Technology Ownership 100 OwnHave access to (n=51)

Survey Strategy Using survey administration company Maintain large database of people Can pre-screen on demographics National sample Removes researcher pressure on participants Sample size of 10,000-20,000 Plan on 10% response rate

Questions Glenda Morgan Patsy Moskal Alan Wolf

Acknowledgements & Co- Conspirators Flora McMartin Josh Morrill Chuck Dziuban Ellen Iverson Lynette Hoeltter

Questions and Comments Glenda Morgan Or one of the other researchers on the project Chuck Dziuban, University of Central Florida, Flora McMartin, Broad-based Knowledge, Josh Morrill, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Patsy Moskal, University of Central Florida, Alan Wolf, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Support for this project was provided by the National Science Foundation DUE award no Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation