USAIN 2014 Burlington, VT May 6, 2014 Stewarding Our First Year Students into the Information Ecosystem Rebecca K. Miller Kyrille Goldbeck DeBose Margaret Merrill

VT Pathways To Success (est. 2009) Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC) Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Commitment to Learning

What kind of FYE? (Keup & Petschauer, 2011) Extended Orientation Academic PreprofessionalBasic Study Skills Pathways to Success Academic support Campus resources Sense of belonging Academic skills Campus academic resources Self-exploration and personal development Themes Critical Thinking Embedded in disciplines Disciplinary topics Critical thinking Career exploration Academic planning

VT + Librarian as partner

Agriculture and Applied Economics Agricultural Sciences Animal & Poultry Sciences Biochemistry Biological Systems Engineering Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences Dairy Science Food Science and Technology Horticulture Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise

CALS First Year Seminar 220 students (out of 620) 6 units in the college 24 peer leaders Meets 1 hour each week – 7 weeks: Department meetings – 7 weeks: College meetings Groups: 6 students in at least 3 different majors.

CALS Inquiry Learning Objectives 1.Students will be able to use information ethically, including avoiding plagiarism and correctly citing sources 2.Students will be able to identify appropriate resources and search effectively in order to locate relevant research 3.Students will be able to critically evaluate resources found by applying evaluation criteria and selecting best sources to include in their research project

FYE Inquiry Assessments Information Literacy Pre/Post-Test (quantitative) Reflection prompts (qualitative) Student work/final projects (mixed)

FYE Inquiry Instruction Models Aim for 10 point growth OR post-test in 80% range Models across all FYE programs include: – One-time, in-class lecture/workshop – Three-time, in-class workshops – Blended online and in-class support/workshops – Completely online support – Assignment development

CALS Inquiry Model Evolution ( ) Overarching goal for students from a variety of departments working collaboratively on a project to show connectivity & impacts of a topic of research across the college 2011: Choose a topic 2012: Lifecycle of milk 2013: The Atlas of Food

Information Literacy Test Results + 12%+ 11% + 19%

Methods to Our (Successful) Madness  Flipped classroom approach  Chunked objectives and tasks  Librarian-developed aids (e.g., citation guide and evaluation guide)  Timely feedback  Frequent, in-class guidance  Intense collaboration with faculty  Train the trainers (peer leaders)

Our Flipped Classroom 3 brief (< 30 minutes) online tutorials Brief (10 questions) quiz following each tutorial Brief (20 minutes) in-class discussion and activity following each tutorial and quiz

Inquiry Modules 1.Effective Searching Strategies 2.Plagiarism 3.Evaluating Resources

Sample Module: Searching

Sample Quiz: Plagiarism

Sample In-Class Activity: Evaluating Criteria used to evaluate informationDomainYESNO Can’t Find The author or sponsor is clearly identifiedAuthority ☐☐☐ The author’s or sponsor’s credentials are appropriate for the subjectAuthority ☐☐☐ The information addresses multiple points of view on the topicObjectivity ☐☐☐ The information is documented from a variety of reliable sourcesObjectivity ☐☐☐ The author or sponsor is a recognized expert on the subjectAccuracy ☐☐☐ Supporting sources for the information provided are listed or mentionedAccuracy ☐☐☐ Presents information appropriate for the level of detail needed for this project Coverage ☐☐☐ The publication or copyright date is givenCurrency ☐☐☐ The dates of the sources cited are givenCurrency ☐☐☐ The intended audience is a scholarly or knowledgeable oneAudience ☐☐☐

Sample Final Product A per capita calorie consumption on a nation by nation basis compiled and produced by the World Food Program. Our poster explains the many factors that affect this unequal distribution of food across the world. Golden, J., Johnson, J., Holcombe, S., Litschewski, J., Duran, A., Zezeski, J.

What else made this work? Choice of topic from controlled source – Buy-in to doing the research on something the group has an interest in Poster session held in the library – Reinforced partnership & “Library as place” Continual collaborative work with CALS faculty to improve course goals & objectives to meet FYE requirements

Additional Resources VT Office of First Year Experiences: National Resource Center for the First Year Experience: VT College of Agriculture & Life Sciences:

Contact Us Rebecca K. Kiri Goldbeck DeBose, Margaret Merrill,

Image Credits Slide 1: Slide 3: Image by Dr. Mary Ann Lewis Slide 4: Slide 6: Photo by Renee Selberg-Eaton Slide 7: Slide 10: Slide 11: Figure by Renee Selberg-Eaton Slide 12: Slide 16: Quiz developed by Rebecca K. Miller Slide 17: Activity designed by Kiri Goldbeck DeBose Slide 18: Image and text by student authors listed on slide Slide 20: