Mission Impossible? Transforming library induction into learning - Eveson

Editor's Notes

• #3 Shows history of Teesside Uni from beginnings as a Technical College to the present day. Won a number of prestigious awards. Mission to provide education inspired by innovation that transforms lives. LibQuest therefore part of this Mission.
• #4 All of the research points to induction into higher education as a really important time for students. It helps students to feel like they belong, it provides an opportunity to start to build supportive relationships with their peers. This is where we can highlight the importance of the Library and create a great first impression. We see induction as a golden opportunity but the quote above is how one student we interviewed saw it. Fail to convey to students the importance of the library to their future academic achievement (Bickley and Corrall, 2011). Need to be more spread out e.g. not all in induction week Need to be more interactive, not just a lecture Encouraging students to participate can be difficult (Fitz-Walter, Tjondronegoro and Wyeth, 2011)
• #5 Relaxed environment created by game apps does encourage student participation, turning students into active participants rather than passive observers. (McKeachie, 2003) Pilot study at the Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York: students reporting learning new information using their pre-existing knowledge as a basis (Marcus and Beck, 2003) Students who use gamification during their academic year appear more motivated and have an improved attendance and participation record (Charles, 2011). Gamification engages students in an interactive learning experience and improves their experience of the given task (Zichermann and Cunningham, 2011). Game based learning has potential to transform library inductions into a resource of particular interest to a specific group of users (Beasley and Crerar, 2005). Game based orientation programmes can be an effective tool in overcoming language and geographical barriers. They can provide new students with the prospect of socialising and building social networks, as well as providing relevant knowledge (Trotter and Roberts, 2006). At Teesside University, one of the key strategic themes embedded within the Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Strategy is that of “Students as Partners” and there is a partnership approach with the Student Union across the University. LibQuest uniquely involved students as partners in both the co-producing the design, content of learning and evaluation of the game. Working with students as co-producers has provided real benefits to all stakeholders involved in the project, not least the important inclusion of work on a student’s CV.
• #6 Background Library Impact Data project shows that students who use the library get a better class of degree Gamification been used elsewhere in the Library Game: students get points for doing library activities e.g. visiting it, borrowing items, doing things at specific hours, returning items in certain combinations etc. Leader board to encourage competition. Decided we wanted to use an augmented reality game at induction to introduce students to various aspects of the library building and resources Augmented Reality We were aware of some of the possibilities of augmented reality and we wanted to harness these for the game. Augmented reality provides a way to browse information in a real world context e.g. sports – blue line shows World record Partnership approach Worked with School of Computing on technical aspects of the app and the website. Content of the game produced in collaboration with students – focus groups to ask what they thought they would have found useful to know in first year Elements of the Game LibQuest is a spy mission, which takes students on a learning journey through the library. Student groups are presented with a mission guide which sets put the parameters of the game. iPads are issued to a group or they can use their own mobile devices. Games and challenges, which can be digitial or physical are embedded throughout and are tailored to students’ subject disciplines. Subject librarians are integral to the game and appear as animated avatars to guide the students. As part of the game, students have to post a selfie from a designated library space and a competitive element is injected through an online leadership board.
• #7 In the pilot year, all the Schools took different approaches to rolling out LibQuest. This enabled us to evaluate these different approaches and their impact on the student experience. School of Science and Engineering received a LibQuest presentation and LibQuest packs during their inductions. Students were to form their own teams with no time allocated to complete the quest. Participation of LibQuest was not compulsory. School of Arts and Media received LibQuest packs at their enrolment and also a presentation regarding LibQuest during their induction. Students were booked onto LibQuest following an information skills session and requested to form teams. School of Social Science, Business and Law students completed LibQuest within the first week of their induction. Students selected their own groups. Allocated compulsory timeslot in Welcome week and first week. School of Health students received a presentation regarding LibQuest during their induction. Nursing students received no timetabled slot or formally allocated group and were expected to complete LibQuest in their own time. The exception was the January intake, where Nursing students were given a specific time and specific group to complete LibQuest. BUT was on a day they not normally in, so had to make childcare arrangements etc AND only thing on that day for 1 hour, so felt it was a long trip for what it was. The Social Work students were divided into groups of 12/15. Participation of LibQuest was timetabled within their first week of induction. School of Computing students were given a timetabled slot in welcome week or week one. LibQuest was explained to them during their section inductions and groups were given during that time. Each group of students completed LibQuest either immediately after their section induction, or as part of a module in week one. Students were also met in the Library building by their Academic Librarian, who showed them how to connect to the wifi, download the app etc.
• #8 Targeted SoC because of its traditionally lower level of engagement with the Library Figures are for rollout year – gave more time to evaluate it’s impact More than 297 may have done LibQuest, but we only counted successful participants. 592 students in SoC overall
• #9 Graph shows awareness of resources; exploration of lib; and teamwork as being best aspects of LibQuest
• #10 Participants means those that completed the evaluation, not total number of overall participants. Students welcomed the opportunity to have hands-on experience with tasks such as finding a book using the Dewey system and then borrowing it, supporting the view that gamification engages students in an interactive learning experience and improves user experience of their given task.
• #11  Students appreciated the chance to familiarise themselves with the Library building and the various facilities e.g. areas for group work, the help on offer etc. Students reported learning new information will add this to their pre-existing knowledge and use these facilities in the future.
• #12  Game based learning supports social integration and engagement, and the view that game based learning is an important component in improving the induction process. Teesside students enjoyed peer working and support and will hopefully be able to draw on this during their studies.
• #13 Demographics: School of Health nurses: older demographic. SoC – younger and higher proportion of males Familiarity with technology: Computing students familiar with ipads and idea of playing games as a way of learning. Technical glitches e.g. with Android app meant that some students got frustrated – diffifcult o develop as so many providers. Decided to only use Apple devices in 2016
• #14 SSSBL and SoC mostly positive about LibQuest and long-term benefits; Health mostly negative – mostly due to way it was rolled out, though demographics may have played a part.
• #15 Schools of Computing and Social Science Business and Law participants overall perceived the long-term impact of LibQuest as being positive to their academic year. However, the School of Health participants appeared negative regarding their long-term impact of LibQuest regarding their academic year due to way it was rolled out and compatibility issues. Are able to do something about these however, which is positive. These comments show that LibQuest does appeal to certain groups of students and can have an impact on their study. However, it needs to become more targeted to specific courses. The demographic of the participants and the timing of LibQuest also have a significant impact on overall perception.
• #16 In-depth interviews with Computing students Helped understand important areas of the library and how to navigate them. Long-term impact – made the library more accessible and less daunting. Enjoyed working as a team and socialisation aspects – long-term impact – helped them feel more like part of a cohort Felt it had helped with research elements of their course – long-term impact on grades in modules with research elements needs to be proved – possible further study.
• #17 Current third years did not have LibQuest as part of their induction. Current 2nd and some of current 1st years did. Stats show increase in number of items loaned in first and second year of study until this academic year. Stats show increase in number of students loaning items until this academic year. At first felt depressed about lack of impact on this year’s 1st years! But then looked at % of students who borrowed items and this has increased year on year. Cohort has just got smaller. Impact of LibQuest difficult to judge – been increasing emphasis by School on research and academic skills, rather than practical and industry experience (as previously). Increasing input by Academic Librarians into modules may also partly explain increase. BUT clear that LibQuest does have a role to play.
• #18 Students enjoyed LibQuest – also able to articulate clearly what learnt from it e.g. finding books on shelves etc. Group element: helped form friendship groups across cohort e.g. Games Programmers in same group as Computer Scientists – been complaints in past about lack of student identity and cohesion. LibQuest introduced to students: Session should be timetabled and compulsory. Having a member of staff available to brief students and support them in their quest improved the experience. App: currently unreliable and does not work on all mobile devices. The way the app works also impacts on the flow of the game leading to negative experiences for groups. Multiple windows open at same time. App needs updating to reflect Apple software updates. Requests for specific quests: e.g. more challenging levels and discipline area.