It's a Wrap: A Real-Life Engineering Case Study as the Focus of an Online Library Tutorial

Patsy Hulse; Dahlia Dantang Han; Emil Melnichenko; Susan Brookes

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Conference: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Vancouver, BC
Publication Date: June 26, 2011
Start Date: June 26, 2011
End Date: June 29, 2011
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Information Literacy: Preparing Students for the Real World
Tagged Division: Engineering Libraries
Page Count: 10
Page Numbers: 22.981.1 - 22.981.10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--18217
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/18217
Download Count: 496

Paper Authors

biography

Patsy Hulse University of Auckland

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Patsy Hulse, University of Auckland. Patsy Hulse is the Engineering Library Manager and Civil and Environmental Subject Librarian at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Patsy has an undergraduate degree in German and History and a postgraduate library qualification. She has been in her current position for 20 years and prior to this was in the Cataloguing and Acquisitions Departments in the University of Auckland Library for many years. She is a member of the New Zealand Library and Information Association Professional Registration Board.
She has travelled to 93 countries and has been fortunate to attend the ASEE Conference eight times since 1995. It is possible that she holds the world record for the number of libraries she has visited (and the number of American engineering libraries).

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Dahlia Dantang Han University Auckland, Engineering Library

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Dahlia Han is the Subject Librarian for Chemical & Materials Engineering, Engineering Science and Auckland Bioengineering Institute, The University of Auckland Library, Auckland, New Zealand since 2000. Prior to this, she was employed for many years in a variety of positions in the South China University of Tropical Agriculture, now Hainan University. She is a registered professional member of the New Zealand Library and Information Association, LIANZA and has a B.Sc. degree (China) and a M.Sc. degree in Information Studies from Sheffield University in the U.K.

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Emil Melnichenko University of Auckland

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Emil Melnichenko is the Subject Librarian for Mechanical Engineering at the University of Auckland Library, Auckland, New Zealand. Before this he worked at the Victoria University of Wellington and the Oceanographic Institute in Wellington, New Zealand. He has a B.Sc. degree and teaching qualifications.

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Susan Brookes University of Auckland, Engineering Library

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Susan Brookes is the Subject Librarian for Electrical and Computer Engineering at the The University of Auckland Library, New Zealand. Prior to this, she was a subject specialist librarian in the fields of science, architecture and business. She is a registered professional member of the New Zealand Library and Information Association, LIANZA and has a B.Sc. Honours degree in Mathematics and the Diploma of the New Zealand Library School.

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Abstract

It’s a wrap: a real-life engineering case study as the focus of an online library tutorialAbstract A core engineering project provided an opportunity to develop a contextualised,interactive, online library tutorial for 3rd year students at the University of XXX. Thetutorial featured a case study of a furniture manufacturing company and fitted neatly into astructured four year programme of information literacy for engineering undergraduates. Itwas realised through a collaborative project of Engineering Subject Librarians with Faculty,Library Learning Services staff, and the Centre for Academic Development.Engineering Subject Librarians have been providing curriculum-integrated informationliteracy lectures and tutorials to 1st, 2nd and 4th year students since 2006. There areincremental changes in the content and complexity at each level to ensure a good fit withcourse content. In 2009, the Library was given the opportunity to contribute informationliteracy content to the compulsory 3rd year engineering management course EngGen303.The modular tutorial is designed around the main management themes of the course and theassociated information resources. The themes are ‘Is polystyrene bad’ (finding articles,official information, and statistics), ‘Best practice’ (company reports), ‘Cutting edgeresearch?’(patents), ‘Time to do testing’ (standards), ‘Time to change the packaging’ (books,projects, and audiovisual materials) and ‘Let’s celebrate our success’ (conference papers andnewspaper articles). The tutorial was delivered in the university learning managementsystem as part of the course content and is also available on the Library web site.Interactive activities were designed based on the learning styles of NetGen students andincluded quizzes, multiple-choice self-tests, drag-and-drop and mouse-over exercises andembedded live searches. The tutorial also featured ten videos, developed in-house, whichhave subsequently been used in other courses.Four evaluation methods were used to assess the success of the tutorial. Data was collectedby direct observation; from the online feedback form; deduced from the test results in thelearning management system; and from the questionnaire completed by students during alecture.Online and written evaluations showed that the tutorial was well received. 98% of thestudents who responded found the online tutorial was easy to use and navigate. They likedthe concept – online, self-paced and centred round a case study relevant to engineering.They appreciated the new resources the tutorial exposed them to, particularly patents andspecialized databases. The students indicated that they have developed transferable skillsthat would contribute to good learning outcomes in other courses.This paper will discuss the aims and development of the tutorial, outcomes, lessons learntand proposals for future improvements.

Citation
Format

Hulse, P., & Han, D. D., & Melnichenko, E., & Brookes, S. (2011, June), It's a Wrap: A Real-Life Engineering Case Study as the Focus of an Online Library Tutorial Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--18217

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -            It’s a wrap: a real-life engineering case study as the focus                             of an online library tutorialAbstract A core engineering project provided an opportunity to develop a contextualised,interactive, online library tutorial for 3rd year students at the University of XXX. Thetutorial featured a case study of a furniture manufacturing company and fitted neatly into astructured four year programme of information literacy for engineering undergraduates. Itwas realised through a collaborative project of Engineering Subject Librarians with Faculty,Library Learning Services staff, and the Centre for Academic Development.Engineering Subject Librarians have been providing curriculum-integrated informationliteracy lectures and tutorials to 1st, 2nd and 4th year students since 2006. There areincremental changes in the content and complexity at each level to ensure a good fit withcourse content. In 2009, the Library was given the opportunity to contribute informationliteracy content to the compulsory 3rd year engineering management course EngGen303.The modular tutorial is designed around the main management themes of the course and theassociated information resources. The themes are ‘Is polystyrene bad’ (finding articles,official information, and statistics), ‘Best practice’ (company reports), ‘Cutting edgeresearch?’(patents), ‘Time to do testing’ (standards), ‘Time to change the packaging’ (books,projects, and audiovisual materials) and ‘Let’s celebrate our success’ (conference papers andnewspaper articles). The tutorial was delivered in the university learning managementsystem as part of the course content and is also available on the Library web site.Interactive activities were designed based on the learning styles of NetGen students andincluded quizzes, multiple-choice self-tests, drag-and-drop and mouse-over exercises andembedded live searches. The tutorial also featured ten videos, developed in-house, whichhave subsequently been used in other courses.Four evaluation methods were used to assess the success of the tutorial. Data was collectedby direct observation; from the online feedback form; deduced from the test results in thelearning management system; and from the questionnaire completed by students during alecture.Online and written evaluations showed that the tutorial was well received. 98% of thestudents who responded found the online tutorial was easy to use and navigate. They likedthe concept – online, self-paced and centred round a case study relevant to engineering.They appreciated the new resources the tutorial exposed them to, particularly patents andspecialized databases. The students indicated that they have developed transferable skillsthat would contribute to good learning outcomes in other courses.This paper will discuss the aims and development of the tutorial, outcomes, lessons learntand proposals for future improvements.
AU  - Patsy Hulse
AU  - Dahlia Dantang Han
AU  - Emil Melnichenko
AU  - Susan Brookes
CY  - Vancouver, BC
DA  - 2011/06/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - It's a Wrap: A Real-Life Engineering Case Study as the Focus of an Online Library Tutorial
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/18217
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--18217
ER  -