Using a Knowledge Mapping Tool in Engineering Information Literacy Instruction: A First Experiment

Haoyong Lan; Weiling Liu

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Engineering Libraries Technical Session 2: Instruction
Page Count: 12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40607
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40607
Download Count: 267

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Paper Authors

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Haoyong Lan University of Louisville

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Haoyong Lan is the Engineering & Data Librarian at the University of Louisville, where he provides information literacy instruction, research assistance, data support, and collection development services to engineering students, faculty, and staff. He received a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master's degree in Library and Information Science both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include engineering information literacy, engineers' information-seeking behaviors, digital library, and information discovery.

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biography

Weiling Liu University of Louisville

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Professor and Head of Ofﬁce of Libraries Technology (OLT) at University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. She manages OLT, provides leadership and coordination on technology projects, including evaluation, planning, and implementation, and supports library systems and applications. Her professional interests include statistical analysis, information retrieval, access, systems integration, e-resources management, resource discovery, project management, and data management.

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Abstract

A recent comprehensive national survey in the U.S. reveals that lack of time to prepare classes and ways to motivate students in the class have been the challenges faced by academic librarians in information literacy instruction sessions. Another similar survey conducted in Israel also echoes the issue of lack of students’ engagement. There are some publications about the benefits or potentials of knowledge maps such as concept or mind maps in engineering education and academic libraries. Publications show that the maps are primarily used for online assessment, student engagement, visualization, analysis, and dissemination of information. However, there is a gap in literature that describes empirical studies of knowledge maps in engineering information literacy instruction.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of knowledge maps in enhancing engineering information literacy instruction. With the knowledge maps, librarians can save time in preparing the library instruction materials. The maps can be used for in-class exercises and information literacy skills assessments. Engineering students can use the knowledge maps in the class and for future reference and other learning activities such as laboratory research.

The experiment was done in an information literacy instruction session for a senior-level undergraduate course in Electrical and Computer Engineering. The instructor created a knowledge map of all the contents needed for the class and built start- and end-of-session surveys in Springshare LibWizard. At the beginning of the session, the instructor introduced the knowledge map and associated software tool to the students. The students were asked to complete the start-of-session survey and submit their knowledge maps with pre-assessment answers. Then, the instructor used the original map to present the course-related contents. After the presentation, the students used their copies of the knowledge map to do in-class exercises. At the end of the session, the instructor requested the students to review their pre-assessment answers and make changes as needed based on what they learned in class. The students submitted their edited knowledge maps along with the end-of-session surveys. Survey data were collected and analyzed with LibWizard Surveys and Reports.

The instructor created a map of all the content by copying and pasting the resource links from the subject guide or sample articles. All students had hands-on practice in class. The results show that most students felt that the knowledge map tool had helped them effectively understand the course concepts. They also indicated that the knowledge map would effectively assist their research projects. Using the knowledge map tool, the instructor could save time preparing materials for teaching and in-class exercises. Further work is needed to improve the delivery of knowledge maps.

Citation
Format

Lan, H., & Liu, W. (2022, August), Using a Knowledge Mapping Tool in Engineering Information Literacy Instruction: A First Experiment Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40607

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - A recent comprehensive national survey in the U.S. reveals that lack of time to prepare classes and ways to motivate students in the class have been the challenges faced by academic librarians in information literacy instruction sessions. Another similar survey conducted in Israel also echoes the issue of lack of students’ engagement. There are some publications about the benefits or potentials of knowledge maps such as concept or mind maps in engineering education and academic libraries. Publications show that the maps are primarily used for online assessment, student engagement, visualization, analysis, and dissemination of information. However, there is a gap in literature that describes empirical studies of knowledge maps in engineering information literacy instruction.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of knowledge maps in enhancing engineering information literacy instruction. With the knowledge maps, librarians can save time in preparing the library instruction materials. The maps can be used for in-class exercises and information literacy skills assessments. Engineering students can use the knowledge maps in the class and for future reference and other learning activities such as laboratory research.

The experiment was done in an information literacy instruction session for a senior-level undergraduate course in Electrical and Computer Engineering. The instructor created a knowledge map of all the contents needed for the class and built start- and end-of-session surveys in Springshare LibWizard. At the beginning of the session, the instructor introduced the knowledge map and associated software tool to the students. The students were asked to complete the start-of-session survey and submit their knowledge maps with pre-assessment answers. Then, the instructor used the original map to present the course-related contents. After the presentation, the students used their copies of the knowledge map to do in-class exercises. At the end of the session, the instructor requested the students to review their pre-assessment answers and make changes as needed based on what they learned in class. The students submitted their edited knowledge maps along with the end-of-session surveys. Survey data were collected and analyzed with LibWizard Surveys and Reports.

The instructor created a map of all the content by copying and pasting the resource links from the subject guide or sample articles. All students had hands-on practice in class. The results show that most students felt that the knowledge map tool had helped them effectively understand the course concepts. They also indicated that the knowledge map would effectively assist their research projects. Using the knowledge map tool, the instructor could save time preparing materials for teaching and in-class exercises. Further work is needed to improve the delivery of knowledge maps.

AU  - Haoyong Lan
AU  - Weiling Liu
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Using a Knowledge Mapping Tool in Engineering Information Literacy Instruction: A First Experiment
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/40607
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--40607
ER  -