Using Canvas and PechaKucha to Facilitate Undergraduate Peer Teaching of Evidence Based Practice

Abstract

PURPOSE: While most early career undergraduates receive instruction in the core competencies of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Standards, recent studies suggest that such general instruction programs do not provide students with enough exposure or guided practice for these concepts to be retained sufficiently. This paper describes a pilot flipped information literacy program designed that sought to improve upper-level undergraduate health science students’ abilities to find and select appropriate evidence for research assignments.

PARTICIPANTS: Faculty and undergraduate students in public health and animal sciences departments at a large research university. Participants in this project were compensated with gift cards, paid for in part by a MAC-MLA Research & Assessment Grant.

METHODOLOGY: During the 2014-2015 academic year, the authors piloted a flipped information literacy program. Students completed online modules within the university’s learning management system that addressed a number of information literacy topics. During subsequent in-class sessions, the librarians adopted the role of facilitators while students led the session as peer educators, working in teams to develop and deliver brief presentations on an assigned module. The outcomes of this pilot program were evaluated using several methods of assessment. The authors designed rubrics for evaluating student performance on pretests, posttests, as well as on significant research assignments. The investigators also conducted semi-structured interviews with faculty participants to assess their perceptions of the program.

RESULTS: Early results indicate that while student participants learned information literacy concepts, they did not consistently nor effectively apply them throughout the research process. However, this instructional method was developed in close collaboration with disciplinary faculty, which created stronger partnerships between librarians and teaching faculty and allowed for further curricular collaborations.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Based on final results, the paper will explore the challenges and successes in designing, implementing, and evaluating a flipped information literacy program.