DUAL CREDIT: SKILLS
THAT TRANSFER
Or, how to make dual credit students love your
library so much they just have to enroll in your
university!
NGAIRE SMITH
REFERENCE AND INSTRUCTION LIBRARIAN - MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
MISSOURI LIBRARY ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 4, 2012
Why Dual Credit?
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Universities attract good students and ease their
transition to college
Teachers challenge their students with college level
curriculum (Burhanna and Jensen, 2006)
Students earn college credits, helping them to
graduate early (and save moula!) (Smith, 2007)
Senior year ≠ prom planning and yearbook
committee
Purpose of Dual Credit Instruction at
Meyer Library
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Help students complete assignment
The “Wow!” factor
Motivation to attend college (Cosgrove, 2001)
Students are “more systematic and purposeful in
information gathering” (Goodin, 1991, 35)
87% of students reported that library instruction
helped them complete their assignment (Jones et al.
2012)
Barriers to Information Literacy
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The Google effect
I
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used Wikipedia in a paper last year and got an A!
Everything’s Online, right?
 The
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“Bones” Effect
“Satisficing”
 Those
first two articles will work!
The Culture of Dual Credit
Burhanna and Jensen (2006)
Dual Credit Students
College Freshmen
Close peer groups
 Open to group work
 Focused and attentive
 Excited to be here
 Limited time to find
information
 Academically
advanced
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Newly independent
 Distracted by new
roles and
responsibilities
 Range of academic
abilities
 Have a lot of new
information to absorb
Structuring the Class
Usually 1 ½ hours long
 Get to know your students
 Articulate learning outcomes: what do you
want your students to be able to do?
 Reminder: College = study
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Learning Outcomes
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Students will search a variety of sources in order to
find high quality information for their papers
Students will employ different search techniques in
order to narrow and focus their searches
Making the Session Count
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Active learning and hands-on activities
 Students
“need to interact more closely with the course
material than simply listening to it or reading about it.”
(Jacobson and Xu, 2004)
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Extra scaffolding for off-campus learners
Introductions
Distribute index cards
 Ask students to respond to a question
 How can the library help me do my
assignment?
 Describe a time when you used research to
help you make a decision
 Discuss answers as a class
 Overview of the session
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1. Emphasis: The Library Homepage
Or, the Magical Portal to Free Information
58% of students “not sure” whether library
offers access to online databases (De Rosa et
al. 2006)
 Google v. Library Homepage
 Library pays for information so that you don’t
have to!
 Get help from the experts – Ask a Librarian
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2. Finding What’s Out There
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Basic catalog searching
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Keyword Searching
Remember to use “And” to join terms
 Play around with keywords to expand your search
 Use subject terms to find other similar items
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Call numbers
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What they mean, and how to use them to find books
Activity
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In groups, students find two books on a topic in the catalog
and text them to their phones, go to the stacks, and take a
photo of the book. Prize for first!
3. Scholarly v. Popular
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Kimbel Library video
Group activity
 Each
group gets one example of a scholarly journal
and one example of a popular journal
 Using the criteria in the video, each group will decide
which is which, and why
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Report back to the class
Databases
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Click on Articles and Databases link
Ask students to find the top three databases for
Literature Research
Pick one and demonstrate a few features, such as
narrowing by full text only, narrowing by date, and
emailing articles
Database Searching Activity
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Sample Assignment: Comparing MLA International
Bibliography and JSTOR
Group Assignment: Each group will find two full text, scholarly
articles, one from the last five years, on gender in The Yellow
Wallpaper
Worksheet
 Describe articles
 What makes them scholarly?
 Discuss helpful database features
 Describe obstacles encountered
Report back to class
Self-Directed Search Time
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Students focus searches on their own topics
Librarian and instructor available for help
Students retrieve books from stacks, save pdfs, or email them
One-on-one consultation with each student
Wrap-Up
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Review what was covered in class
Ask students to share what they have found on their
topics (either to the class or in a one minute paper)
Reemphasize the library homepage and Ask a
Librarian
Remind students that the library is vital to a
successful college experience
Make sure they all now want to attend MSU!
Skills Acquired:
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Students can now:
 Find
books in the catalog and in the stacks
 Distinguish between scholarly and popular articles
 Use a variety of search techniques
 Identify ways to get help with research when needed
Signs Point to:
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Library instruction helps students achieve at a higher
level
 Can
produce work at the college level when given the
right tools and resources (Goodin, 1991)
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Library use improves student retention
 Haddow
and Joseph (2010) found that students who
used the library in their first semester were more likely
to stay in college
Reference List
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Burhanna, K. & M. L. Jensen. 2006. “Collaborations for Success: High School to
College Transitions.” References Services Review, 34(4), 509-519.
Cosgrove, J. 2001. Promoting Higher Education: (Yet) Another Goal of Bibliographic
Instruction of High School Students by College Librarians.” College and
Undergraduate Libraries, 8(2): 17-24.
Goodin, M. Elspeth. 1991. “The Transferability of Library Research Skills from High
School to College.” School Library Media Quarterly. 20(1): 33-42.
Haddow, Gaby, and Jayanthi Joseph. 2010. “Loans, Logins, and Lasting the Course:
Academic Library Use and Student Retention.” Australian Academic and Research
Libraries, 41 (4): 233-244.
Jacobson, Trudi and Lijuan Xu. 2004. Motivating Students in Information Literacy
Classes. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.
Jones, C.G., T. Stout, R. Thompson, and L. Cline. 2012. Library Constituency Survey:
Interim Report. Springfield: Missouri State University Libraries.
Smith, D. 2007. Why Expand Dual-Credit Programs?” Community College Journal of
Research and Practice. 31:371-387.