Flora McMartin - Broad Based Knowledge Alan Wolf - University of Wisconsin - Madison

Flora McMartin - Broad Based KnowledgeAlan Wolf - University of Wisconsin - Madison

What do faculty members do with the online digital resources they find at digital libraries, online collections of open educational resources and so forth.

Do faculty value online educational resources?

How do they use these resources for teaching purposes?

What are the barriers to their use of both resources and digital libraries/collections?

BEN Scholars, 2008 Slide 2

Survey sections and questions◦ Designed to parallel themes from focus group◦ Homage to surveys past

Survey recruitment and delivery◦ Conducted 11 focus groups to ID and test survey

questions◦ Cold e-mailed almost 3000 higher education

institutions◦ Approximately 250 responded, and 120 participated◦ Local coordinators managed delivery


Non-Tenured20%

Librarian3%

Instr./Lec.18%

Other/NR7%

Tenured39%

Adjunct13%

4,678 respondents (4439 who instruct) – 360 Bio STEM and non-STEM faculty included


Faculty Appointment

2 Year25%

4 Year29%

Masters17%

Doctoral25%

Other/NR4%

Type of Institution

Biologists were more heavily represented from 2 Year and Masters granting schools and fewer from 4 Year schools.

Biologists: more heavily represented in tenure and tenure track positions fewer academic staff positions

When we look at traditionally identified faculty populations, we see few differences.◦ The type of institution where they serve◦ The amount of time that they have been teaching◦ Even discipline is less a factor than expected

As far as these traditional groups go, we have a homogenous population

We still believe that there are factors, but they are complex and require further research



Represents the biology instructors responses % Bio

Of great value to my instruction 72

Of some value to my instruction 27

Of no value to my instruction <1

I do not instruct students 0

TOTAL 100

Digital Images, Visual Materials, Historical Documents◦ Drawings, photographs, video, primary source materials,

etc. Simulations/animations

◦ Illustration or programs that present a process or concept that is interactive

Teaching or Learning Activities and Exercises◦ Assignments, tutorials, labs, problem sets, etc.

Online Scholarly Resources◦ Online journals, scholarly articles discussion groups, etc.

Data sets◦ Online collections of data from local and external sources


Rank in order of most to least usedRank in order of most to least used


Represents the biology instructors responses:

Type of Resource

% who selected

very frequent

ly

Digital Images 69

Online Scholarly Resources 60

Teaching/learning Exercises 25

Data Sets 25

Animations/simulations 23

1. Presented in Lecture2. Posted on LMS or course website3. Used in tests/quizzes4. Student study aid, for reviews5. Used in own scholarship6. Professional development as teacher7. Online class discussion8. Student research or problem based

learning



Type of Resource Most Popular Uses

Online Scholarly Resources• Prof. Dev. as Teacher• Grants, Scholarship

Digital Images• Lecture• Prof. Dev. as Teacher• Study Aid

Teaching/learning Exercises• Student Study Aid/Review• Lecture

Data Sets• Prof. Dev. as Teacher• Student Research/PBL

Animations/simulations• Student Study Aid/Review• Lecture


Scale: 1 = very infrequently, 4 = very Frequently

Represents the biology instructors responses

MeanUser

Created

MeanModified Other’s

Mean Used

Other’s As-is

Digital Images 2.53 2.72 3.02

Animations/Simulations 1.49 1.64 2.81

Data Sets 1.51 1.62 2.59

Teaching/Learning Exercises

2.32 2.21 2.46

Online Scholarly Resources

1.68 1.83 3.09


Scale -2 very unlikely to +2 Very Likely


Likelihood of use to find

Mean (SD)Collection of Digital Resources

Mean (SD)Search Engine (Google, Yahoo)

Information that provides students with context for a topic 2.90 (1.06) 3.55 (0.77)

Examples that get students excited about a topic 2.70 (1.06) 3.54 (0.81)

Current information for students 2.87 (1.11) 3.64 (0.70)

Something to illustrate a difficult concept for students

2.77 (1.01) 3.39 (0.88)

Something to provide non-technical background for students

2.31 (1.05) 3.40 (0.97)

Scale 1-4, Very infrequently to Very frequently


Percentage of respondents who ranked feature as most importantPercentage of respondents who ranked feature as most important

Represents the biology instructors responses %

CONTENT

Peer reviewed & high quality 50

Organized to find materials quickly 40

PEDAGOGY

Supplemented w/ materials to explain use in teaching

8

Supplemented w/ materials to use for professional development

2


Rank Order

Motivation

improve students’ learning

stay abreast of professional developments

helps me keep fresh

helps students learn difficult concepts

incorporating DR’s in class is fun

saves me time

help me better accommodate students w/ disabilities


Scale: -2 = strongly disagree, +2 = strongly agree (5 point scale)


MotivationMean

Improve students’ learning 1.42

Stay abreast of professional developments 1.25

Helps me keep fresh 1.22

Helps students learn difficult concepts 1.15

Incorporating DR’s in class is fun 0.96

Saves me time 0.96

Help me better accommodate students w/ disabilities -0.08

I would use technology more if…..


Scale 1 = strongly disagree, 4 = strongly agree


Mean

Had more time 3.07

More Useful DR were available 2.75

More/better training in use of DRS available 2.68

My institution rewarded me for using them 2.48

Technology was more dependable 2.34

Had more access to technology 2.33

Greater priority in my institution 2.10

“Time” doesn’t really describe the barrier

Decisions about spending time are made by performing a cost/benefit analysis

“I don’t have the time” = “In my list of priorities, this either doesn’t rank highly or is not worth the cost (or both)”


How did you learn about incorporating technology into your teaching?

More likely to use collections than search engines to learn about teaching/pedagogy



%

self taught 87

faculty development program 41

another instructor 38

other technology instruction/class 19

TA or grad student 7

Tradition is another powerful driver (change is hard)

All work practices are different Need activation energy to overcome barriers Intrinsic motivation is a powerful force (but

people do not have limitless reservoir) Students are a powerful extrinsic motivator Never underestimate the willingness of a

motivated individual to do their own thing (and to ignore you)


Confounding issues

Based on what you’ve heard, what can you do as a BEN Scholar to encourage your colleagues to use BEN, NSDL and other digital libraries?◦ Motivate faculty ◦ Overcome or by-pass barriers

What kinds of materials, resources would help you in your outreach efforts?

What would you ask of digital libraries in terms of resources and features that would help you ‘sell’ BEN, NSDL and others?


Colleagues:◦ Josh Morrill, Morrill Solutions Research◦ Glenda Morgan, George Mason University◦ Ellen Iverson, Carleton College◦ Cathy Manduca, Carleton College

For more details visit◦http://serc.carleton.edu/facultypart

We wish to acknowledge the National Science Foundation for their support (DUE-0435398). The findings presented here do not necessarily represent the views of the NSF.
