It's a wrap: A real-life engineering case study as the focus for an online library tutorial

Abstract

A core engineering project provided an opportunity to develop a contextualised, interactive, online library tutorial for 3rd year students at the University of Auckland. The tutorial featured a case study of a furniture manufacturing company and fitted neatly into a structured four year programme of information literacy for engineering undergraduates. It was 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 information literacy lectures and tutorials to 1st, 2nd and 4th year students since 2006. There are incremental changes in the content and complexity at each level to ensure a good fit with course content. In 2009, the Library was given the opportunity to contribute information literacy content to the compulsory 3rd year engineering management course EngGen303. The modular tutorial is designed around the main management themes of the course and the associated information resources. The themes are ‘Is polystyrene bad’ (finding articles, official information, and statistics), ‘Best practice’ (company reports), ‘Cutting edge research?’(patents), ‘Time to do testing’ (standards), ‘Time to change the packaging’ (books, projects, and audiovisual materials) and ‘Let’s celebrate our success’ (conference papers and newspaper articles). The tutorial was delivered in the university learning management system 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 and included quizzes, multiple-choice self-tests, drag-and-drop and mouse-over exercises and embedded live searches. The tutorial also featured ten videos, developed in-house, which have subsequently been used in other courses. Four evaluation methods were used to assess the success of the tutorial. Data was collected by direct observation; from the online feedback form; deduced from the test results in the learning management system; and from the questionnaire completed by students during a lecture. Online and written evaluations showed that the tutorial was well received. 98% of the students who responded found the online tutorial was easy to use and navigate. They liked the 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 and specialized databases. The students indicated that they have developed transferable skills that would contribute to good learning outcomes in other courses. This paper will discuss the aims and development of the tutorial, outcomes, lessons learnt and proposals for future improvements.