Name:       Kelly Burke
Email:      kelly.burke@canyons.edu
Phone:      5313
Department: Biology
Class:      Full-time
Students:   55
B1:         Submit

ResearchQuestion:

The objective of this project was to determine whether the use of student designed web tutorials facilitated learning of subject content and online literacy skills.  Online research relies heavily on the ability of the individual to distinguish sites that are appropriate, reliable, and accurate from sites that are not.  My classroom research project concentrated on the general question, “Does the creating, exchanging, and taking of web tutorials increase content knowledge, quality of work, and online literacy skills in my Biosci 221 Microbiology classes?”  I created a web tutorial assignment for several reasons.  I hoped to increase content knowledge, reinforce information from the lecture and text in a format that traditional aged students are familiar with, increase the skills of students who might not be familiar with online research, and help students develop critical assessment skills for online information.  I believe that adding an online research aspect to a traditional class can be more motivating than a traditional research paper.  I have also found that when students know that another student will be taking their tutorial the quality of their work seems to increase and they seem to be more motivated.


Summary:

My project took approximately 7 weeks in the latter part of the course, during a major section on bacterial taxonomy, diagnostics, and disease.  I followed the progress of two sections of Biosci 221; 55 students.  At the beginning of this part of the course the students were assigned a web tutorial project I call “Make One, Take One”.   The students picked a topic to research online and chose five appropriate websites, including 2 peer reviewed journal articles via Proquest or similar search engine.  They created tutorials involving these five sites.  The tutorials included background information on the topic, 5 sites, 20 questions, and a final 10 question quiz.  When these were completed they were turned in to me (with an answer key), and exchanged at random with other students who then took the tutorial—answered the question, and the quiz.  These completed tutorials were turned in to me for final assessment.  The tutorial was in lieu of a traditional research paper and was worth 10% of their final grade.  Students were also queried on the content information on the final exam.

In addition, one section of Biosci 221 will received in depth instruction in online research via a library tour, including review of appropriate sites.  The other class did not attend a tour and will received only basic instruction/guidance from me.  I surveyed the students regarding if/how the project increased their online literacy skills.

Modifications:

There was one significant modification to the project.  Instead of four websites, the students had to use Proquest or a similar vehicle to search for peer reviewed journal articles to include as two sites (for a total of 5 sites, instead of 4).  I felt that it was really important for the students to learn how to access primary research articles and to have to read and review them.  The students found this the most difficult part of the task, but having to come up with questions for someone else to read forced them to search for and read articles they wouldn’t have pursued before.

Learn:

As part of my end of the semester survey/course evaluation I asked students about the effectiveness of the tutorial project: Did the exercise facilitate their learning of material?  Did the exercise increase interest in the topic?  How did the fact that the tutorials are exchanged with other students effect the motivation to create a quality project?  In what ways, if any, did this project increase skills in online research?

From the responses on this survey I learned a lot of valuable information from this project.  Overall the students did enjoy the assignment; they were more motivated to create a good project; and were more interested in similar topics in class.  The students did not feel strongly that the project increased their online skills, however, some of the data shows that it likely did. 

87% of the students from the “no-tour” class and 92% of the “tour” class stated that the project helped them learn course material.  Many responded that they were able to learn more about 2 specifics topic covered in class.   91% of the “no-tour” class and 88% of the “tour” class responded that the Web tutorial increased their interest in similar topics.  One student stated that “Yeah, especially when we would talk about my topic (in class), I felt as if I was really smart.”  Interestingly only 65% of the “no-tour” class felt that they were more motivated to do a good job for their peers, while 92% of the “tour” class felt that knowing a peer would be taking the tutorial did increase their motivation to create a good project.  Most positive responders said that they wanted to make it more interesting and easy to navigate for other students.  The most interesting statistic was that 56% of each class said that the project did not increase their online skills.  I was surprised at first that it was exactly the same percentage for both classes.  However, as I graded the tutorials I kept track of the number of projects that had correctly included peer reviewed journal articles and those that hadn’t.  In the “no-tour” class only 50% of the students correctly included peer reviewed articles (their Proquest articles tended to be newspapers, etc.).  In the “tour” class 77% correctly included scholarly journals and their Bibliographies tended to be more complete and in the correct format.  So, I believe that their online skills were enhanced by the library tour portion of the assignment, even though they might not have realized it. 

Future students will clearly benefit from this project in several ways.  I will make some modifications to narrow topic, increase information on scholarly journals, and streamline some aspects for my benefit.  Students will gain content knowledge and online literacy skills.  One other aspect of this project became apparent to me.  The benefits to the students can be achieved in a process that it not intimidating, results in a high level of success, and in one that the students actually were excited about creating and sharing with others.  They were really proud of the projects and excited for a peer to be taking them.  The students took the project, themselves and their peers seriously.