Effectiveness of Course-Integrated and Repeated Library Instruction on Library Skills of Education Students

Abstract

Given the investment in librarian time and energy and faculty and student time constraints,it was deemed important to assess effectiveness of course-integrated library instruction, and more specifically, whether repeated library instruction has a cumulative effect on student learning. As such, students who began the study with no prior library instruction experience (n=45) were contrasted with students who had completed a library walking tour and worksheet (n=34) and with those who had attended previous course-integrated library instruction (n=27). A pre-test/post-test research design was utilized, with course-integrated library instruction as treatment. Analysis indicated a statistically significant difference (dependent t(105)=2.18, p<.05) between pre-test (M=49.43, SD=19.24) and post-test (M=77.69, SD=14.64) scores. However, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed students with no prior library instruction experience did not significantly differ from those who completed a walking tour and worksheet or those who attended a prior course-integrated library instruction session (F(2,103)=1.63, p=.20).

Keywords

• Academic libraries
• Library instruction
• Evaluation
• Cumulative effect