Title Mapping Existing Research Output Focused on Higher Education Teaching and Learning in Ireland 1990-2015 Authors(s) O'Sullivan, Sara; Gibney, Amanda; Guerin, Suzanne; Staunton, Michael; Kalaitzake, Manolis Publication date 2015-06 Publisher National Forum Link to online version http://www.teachingandlearning.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Project-5-Mapping-Existing-Research-Output.pdf Item record/more information http://hdl.handle.net/10197/6860

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Mapping Existing Research Output Focused on Higher Education Teaching and Learning in Ireland 1990-2015

Introduccion. Este estudio exploro el comportamiento de informacion de estudiantes graduados relativo a su proceso de investigacion y las actividades eruditas.
Metodo. Se realizaron entrevistas semi-estructuradas en profundidad a cien estudiantes graduados representativos de todas las disciplinas y departamentos de la Universidad Carnegie Mellon.
Analisis. Trabajando en parejas, codificamos las transcripciones de las entrevistas en categorias significativas usando el software ATLAS.ti. Se intento reducir la subjetividad mediante el uso combinado de analisis cuantitativo y cualitativo.
Resultados. Los estudiantes graduados empiezan a menudo con una reunion con profesores que proporcionan la orientacion, recomiendan y proporcionan recursos. Otros estudiantes ayudan a dar forma a las actividades de investigacion de los estudiantes graduados, y el personal de la biblioteca universitaria proporciona orientaciones para encontrar recursos. Internet juega un papel principal, aunque los estudiantes continuan usando recursos impresos. La conveniencia, la falta de sofisticacion en la busqueda y uso de recursos y los requisitos del curso afectan su comportamiento de informacion. Los resultados varian segun las disciplinas y los programas.
Conclusion. Las bibliotecas pueden influir en el comportamiento de informacion de estudiantes reevaluando sus programas instruccionales y proporcionando recursos y servicios. Pueden tomar la delantera trabajando con el personal academico para orientar a los estudiantes.

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Scholarly use of information: graduate students' information seeking behaviour

Purpose – The purpose of this review is to draw out patterns of information seeking behavior of graduate students as described in the empirical research published from 1997 to the present.Design/methodology/approach – A systematic search of databases for studies on information behavior and graduate students was employed in order to retrieve studies for a systematic review. Common themes that emerged from the literature were synthesized into a discussion of behavior patterns. Additionally a study quality analysis was conducted for all retrieved studies using a critical appraisal checklist for library and information research.Findings – This review revealed that graduate students begin their research on the internet much like any other information seeker, consult their faculty advisors before other people, and use libraries in diverse ways depending on the discipline studied. Additionally differences were noted between international and home students, and doctoral and master's students.Practical implication...

Patterns of graduate students' information seeking behavior: a meta‐synthesis of the literature

Purpose – This paper aims to gain insights from existing models of information behaviour, building on them to develop a new model which, unlike most others, encompasses both information seeking and communication. By identifying key factors affecting the successful communication and use of information, it is hoped that the model will be of practical value both to information providers and to users.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a literature search and analysis of well‐established models of information seeking and of communication, from which a new conceptual model is constructed.Findings – Existing models have elements in common, though most models in library and information science focus on information seeking and the information user, while those from the field of communications focus on the communicator and the communication process. A new model is proposed that includes key elements of existing models and takes into account not just the information seeker but also the communicator ...

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Building on models of information behaviour: linking information seeking and communication

Information-seeking is important for lawyers, who have access to many dedicated electronic resources. However there is considerable scope for improving the design of these resources to better support information-seeking. One way of informing design is to use information-seeking models as theoretical lenses to analyse users' behaviour with existing systems. However many models, including those informed by studying lawyers, analyse information-seeking at a high level of abstraction and are only likely to lead to broad-scoped design insights. We illustrate that one potentially useful (and lower-level) model is Ellis's - by using it as a lens to analyse and make design suggestions based on the information-seeking behaviour of 27 academic lawyers, who were asked to think aloud whilst using electronic legal resources to find information for their work. We identify similar information-seeking behaviours to those originally found by Ellis and his colleagues in scientific domains, along with several that were not identified in previous studies such as 'updating' (which we believe is particularly pertinent to legal information-seeking). We also present a refinement of Ellis's model based on the identification of several levels that the behaviours were found to operate at and the identification of sets of mutually exclusive subtypes of behaviours.

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Investigating the information-seeking behaviour of academic lawyers: From Ellis's model to design

This paper reports the results of two empirical studies which explored the information seeking behaviour of engineering and law students in Ireland. Findings reveal similar patterns in the information seeking behaviour between students studying to become professionals and information seeking patterns of these groups identified in the Leckie et al. model. Students learned their information seeking strategies, including effective and less effective approaches, from educators. Mis-perceptions of the role and value of libraries and information professionals in their studies were common, and as a result, students often adopted information seeking strategies that excluded libraries and library staff. The two studies suggest that engineering and law students in Ireland could benefit from greater information literacy training and awareness, enabling them to acquire the information skills they need to function effectively and efficiently in their future professional work lives.

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Information Seeking and Students Studying for Professional Careers: The Cases of Engineering and Law Students in Ireland.

From June 2010 until the present, a suite of online reusable learning objects (RLOs) has been created by staff at the Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT Dublin) library covering a range of information literacy (IL) competencies. These RLOs have helped to facilitate student transition from second to third level, advance IL and enrich the student learning experience. The purpose of this paper is to outline the development of these RLOs and how the resources have been shared, reused and repurposed to enhance IL progression. A review of recent literature explores some of the key issues around the creation of digital learning resources and best practice, as well as the pedagogical foundations on which the learning objects are built. The design, development and implementation of the RLOs and the collaborative working arrangements that the digital resources have helped to foster are also outlined and the authors examine the issues and challenges experienced by the project team during the course of the RLO development. The significant usage and substantial impact that the learning objects have had on student-centred education and the various evaluative mechanisms used to measure the effectiveness of the RLOs is discussed, as well as future development plans. These learning tools have promoted best practice in innovative delivery methods and added value to the wider higher education (HE) community in the Republic of Ireland through their sharing, dissemination and reuse as open educational resources (OERs) via the National Digital Learning Resources (NDLR) service. The paper is likely to be of particular relevance to academic library practitioners and teaching staff in Irish HE as it provides an overview and links to a suite of digital learning tools that can be used or adapted in other academic settings. In terms of originality, there is no evidence of any published literature within the context of Irish HE sector covering the development of RLOs to support IL initiatives and will inform future research on how learning objects can be used to support learning and teaching practice both in the Republic of Ireland and further afield. This article is based on a poster presentation at LILAC 2012.

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Creating, sharing and reusing learning objects to enhance information literacy

During a two year period commencing from June 2010 until the present, a suite of online reusable learning objects (RLOs) have been created at ITT Dublin library covering a range of information literacy competencies. This poster will outline the development of RLOs at ITT Dublin and how these resources have been shared, reused and repurposed to enhance information literacy progression. The article will focus on best practices and lessons learned during the design, development, and implementation process including the pedagogical approach, application of the software and the collaborative working arrangements that the digital learning resources have helped to foster.

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Gillian Kerins

Papers

Information Seeking and Students Studying for Professional Careers: The Cases of Engineering and Law Students in Ireland.

Creating, sharing and reusing learning objects to enhance information literacy

Developing Reusable Learning Objects at ITT Dublin via the Irish National Digital Learning Repository