Assessing Online Learning Objects: Student Evaluation of a Guide on the Side Interactive Learning Tutorial Designed by SRJC Libraries

Abstract

More and more of today’s scholars conduct their research in a digital realm rather than using a print collection. The University of Arizona Libraries Guide on the Side tutorial software offers an opportunity to apply the principles of active learning with real world research scenarios. This paper reports on the design and introduction of interactive guided tools to support information literacy instruction in a community college setting. The initial implementation included 110 students who provided voluntary feedback about their perceptions and participated in a quiz assessing their comprehension. Response to the tutorials was overwhelmingly positive, with 96% of students reporting an increased understanding of given research interfaces after taking the interactive tutorials. In testing, students exhibited greater comprehension of the scope of the research interface, with an almost 55% increase in student performance over students who did not take the tutorials.