Scaffolding Student Research:

Collaborating with Public Health Faculty on Embedded Instruction

John PellHunter College

Libraries

CONTENTS

• Introduction• Research Questions• Methods• Results• Discussion

INTRODUCTIONWhat is our instructional Context?

INTRODUCTION

• Library Research Assignment– 10% of the course grade– Two optional instruction sessions– Provides introduction to systematic

searching following Cochrane methods1,2

INTRODUCTION

• Library Assignment Evaluation Criteria:1. Identification of a Review Article

2. Research Question

3. Search Strategy Description

4. Query

5. Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

6. Thesis

7. Written Summary

RESEARCH QUESTIONSWhat did we want to know about our instruction?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• Are library research assignment grades correlated with other individual assignment grades?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• Is attendance at library instruction sessions associated with better individual assignment grades?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• What assignment characteristics are associated with attendance at instruction sessions?

METHODSHow did we investigate our questions?

METHODS

• Collected grades and Attendance for all students (n = 68) from all Instructors.

• SPSS for Pearson Correlation and Cross-tabs* Defined “higher grade” as above the

median.

RESULTSWhat did we find out?

RESULTS

• Library research assignment grades are substantially3 (r = .534) and significantly (p<.01) correlated to Public Health Brief individual assignment grades.

RESULTS

• Attending both library instruction sessions is significantly associated with a higher library assignment grade (p<.01).

RESULTS

• Attending both library instruction sessions is significantly associated with a higher Public Health Brief individual assignment grade (p<.01).

RESULTS

• Attending both library instruction sessions is significantly associated with having both a higher Library Assignment grade and a higher Public Health Brief individual assignment grade (p<.01).

RESULTS

• Assignment characteristics significantly associated with instruction session attendance: + Correct identification of a literature review

[67.4% (n = 29/14) of students attending both sessions (p = 0.005)]

RESULTS

• Assignment characteristics significantly associated with instruction session attendance: + Clear statements of inclusion and exclusion

criteria that don’t confuse manual and automated search processes [62.8% (n=27/16) of students attending both sessions (p = 0.01)]

RESULTS

• Assignment characteristics significantly associated with instruction session attendance: + Accurate summary of primary sources and

correct use of AMA citation style [58.1% (n=25/18) of students attending both sessions (p = 0.03)]

RESULTS

• Assignment characteristics associated with instruction session attendance: + Better, PICOT structured research

questions [74.4% (n=32/11) of students attending both sessions (p = 0.06)]

RESULTS

• Assignment characteristics associated with instruction session attendance: + Use of controlled vocabulary and Boolean

logic [58.1% (n = 25/18) of students attending both sessions, compare to 36% (n = 9/16) of students who missed a session (p = 0.07)]

RESULTS

• Assignment characteristics associated with instruction session attendance: + Coherent description of search strategy

[41.9% (n = 18/25) of students attending both sessions, compare to 20% (n = 5/20 of students who missed a session (p = 0.06)]

RESULTS

• Assignment characteristics not associated with instruction session attendance: + Statement of a thesis

DISCUSSION What are the limitations and future directions of this?

DISCUSSION

• Limitations?– No certainty that the instruction sessions

caused anything

DISCUSSION

• Future directions?– No search strategy descriptions– Less systematic search strategies– Fully online instruction– Student focus group

REFERENCES

1. Pell J. PH 755: Urban Health and Society Library Research Assignment. Hunter College Libraries. May 2015. http://libguides.library.hunter.cuny.edu/ph755. Accessed May 8, 2015.

2. Higgins J, Green S, eds. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Vol Version 5.1.0. The Cochrane Collaboration; 2011. www.cochrane-handbook.org.

3. CPH SPKS, MPH EKP. Munro’s Statistical Methods for Health Care Research. Vol Sixth, Revised Reprint edition. Philadelphia: LWW; 2012.

CROSSTABS, SCATTER PLOTS, & TABLES

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