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Student Survey 2003 Slide 2 Table of Contents Introduction2 Methods3 The Sample4 Objectives5 Demographics7 Use of Electronic Resources for Coursework11 Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Electronic Resources25 Evaluation of Electronic Resources 31 Use of Library Resources 35 Conclusions 41 Slide 3 Introduction The Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC) is conducting a series of interviews, focus groups, and surveys as part of a comprehensive research program to examine the impact of electronic resources on the scholarly communication process. This includes examining the effect of electronic resources on publishers of scholarly materials, academic libraries, information technology departments at institutions of higher education, college faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The study reported here examines the use and effects of electronic resources on college undergraduate and graduate students. Slide 4 Methods A 25 minute online survey of college students was conducted in the Spring and Fall 2003 semesters. E-mail invitations were sent to students in the fields of Political Science, International Affairs and Earth/Environmental Sciences at 4 year colleges and universities across the United States. We focused on these particular disciplines because two of EPICs projects were created for scholars in these disciplines (Columbia International Affairs Online for International Affairs and Earthscape for the Earth/Environmental Sciences.) Political Science undergraduate majors were included because most colleges do not have an undergraduate International Affairs major. Therefore, it is the Political Science undergraduate majors that represent the undergraduate population that uses CIAO. The overall response rate to this survey was 8%. Of those who responded, 1233 individuals met our inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria stipulated respondents be a graduate or undergraduate student at a 4- year liberal arts college, masters college or university, or doctoral/research university, specializing in the field of Political Science, International Affairs or Earth/Environmental Science. Slide 5 The Sample The original sample reflected the underlying distribution of students in four year liberal arts colleges and universities for gender, based on the last year of data available (1999). Weighting factors were used to match the sample to the population for control of school (public vs. private), and level in school (graduate vs. undergraduate) (1999, U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics). This means that the sample matches the national demographics for undergraduate and graduate students in 4-year colleges and universities on gender, control of school attended, and level in school. We also distributed discipline so that it was represented as 50% Political Science/International Affairs and 50% Earth/Environmental Sciences. The findings from this study indicate general trends among undergraduate and graduate students, and may not necessarily be representative of every individuals experience. Further, this sample is limited to students in the fields of Political Science, International Affairs, and Earth Sciences. The findings may not be generalizable to students in other fields. Slide 6 Objectives The objectives of this study were to: Gain insights into how students are using electronic resources in their academic work Gain insights into the perceived benefits and disadvantages of electronic resources Learn how students perceive electronic resources as affecting their scholarship Examine differences in use of electronic resources based on level in school, type of discipline, and type of institution Slide 7 How to Read The Slides in This Presentation On each slide, the actual survey question is listed in the bottom left corner of the slide. The N= that is listed under the title of the slide indicates the number of respondents who answered a particular question on the survey. The text under the graphs explain the responses and comparisons shown in the graph. On some slides, bars on the graph are added together when percentages are cited in the text. For example the text may list the percentage who agreed with a certain statement. This percentage is comprise of those who indicated that they either strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement. Some slides have a note in the bottom left hand corner stating that All of the differences on this chart are statistically significant. This indicates that statistical analyses were conducted and the two groups being compared differ from each other at the.05 level of statistical significance testing on all of the items listed. Slide 8 Demographics Slide 9 Grade Level and Major N=1233 Level in school was weighted to match the ratio of undergraduate students to graduate students within the population of students at 4-year colleges and research/doctoral universities nationwide. Major field of study was weighted so that each discipline represented 50% of the sample. Slide 10 Type of Institution N=1233 The majority of respondents were from Doctoral/Research Universities (81.9%). Control of institution (public vs. private) was weighted to match the underlying distribution within the population of students at 4-year colleges and doctoral/research universities. Slide 11 Gender and Age N=1233 Slightly more than half of the respondents were Female (55.1%). The majority of respondents were 30 years old or younger (93.7%). Slide 12 Use of Electronic Resources for Coursework Slide 13 Frequency of Use and Proficiency with Electronic Resources N=1233 Electronic resources are heavily used among students. More than half of respondents use electronic resources for coursework everyday (53.4%). Only 1.5% use electronic resources for coursework once a month or less. Virtually all of the respondents considered themselves at least somewhat proficient (97.9%) with electronic resources. How often would you say you use electronic resources (excluding e-mail) for school purposes? Slide 14 Use of Electronic Resources for Coursework N=1233 99% of respondents use electronic resources for coursework. Researching an assignment or research/term paper (96.1%) and looking up literature on a particular topic (84.7%) were the most common uses for electronic resources for coursework. What do you use electronic resources for in your coursework? Slide 15 Main Source for Learning about Electronic Resources N=1225 Students learn about school related electronic resources primarily through their library website (31.5%) and through their professors (27.1%). Internet search engines (13.7%) do not play a large role in informing students about academic electronic databases. What is your main source for learning about school-related electronic resources? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Slide 16 Types of Resources Students Depend On N=1225 Respondents were far more dependent on electronic resources than print resources for their coursework. Respondents said they were most dependent on the World Wide Web. E-mail and library sponsored electronic databases of their own school were other electronic resources that they relied heavily on. How dependent are you on the following types of electronic resources for your coursework? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Means 3.50 3.46 3.33 2.86 2.43 2.26 2.08 Slide 17 Dependence on Types of Resources by Grade Level (Mean Rating) N=1225 Undergraduate students are more likely than graduate students to use non-library sponsored web resources, while graduate students are more likely to use library sponsored electronic and print resources. How dependent are you on the following types of electronic resources for your coursework? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) All of the differences on this chart are statistically significant Slide 18 Dependence on Various Types of Websites N=1225 When asked specifically about types of websites they depend on for coursework, respondents reported they were most dependent on the library portal of their school, followed closely by government or organizational websites. How dependent are you on the following types of web sites for your coursework? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Means 3.15 3.06 2.97 2.86 2.76 Slide 19 Dependence on Types of Websites by Grade Level (Mean Ratings) N=1225 Graduate students were more dependent than undergraduate students on the library portal and journal websites for their coursework. Undergraduate students were more dependent on online newspapers than graduate students. How dependent are you on the following types of web sites for your coursework? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) All of the differences on this chart are statistically significant Slide 20 Use of Internet Search Vs. Library Database N=1225 When going online to do work for a course students are more likely to use an Internet search engine (46.5%) than to go to a library database (21.9%). Almost 1/3 of the students report that they use both methods equally. When doing work online for one of your classes, do you typically do a general Internet search or use library sponsored electronic resources? (Asked only of respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Slide 21 First Source Used When Writing a Research or Term Paper N=1207 However, when asked specifically about writing a research/term paper, the source most students turn to first is a library sponsored electronic resource (37.6%) followed closely by students who use an Internet search engine (32.7%) first. This indicates that for general assignments, students are more likely to turn to the Internet, but for in-depth research assignments, they are more somewhat more likely to turn to library sponsored electronic resources. When writing a research/term paper, what is the first source you turn to? (Asked only of those respondents who have written a term paper that required citation of resources used in writing the paper) Slide 22 Types of Sources Cited in Last Research/Term Paper Written N=1207 Books and journals are still cited by most students when writing a term paper, however the number of students citing websites does not lag far behind. Books and Journals were each cited by more than three-quarters of respondents as types of resources cited in the bibliography of their last research/term paper (84.8% and 77.8% respectively), while websites were cited by 68.8% of the students. Thinking about the LAST research/term paper you wrote, what types of resources did you cite in your bibliography? (Asked only of those respondents who have written a term paper that required citation of resources used in writing the paper) Slide 23 Use of Electronic Resources by Professors for Courses N=1225 Students are not the only ones using electronic resources for their courses. Electronic resources also appear to be widely used by professors for the courses they teach. The most common ways electronic resources are used include directing students to supplementary materials online, using a course website, placing course materials online for students to retrieve, and using online materials in addition to course textbooks. Many students also report that one or more of their professors use online programs (such as Blackboard), and almost a third of the students report that at least one of their classes use online materials in place of textbooks. In which of the following ways do your professors use electronic resources for their courses: (Asked only of respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Slide 24 Importance and Satisfaction With Electronic Resources Used N=1162 Respondents were asked to rate the importance of several features of electronic resources, along with their satisfaction with these features in the electronic resources they use. The largest disparities in importance and satisfaction are with the availability of full text, ease of navigation and search capabilities of database. In each case the respondents rate their satisfaction with the feature significantly lower than the importance of the feature. Features where satisfaction outshone importance were the reputation of the provider of the electronic resource, having text in preserved format, the ability to tell if a source was peer reviewed, and the quality of images/graphics. Please rate how important the following qualities of online databases are to you: In general, how satisfied are you with the following qualities of the online databases you currently use? (Asked only of those respondents who have used online databases) Slide 25 Overall Effect of Electronic Resources on your Coursework N=1225 The majority of respondents believe that electronic resources have had a positive impact overall on their coursework. Overall, how positively or negatively have electronic resources (not including e-mail) affected the quality of your course work? (Asked only of respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Slide 26 Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Electronic Resources Slide 27 Advantages of Electronic Resources N=1225 Electronic resources allow students to work from a location outside the library, save them time, give them greater access to current information, and allow them to get more information with less effort. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement below: (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Means 4.61 4.50 4.54 4.14 4.00 3.87 3.48 Slide 28 Disadvantages of Electronic Resources N=1225 Search engines appeared to be a major difficulty in the use of electronic resources. 80.2% of respondents agreed that search engines were not as precise as they would like them to be and 67.3% agreed that search engines are not as thorough as they would like them to be. Further, 71% agree that electronic resources increase their need to separate out the reliable from unreliable information, while half of the respondents report difficulty making these judgments (next graph). Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement below: (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Means 4.03 3.82 3.73 3.47 3.37 3.30 3.03 Slide 29 Disadvantages of Electronic Resources (contd) N=1225 More than half of the respondents somewhat or strongly agree that electronic resources can result in an overload of information (previous slide), and almost half of the respondents agree that this overload of information can be overwhelming for them. 1/3 of respondents admit they tend to go no further than electronic resources when looking for information, and 1/5 of respondents agree that their use of electronic resources has gone as far as to keep them from learning how to use the physical library. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement below: (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Means 3.23 3.30 3.22 2.73 2.83 3.06 2.21 Slide 30 Disadvantages of Electronic Resources by Grade Level (Mean Rating) N=1225 Undergraduate students seem to have more difficulties with electronic resources than graduate students, particularly with determining the quality of information. Undergraduates are also more likely to put things off until the last minute and to go no further than electronic resources for information. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement below: (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) All of the differences on this chart are statistically significant Slide 31 Electronic Resources and Plagiarism Slightly more than one-third of respondents said they had copied text from a website and pasted it into their own assignment/research paper (39.9%). However, 81.7% of these respondents said they cited the copied text in the paper. Less than one percent of respondents said they had purchased a paper online to hand in for a class assignment (0.4%). Have you ever purchased a term/research paper online to hand in for class? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Have you ever copied text from a website and pasted it into your own paper for a class assignment/research paper? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) If you responded yes to the above question, did you cite it in your term paper? (Asked only of those respondents who have copied text from a website and pasted it into their own paper) N=1225 N=488 Slide 32 Evaluation of Electronic Resources Slide 33 Steps Taken To Evaluate Electronic Resources N=917 74.9% of respondents said they take steps to evaluate the trustworthiness of online information they are using for coursework. Of those who do take steps to evaluate electronic resources, slightly more than half rely on the reputation of the source. 20.6% of respondents cross-check the information found online with another source and 18.6% rely on the author when determining the reliability of online information. How do you evaluate online information for use in your coursework? (Asked only of those respondents who said they take steps to evaluate trustworthiness of online formation) Slide 34 Instruction on the Evaluation of Electronic Resources N=1225 Almost half of the respondents have not received any formal instruction on how to evaluate electronic resources (49.5%). Of those who have receive instruction, most of them received it from a professor or TA. As a college student, have you received any formal instruction in how to evaluate the quality of online information? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Slide 35 Benefits of a Course on Evaluating Electronic Resources Of those who had not received any instruction in the evaluation of electronic resources, the vast majority (82%) thought that this instruction would be beneficial. Of those who had received instruction in the evaluation of electronic resources, 93% thought it had been useful. How beneficial was this course? N=561 How beneficial do you think a course like this would be? N=607 Slide 36 Use of Library Resources Slide 37 Dependence on Library Resources N=1225 Students are almost as dependent on the physical library (75.8%) as they are on the librarys website to retrieve books and articles (81.5%). However, dependence on the online card catalogue (77%) is much higher than dependence on the physical library for the card catalogue (21%). How dependent are you on the following for your coursework? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Means 3.21 3.10 3.01 2.57 2.27 2.25 1.88 1.78 1.86 Slide 38 Dependence on Library Resources by Grade Level (Mean Rating) N=1225 Undergraduate and graduate students are differentially dependent on the librarys services. Graduate students are more dependent on the librarys portal to retrieve articles or books from electronic databases, the online card catalogue, for interlibrary loan and they are dependent on the physical library to retrieve articles or books as well as for interlibrary loan. Undergraduate students are more dependent than graduate students on the physical library as a place to study, for Internet access, for the card catalogue, and for access to word processing facilities. How dependent are you on the following for your coursework? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) All of the differences on this chart are statistically significant Slide 39 Frequency of Physical Library Use N=1225 The majority of respondents use the physical library more than once a month (67.7%). 3.2% of respondents said they never use the physical library. How often do you use the physical library at your school? (Asked only of those respondents who said they use electronic resources for their coursework) Slide 40 Frequency of Foregoing Information Rather than Going to the Physical Library to Retrieve it N=1225 Student use of electronic resources often leads them to settle for information that is available online even though better materials might be available at the library. About 20% of the students say they often or always settle for information that is available remotely rather than going to the physical library to retrieve what they would really like. Another 36% say they do this sometimes. When an article, book, or other resource is not available online, how often do you choose to forgo the resource rather than going to the physical library to retrieve it? (Asked only of respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Slide 41 Preference of Print vs. Electronic Resources N=1225 More than half of the respondents said their preference for print or electronic resources depends on the situation (55.5%). Slightly more than one quarter prefer electronic resources and 18.4% prefer print resources. Print is preferred by some because it is easier to read, it is portable, you can take notes on it, it is easy to evaluate if it is a reliable source, and it is easy to browse through. Electronic resources are preferred by some because they are easy to access, easy to use, they save time, and they make it easy to search for information. Print is preferred for situations where the material is long or dense, and the reader has to fully comprehend the material. Electronic resources are preferred for situations where the reader is obtaining supplementary or background materials, for current events materials, or when working on short papers/homework assignments. Do you prefer print or electronic resources? (Asked only of those respondents who use electronic resources for their coursework) Slide 42 Conclusions Electronic resources have become the main tool for students information gathering. Undergraduate students in particular are heavily dependent on the World Wide Web. Graduate students are more likely to report a dependence on library sponsored electronic resources. Electronic resources are seen as providing convenience by letting students work from their home or residence hall, and by saving them time. Electronic resources increase the need for students to separate out the reliable from unreliable information, which students have difficulty doing. Slide 43 Conclusions (contd) Formal instruction on how to evaluate electronic resources would be beneficial to most students. The physical library is still an important destination for students. Both undergraduate and graduate students use the physical library to retrieve articles and books. Undergraduates are more likely to use the library as a study space, for the computing facilities, or for Internet access. Graduate students are more likely than undergraduates to use it for interlibrary loan. Future efforts could focus on increasing access to full text materials, and improving navigation and search capabilities in order to better meet students needs.