Background
I am a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Liaison Librarian, assigned to support research and instruction in the College of Engineering at the University of Wyoming. As a new
librarian, hired in mid-July 2014, I am beginning to prepare and teach information literacy sessions. This blog is designed to document my thoughts and progress through an American Library Association course in "Instructional Design Essentials" taught by Nicole Pagowsky and Erica DeFrain. It also serves as a forum for obtaining feedback from fellow classmates. Throughout this course, I will be working on developing a workshop on EndNote Desktop, a citation management system commonly used by science researchers to facilitate the publication process. The instructional design approach I will be following is described by L. Dee Fink in "
A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning."
Step 1 - Situational Factors
Consideration of the situational factors surrounding development of a workshop on EndNote Desktop sets the stage for instructional design. Here are my thoughts pertaining to the specific context, general context, nature of the subject, characteristics of students, and characteristics of the teacher (i.e., me).
1. Specific Context of the Teaching / Learning Situation
EndNote Desktop is designed to work best with the Web of Knowledge / Web of Science literature databases, and is especially good for organizing and managing large PDF collections of references and citations. Individual users or research groups generally must purchase a copy of the software, as it is not provided free by the university. It has more advanced capabilities compared to other popular and free citation management systems, and therefore can be more difficult to learn to use. Given these considerations, the most likely participants in a workshop offered on EndNote Desktop would be graduate students, and perhaps some faculty, especially those engaged in research in science and engineering disciplines. This audience would likely already have acquired at least a basic level of skill in searching article databases and other library and online resources, and in formatting papers and manuscripts. The number of people who might attend is uncertain, as attendance is voluntary and not associated with any particular course. A workshop registration process could be established to gauge level of interest and number of participants for any given session offered. Ideally, a session should be limited to about 20 participants to enhance opportunity for learning engagement.
This workshop will be delivered live in a library classroom / computer lab. A challenge to address is that classroom / lab computers do not have EndNote Desktop installed and are locked down from downloading or installing software by users, including the instruction computer. Getting permission from campus IT to install needed software and browser plug-ins may be difficult--but will be pursued in the interest of providing an active learning environment. As a minimum, the instructor (that would be me) will need to obtain a fully functional computer / laptop that can be connected to the projection system in order to be able to demonstrate functions and features of EndNote Desktop, the Cite While You Write plug-in, and syncing with EndNote Basic (i.e., the Web version). Attendees can be encouraged to bring their own laptops with EndNote Desktop and plug-ins already installed to enhance the learning experience; however, those without access to such equipment could be at a disadvantage.
The workshop will be designed so that attendees can learn the basics in a single 50-minute session. A second hour following group instruction could be offered to allow for more individual practice, with the instructor (me) available to answer questions and assist with any problems encountered.
2. General Context of the Learning Situation
There is no requirement by the university, profession, or society to use citation management software or EndNote Desktop, in particular. There may be an expectation within certain research work groups or academic courses that individuals learn and use EndNote Desktop to increase work productivity and facilitate collaboration. Scientists and engineers are expected to produce high-quality outputs of research, including professional publications that include properly formatted citations and references. Being proficient in use of EndNote Desktop may result in improved research productivity and higher publication output over time, although difficult to measure. Workshop participants are likely to be intrinsically motivated to learn and use EndNote Desktop to improve their work flow, reduce citation errors, and facilitate group collaboration.
3. Nature of the Subject
Learning EndNote Desktop primarily involves skill-building and is practical in nature. It primarily involves convergent thinking in applying prescribed procedures. An understanding of requirements of scholarly communication and the publication process, including differing citation styles and writing conventions, provides a basis for appreciating the special features of the software application. The changing nature of resource formats may impact success in use of EndNote Desktop. While EndNote Desktop is good at working with PDF files, most readily available from journals and article databases, it is less well designed for handling other electronic formats such as web pages, multimedia productions, art, and data sets.
4. Characteristics of Learners
The learners are likely highly-motivated achievers, focused on advancing scholarship. They will be interested in learning tools to help them achieve academic and professional goals. Attendees will likely already have an appreciation for the complexities that can accompany the acquisition and documentation of research reference materials, and the effort needed to properly incorporate citations into their work. They will be looking for techniques to facilitate that process and reduce time spent on writing mechanics. Learners will be wanting to gain enough knowledge in use of EndNote Desktop to explore the functions further on their own and to eventually become proficient enough in its use that it becomes a standard and regular tool in their research work.
5. Characteristics of the Teacher
I come from a science background, including research and scientific publication in journals. My career has evolved from an era of print materials and mostly manual writing methods to the use of a variety of electronic resources and software. I have experienced first-hand the onerous task of having to reformat citations and references manually into different styles for publication in different outlets. I have a desire to help others learn tools to make easier the process of writing scientific manuscripts and properly formatting them to high quality standards, meeting publisher requirements. I expect what I teach to add to the success of learners in their future endeavors and careers. Although I have used EndNote Desktop in my own work, I have not availed myself of all of the features and functions. Prior to teaching a workshop in EndNote Desktop, I plan to become more proficient in its use myself. I have an aptitude for quickly learning software applications,which will enable independent study and exploration. I expect to learn from workshop attendees as well, as they present questions and convey their own experiences. Although I have presented training and workshops in my previous career as a scientist, I am new to teaching in an academic setting as a librarian. This is also my first attempt at following a structured instructional design methodology in developing training. However, I am comfortable presenting to groups as well as assisting individuals with problems and questions.
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