Chico's first-year experience course: a case study.

Abstract

Information technology, and the knowledge, equipment, and skills needed to understand and use it have become an everyday part of today's university. It is apparent to faculty in higher education that the majority of first-year students do not have the requisite computer and information skills to be comfortable and successful in this technological environment. To remedy this, at California State University, Chico, curriculum focused on information and computer competencies comprise fifty percent of the first-year-experience course. The authors discuss how the course was developed and the programmatic needs for including computer and information competency in a first-year-course.

Introduction

Information technology, and the knowledge, equipment and skills needed to understand and use it have become an everyday part of today's university. Whether it is checking the course schedule over the Web, contacting a professor by email about an assignment, or finding information for a research paper, students at the university need to have a basic level of computer and information seeking skills to be successful in college.

Despite living in the Information Age, it is apparent to faculty in higher education that many students are entering college without the requisite computer and information skills. Student's professed knowledge of these skills does not necessarily correlate to their actual competencies (Geffert & Christensen, 1998). Typing on a computer is not word processing and surfing channels on AOL is not information research. Information technology is now too complex to simply be "picked up." Today, it must be taught, tested and reinforced. At California State University (CSU), Chico, we have chosen to teach our students computer skills, and the skills necessary to access, evaluate and present information, in our first-year experience course.

California State University, Chico's Story

California State University, Chico has been a leader in technology and learning for many years. However, assuming a leadership role in using technology to enhance the learning environment brings with it the problem of how to keep students and faculty current with new technologies as they are introduced. It is impressive to have access to full-text electronic databases, offer classes using Web based simulations for class experiments, and have faculty holding online office hours. But these are not effective if students lack the necessary expertise to use them. Additionally it was recognized that if "CSU faculty are to foster information competence skills in their courses, many of them need to have their own skills enhanced" (Work Group on Information Competence, 1995).

Concurrently, another issue appeared at CSU, Chico when our new Provost arrived on campus and undertook a review of the general education program. The need for students to possess better learning and research skills was identified as a high priority. While some students are quite capable, many others enter the university unable to use a computer or perform even the most rudimentary research. A course to improve these skills was identified as a needed addition to the general education component of the university and tied in with the priorities of the University's Strategic Plan for the Future (1995) to "rededicate ourselves to teaching and student learning through the revision of the general education program" and to "enhance academic programs by building a state-of-the-art technological learning environment by assuring that all our students graduate information literate and well prepared for the job market."

In addition to these problems, CSU, Chico was also experiencing a shrinking enrollment requiring administrators to look at ways to increase the retention rate. More than twenty percent of our first-year students drop out and don't return for the second year of studies. While there are many causes, a large percentage of the non-returning students simply are not academically prepared for the challenge of university studies. Not only are their learning skills weak, they are also unprepared for the transition from high school or community college to the four-year university environment.

To address the goal of ensuring students are current with the technology and research skills required to succeed in college, and to help retain students by easing their transition from high school into college, CSU, Chico created a first-year experience course. The CSU Information Competence Work Group (1996) stated that

   no student should graduate from California State University without the
   ability to formulate a research question or problem, to determine its
   information requirements, to locate and retrieve the relevant information,
   to organize, analyze, evaluate, treat critically and synthesize the
   information and to communicate and present the information in a cohesive
   and logical fashion.

Initially the course started out with an experimental format that included three major foci; transitioning students from high school to the university; improving the students' information literacy (now called information competency); and connecting the students with the community through service projects. Some course sections included all three foci, other sections included only two of the foci and a few sections taught only information literacy or transitions.

Due to the experimental nature of the course, assessment was a major concern of the Provost's Office. Feedback was gathered from in class surveys and student focus groups. Student feedback clearly demonstrated that information competency was the most useful component and that a greater emphasis should be placed on information and computer competency. In contrast to the transitions materials they students believed the information/computer component was of more value to their education. From these findings, it was decided that in the future fifty percent of the curriculum would be devoted to information competency. This decision reflected the fact that information seeking and libraries had changed so markedly that the previous level of library instruction in first-year courses such as University 101 at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, as described by Gardner, Decker, and McNairy (1986), was no longer sufficient in 1997.

Program Needs

An information and computer competency component in a first-year experience course requires a substantial commitment from the university. Additional resources are required for a program of this nature to succeed. At CSU, Chico it was found that there are five main areas needed to support a first-year experience course with an information technology emphasis. These five areas are:

   * Support from University Administrators

   * Textbook

   * Activities

   * Computer Lab

   * Training

Support from University Administrators

Because the first-year course is not connected to an academic discipline, at CSU, Chico it is housed in a special program called University Academics. University Academics is run from the Provost Office with the Vice-Provost having direct control over the course offerings. This arrangement gives the first-year experience course a strong champion and helps insure adequate funding. Since the instructors are drawn from various disciplines, it is necessary that both the Chairs and Deans in their department support their release from normal duties. When an instructor is not teaching their normal course, it falls on the Chair to find a replacement instructor. If the Chair is not supportive of the first-year experience course, this will exclude certain faculty from teaching. Chairs and Deans need a strong message from the Presidents' and Provosts' office, that the first-year course is a critical part of the university's strategic plan and that their support (by way of encouraging faculty to teach in the program) is appreciated.

Textbook

Courses are enhanced by the use of a textbook. A text helps to present the information in an orderly fashion and gives the students something they can refer to. Unfortunately, finding an appropriate text including both transitions topics for first-year students and information competency topics proved fruitless. After struggling through one semester of teaching a mandatory information competency curriculum, without a textbook, the authors produced their own information competency text (Dixon, Blakeslee, Owens, 1999). The information competency textbook is required of all students in addition to the selected first-year experience text. Topics covered include: Windows NT; electronic mail; the Internet and World Wide Web; MS Office; the research process; searching computerized databases; finding books; finding periodical articles; reference materials; and evaluating information. A textbook customized to the resources available at CSU, Chico proved valuable to the students. Instead of a generic chapter on using email, the text explains the details of the Wildcat mail system used at CSU, Chico, including how to get an account and set up remote access. How to access and use information databases and tools specific to the University's library is also covered. Although it is a valuable tool, a substantial commitment of faculty time and dollars is required to create a textbook tailored for your campus.

Activities

An effective learning environment for the technology curriculum requires active and experiential learning using computers and information tools. Integrating both transitions and information competency material into hands-on learning activities produces the best results. "When skill with the generic tool is improved, while students learn the subject matter" students experience a "double gain" (Cartwright, 1993).

For example, many instructors in a first-year experience course open the course with an icebreaker, designed to introduce the students to each other and help start the interaction among class members. To incorporate information competency our activity has the students break into groups of two, download an interview sheet from the Web and interview their partner. They are also given a disk and asked to use a digital camera to take a picture of their partner. The camera is passed through the room while the interviews are taking place until everyone has had a chance to take a picture and have their picture taken. The students then present their partner to the class. During the next lab period students bring their disks and post the pictures they took of their partner to a class Web site. Students enjoy getting to know their classmates, learning about the digital camera, and seeing their pictures on the Web. The most critical and most expensive requirement for successfully teaching computer and information competencies in a first-year experience course is a classroom computer lab. If students are expected to learn information technology and computer skills, adequate computer lab time is essential. Originally CSU, Chico tried to teach the course in a regular classroom while having students utilize the open campus labs or home computers for their computer assignments. One of the primary concerns of students in UNIV001 after the first semester, which is echoed by University students everywhere, is the need for access to computing (Cartwright, 1993).

Chico was lucky to have the support of the dean of the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology in making their first-year-experience computer lab a reality. The Dean saw an opportunity to assist the University while improving his own College. The cooperation between the Provost Office and the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology enabled the first-year experience course to have a teaching lab with 26 computers. The first-year experience course has priority when scheduling the lab. When there are no courses scheduled, the lab serves as a College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology computer lab. This cooperation helped make the cost affordable to both the University Academics program and the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology. Each section of the first-year experience course meets in the computer lab for one-half of the scheduled time. This enables the students to complete lab activities geared towards helping them gain competency in information literacy, computer literacy and the transition material.

Training

Instructor training is an important issue to consider when including information and computer competencies in a first-year course. Instructors for the course are from various disciplines around campus and possess different technology skill levels. Consequently some are less comfortable teaching the material than others and require additional training. While having an information competency textbook helps some of the instructors feel more comfortable with the material it is not enough. A hands on two day training session at the start of the Fall semester to benefit all instructors in preparing to teach the first-year experience course is held in the computer lab and includes practical information about the lab and projection system as well as activities to familiarize instructors with computer applications, information resources and transitions topics.

Assessment

At CSU, Chico the first-year experience students are assessed not only through traditional techniques such as test and assignments, but also through various surveys. A pre-test and post-test is administered to determine the students level of information and computer competency at the start of the course and at the end of the course. Approximately two-thirds of the way through the course a satisfaction survey is administered by the Provost's Office to obtain the students' opinions on the relevance of the various topics covered in the course. The University's Assessment Office provides another tool for determining the success of the course. Adopting the concept of focus group sessions from marketing research, talk back sessions are held with small groups of students. These sessions start in the students' second semester at the University and continue until they graduate. So far, the course has received positive reviews from students. The students are united in their beliefs that the most valuable component of the course is that on information and computer competency. While the transition curriculum is considered similar to what they had received in secondary school, the information competency curriculum is perceived as beneficial to their university studies.

It is also important to get feedback from instructors that are teaching the course. The instructors meet monthly to share their experiences in the course. Discussions are held on ideas that worked and on ideas that failed. By sharing these experiences, the instructors are able to improve their own courses.

Conclusion

Fall 2001 will be the sixth year of CSU, Chico's first-year course. Although the course requires the University commits to hiring or providing release time for fourteen faculty members every fall, as well as providing and maintaining a twenty-six station computer lab and a twenty hour a week student assistant, the rewards, as measured through student surveys and focus group feedback have justified these expenditures. The author's agree with Shapiro and Hughes (1996) that information literacy should be conceived as a much broader notion than that of simply accessing, evaluating and presenting information and that an "extended notion of information literacy is essential to the future of democracy" (Shapiro and Hughes, 1996, p33.). If we view information literacy as a "new liberal art that extends from knowing how to use computers and access information to critical reflection on the nature of information itself, it's technical infrastructure and its social, cultural and even philosophical context and impact" (Shapiro and Hughes, 1996), then a three credit hour first-year course such as Chico's, that teaches information competencies, as well as helping students transition into the university, has a solid place in the General Education curriculum.

Bibliography

Cartwright, G. P. (1993, September). A matter of access: students and information technology. Change. 25 (5) 66-69.

Dixon, L, Blakeslee, S, & Owens, J. (1999). Information Literacy Student Workbook. 3rd ed. McGraw Hill, Primis Custom Publishing.

Gardner, J. N, Decker, D. McNairy, F. (1986). Taking the Library to Freshmen Students via the Freshman Seminar Concept. Advances in Library Administration and Organization. 6 153-171.

Geffert B, & Christensen, B. (1998). Things they carry: attitudes toward, opinions about, and knowledge of libraries and research among incoming college students. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 37(3), 279-285.

Guernsey, L. (1997, December 5). A consultant takes a low-key approach in helping colleges use high technology. The Chronicle of Higher Education. pp A36

Information Competence Work Group (1995). Information competence in the CSU: a report. Retrieved November 1, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.calstate.edu/ITPA/Docs/html/info_comp_report.html

Information Competence Work Group (1996). Information competence in the CSU: a report. Retrieved November 1, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://library.csun.edu/susan.curzon/infocom2.htm.

Shapiro, J. J and Hughes, S.K (1996). Information technology as a liberal art. Educom Review March/April. 31-35.

Strategic Plan for the Future of CSU Chico. Retrieved November 1, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.csuchico.edu/catalog/cat97/front/plan.html

Sarah is the Coordinator of the Information Literacy/Library Instruction Program in the Meriam Library and an Instructor for Chico's first-year experience course. Jim is a Professor in the Department of Management and an Instructor for Chico's first-year experience course. Lori is a Professor in the Department of Construction Management and an Instructor for Chico's First-Year Experience course.