Personalized Library Instruction for 500 of Your Favorite Students: Utilizing Technology in Large Lecture Halls

Abstract

In the spring semester of 2013, the University of Arizona Libraries partnered with the Eller College of Management to provide instruction to all first-semester Eller students. An online toolkit of library resources was created in Blackboard. The first day of the semester, two groups of 250 students each assembled into a lecture hall and received an overview of the Eller first-year experience, which included a 50-minute library instruction session. The challenge was how to provide an environment in which the students could have hands-on instruction while receiving personalized assistance and also to ensure that the students retained the concepts learned. The librarians utilized online quizzes to guide the in-class instruction and then required a four-part post-class tutorial, using interactive guide-on-the-side technology to strengthen retention and follow-up quizzes to test retention. This poster’s charts, screen shots, and photos will examine the process, the technology utilized, and results from the quizzes and website analytics.