LIS Program Expectations of Incoming Student Technology Knowledge and Skills Bill Kules and Jennifer McDaniel 2010 SLIS Symposium - Bridging the Spectrum January 29, 2010

Introduction Changing technical demands in LIS education Students with diverse technology backgrounds and competencies Little research in program expectations (Anderson, 2002; Markey, 2004; Pettigrew& Durrance, 2001)

Research Questions 1.What technology competencies do programs expect incoming students to have? 2.What techniques are used to assess incoming students’ technology competencies? 3.What supports are being provided to help students fill competency gaps? 4.What differences exist between online programs and face-to-face programs?

Methodology Content analysis of 57 ALA-accredited schools’ websites Started with 17 categories from NRC and ALA 4 rounds of analysis to refine and expand categories Focused on program admissions and technology pages (National Research Council, 1999; McKinney 2006)

Results – Competencies Knowledge General Computing Skills Programming Skills Software Skills Internet Skills

Knowledge Total of all schools (N=57) Percentage of all schools General working knowledge of an operating system 1526% Ability to define computer terminology 59% Knowledge of IT terminology 59% Identify and use icons 35% Upgrading software 35%

General Computing Total of all schools (N=57) Percentage of all schools Folder manipulation 1730% Install and uninstall software 1018% Compress / uncompress files 814% Log on/log off 712% Upload/download files 611% Use removable media to save files 611%

Programming Skills Total of all schools (N=57) Percentage of all schools Hand code a simple web page using HTML 611% Java, C++ 24%

Software Skills Total of all schools (N=57) Percentage of all schools Use a word processor to create and edit a text document 3154% Create a spreadsheet using spreadsheet software 2239% Web browser1832% Use presentation software to create a presentation 1730% Database Software1323%

Internet Skills Total of all schools (N=57) Percentage of all schools Setup Able to transfer files to a remote server using FTP 611% Set up an internet connection and connect to the internet 59% SSH47% Communication Open, compose and send 2442% Add and open attchments to 1526% Use lists, listservers814%

Internet Skills (cont’d) ResourcesTotal of all schools (N=57) Percentage of all schools Use of a search engine1323% Research subject and locate resources using an OPAC 712% Knowledge of online information resources 611% Web 2.0, Social Networking Technologies Blog35% Create wikis12%

Assessment Techniques Total of all schools (N=57) Percentage of all schools Admission requirement 47% Requirement for first day of class 2239% Diagnostic 1425% Remediation 2544%

Assessment & Remediation Total of all schools (N=57) Percentage of all schools Admission requirement 47% Requirement for first day of class 2239% Diagnostic 1425% Remediation 2544%

Assessment Techniques Diagnostics: –Checklists or self-assessments –Pre-admission tests –Post-admission tests

Remediation Support ICT Workshops offered by school or university ICT Workshops through local schools Online tutorials Required courses on technology Providing list of software and/or competencies

Online v/s Face-to-Face Online programs listed more technology expectations than face-to-face programs Online programs did not have a core set of ICT expectations Most common: – Use word processor (62% online vs 47% non-online) – Read & send (50% vs 34%) – Create spreadsheet (50% vs 28%)

Limitations Only looked at published web materials Focused on admissions and technology pages

Conclusions Few common ICT expectations between programs Clearer expectations could benefit incoming students Research yielded 33 technical competencies for incoming students -

Questions?

References (1) Andersen, D. (2002). Teaching analytic thinking: Bridging the gap between student skills and professional needs in Information Science. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 43(3), Kules, B., McDaniel, J., Banta, M. (2009) LIS Program Expectations of Incoming Student Competencies with Information and Communications Technology. Poster presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE 2009). Retrieved July 15, 2009 from Landis, J.R., & Koch, G.K. (1977). The Measurement of Observer Agreement for Categorical Data. Biometrics, 33(1), Markey, K. (2004). Current educational trends in the Information and Library Science curriculum. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 45(4),

References (2) McKinney, R. (2006). Draft proposed ALA core competencies compared to ALA-accredited, candidate, and precandidate program curricula: A preliminary analysis. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 47(1), National Research Council. (1999). Being Fluent with Information Technology. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Pettigrew, K., & Durrance, J. (2001). KALIBER: Introduction and overview of results. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 42(3), Stemler, S. (2004). A comparison of consensus, consistency, and measurement approaches to estimating interrater reliability. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 9(4).