Designing for the One-Shot: Building Consensus on Design Processes for Academic Librarians

Academic librarians have long been responsible for teaching information literacy competencies on college campuses, even as many are hesitant to accept the title of teacher. With inadequate instructional design preparation and one-shot sessions serving as a popular, if limited, instructional medium, librarians’ design processes are often developed on the job and infrequently explored in the literature. Previous research has examined specific design models and instructional strategies, but no studies were found that determined how academic librarians select and implement these design decisions within the unique context of a one-shot. The purpose of this study was to describe academic librarians’ design processes in an effort to develop practical takeaways for training and design of one-shot sessions using the Delphi technique. This study was guided by three research questions: (a) How does previous professional training experiences regarding instruction prepare academic librarians for instructional responsibilities in designing one-shots, (b) What are academic librarians’ preferred strategies and models for designing one-shot instructional sessions, and (c) How do academic librarians make design decisions when selecting strategies and models for one-shot instructional sessions? The questions were addressed through three rounds of surveys that led to a consensus among participants. The results of this study indicated that academic librarians do find the master’s education lacking in instructional preparation as consistent with the literature, and participants preferred professional development that allowed for observation and direct experience. While participants described selecting instructional strategies based on the ability to engage students in a short period of time, consensus on specific strategies did not emerge outside of a reliance on demonstration. A significant consensus developed around the importance of objectives in making design decisions, and participants frequently relied on a backward design model for its ease of use, flexibility, and emphasis on objectives. Participants described a number of barriers inherent to the one-shot that impacted their design processes and led to modifications in their teaching

The Power of Open: Benefits, Barriers, and Strategies for Integration of Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OER) are becoming a significant, mission-driven trend within educational literature. To help address rising costs, instructors and designers are looking to OER to effectively replace traditional instructional content, which requires more than just identify and replace. Drawing from 51 OER studies conducted in countries across the five continents, this systematic literature review explored the empirical themes evident in the current research on a global scale. This review found (1) discoverability, sustainability, and remixing are significant barriers that stand in the way of OER disrupting traditional textbook models; (2) there is no significant difference in learning outcomes when instructors incorporate OER; and (3) implementation of OER as instructional strategies is challenging but can be effective in supporting positive learning outcomes when properly designed. The paper concludes with a discussion of gaps in the literature, considerations for implementation and further directions for future research

Aligning Information Literacy Assessment with Metacognitive Strategies

Despite the popularity of metacognitive research, and the inclusion of similar concepts in professional guidelines, librarians have not incorporated metacognitive tools into their assessment strategies. This systematic literature review found (1) metacognitive assessments can act as a learning aide in encouraging higher-order thinking; (2) metacognitive assessments can be effective measurements under proper conditions with experienced learners; and (3) librarians have limited options when selecting assessment tools even as the demand for demonstrating the library’s value to stakeholders is increasing. The paper concludes with gaps in the literature and areas for future directions

Why blogs endure: A study of recent college graduates and motivations for blog readership

This paper reports the results from a mixed methods study of recent college graduates who were asked if and why they used blogs as sources for continued learning purposes. Findings are based on 1,651 online survey responses and 63 follow-up telephone interviews with young graduates from 10 U.S. colleges and universities. Despite the media’s declarations about the impending demise of the blogosphere, almost two-thirds of the respondents (62 percent) had read blogs to fulfill their learning needs during the past 12 months. Blogs were an affordable source of information to these readers, especially for acquiring additional knowledge and closing skill gaps in their personal lives after college. Results from a logistic regression analysis indicated respondents were more likely to have read blogs during the past 12 months if they needed step-by-step instructions for hobbies, do-it-yourself household repairs, or money management and creating a personal budget. Respondents who used blogs were also more likely to also use complementary sources, such as educational videos on YouTube, to meet their learning needs. The concept of shared utility is introduced as a basis for explaining reasons for use of the blog format, and conclusions are drawn about why blogs, an early Web form, are still useful to millennials as sources of continued learning

Inferior immunogenicity and efficacy of respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein-based subunit vaccine candidates in aged versus young mice.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is recognized as an important cause of lower and upper respiratory tract infections in older adults, and a successful vaccine would substantially lower morbidity and mortality in this age group. Recently, two vaccine candidates based on soluble purified glycoprotein F (RSV F), either alone or adjuvanted with glucopyranosyl lipid A formulated in a stable emulsion (GLA-SE), failed to reach their primary endpoints in clinical efficacy studies, despite demonstrating the desired immunogenicity profile and efficacy in young rodent models. Here, one of the RSV F vaccine candidates (post-fusion conformation, RSV post-F), and a stabilized pre-fusion form of RSV F (RSV pre-F, DS-Cav1) were evaluated in aged BALB/c mice. Humoral and cellular immunogenicity elicited after immunization of naïve, aged mice was generally lower compared to young animals. In aged mice, RSV post-F vaccination without adjuvant poorly protected the respiratory tract from virus replication, and addition of GLA-SE only improved protection in the lungs, but not in nasal turbinates. RSV pre-F induced higher neutralizing antibody titers compared to RSV post-F (as previously reported) but interestingly, RSV F-specific CD8 T cell responses were lower compared to RSV post-F responses regardless of age. The vaccines were also tested in RSV seropositive aged mice, in which both antigen forms similarly boosted neutralizing antibody titers, although GLA-SE addition boosted neutralizing activity only in RSV pre-F immunized animals. Cell-mediated immune responses in the aged mice were only slightly boosted and well below levels induced in seronegative young mice. Taken together, the findings suggest that the vaccine candidates were not able to induce a strong anti-RSV immune response in recipient mice with an aged immune system, in agreement with recent human clinical trial results. Therefore, the aged mouse model could be a useful tool to evaluate improved vaccine candidates, targeted to prevent RSV disease in older adults

Immunogenicity and protection from viral challenge of pre-RSV + GLA-SE in young, seronegative mice.

<p>Young (7 weeks old) BALB/c mice (n = 5 to 10 per group) were immunized i.m. at day 0 and day 21 with buffer alone, RSV F pre- and post-conformation at 0.3 μg +/- GLA-SE (2.5 μg/2%) adjuvant. At day 35, animals were challenged i.n. with 10⁶ PFU of wt RSV A2. (A) Prior to challenge (day 34), sera were harvested and NAb titers were evaluated using a microneutralization assay. Data is presented as the log₂ dilution of serum that provides 50% reduction in viral entry with a LLOD of 4 indicated by a dashed line. (B) 4 days post-challenge (day 39), splenocytes were isolated and stimulated for 24 h with RSV F specific CD4 T-cell and CD8 T cell epitopes. The number of IFNγ secreting cells per 10⁶ splenocytes was determined by ELISPOT. (C) Lung and (D) nasal turbinates viral loads were measured by plaque assay. Group means ± SD of individual mice are shown. For statistical analyses, aged and young mice were compared. *, P<0.05.</p

Lung T cell profile after RSV challenge in young and aged seronegative mice immunized with post-RSV F formulations.

<p>Young (7 weeks old) and aged (18 months old) BALB/c mice (n = 4 to 7 per group) were immunized i.m. at day 0 and day 21 with buffer alone, post-F (0.3 μg) +/- GLA-SE (2.5 μg/2%) adjuvant. A control group for natural infection was immunized i.n. with live RSV (10⁶ PFU) at day 0. At day 35, animals were challenged i.n. with 10⁶ PFU of wt RSV A2. 4 days post-challenge (day 39), lung cells were isolated and stimulated with RSV F peptide pool to evaluate intracellular cytokine expression by flow cytometry. Cells were surface stained for CD3 and CD8, intracellularly stained for IFNγ, TNFα, and IL-2, and analyzed on an LSR II for the frequency of responding (A) CD4+ and (B) CD8+ T cells. (C) The percentage of F85-93-pentamer+ CD8 T cells was determined by flow cytometry. (D) The percentage of lung eosinophils was determined by flow cytometry. For (C) and (D), the mean of individual values +/- SD is shown. For statistical analyses, aged and young mice were compared. *, P<0.05.</p

NAb induction of pre-F and post-F formulations in aged seropositive mice.

<p>12 months old mice were i.n. immunized with RSV A2 (10⁶ PFU) at day 0 and RSV B (10⁵ PFU) at day 60. Aged seropositive mice were then immunized i.m. at day 176 (18 months old) with buffer alone, post-F or pre-F (0.3 μg) +/- GLA-SE (2.5 μg/2%) adjuvant. <b>(A)</b> Bleeds were collected at day 50, 120, and 174 to assess the levels of RSV A2 neutralizing antibodies in seropositive animals prior to immunization (baseline). Data is presented as the log₂ dilution of serum that provides 50% reduction in viral entry with a LLOD of 4 indicated by a dashed line. <b>(B)</b> 14 days post immunization, RSV A2 neutralization titers were evaluated. Group means ± SD of individual mice are shown. For statistical analyses, multiplicity adjusted ANOVA test was performed against baseline as a control group, followed by pairwise testing of post-F versus pre-F, * for P<0.05.</p