Presented at Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy
Reaching out to STEM Students beyond the one-shot requested instruction sessions is challenging. Creating faculty buy-in for non-traditional STEM instruction is doubly challenging. This poster will highlight a recent activity designed to draw STEM participation in utilizing a unique set of resources from the institution’s Archival Collections. Normally viewed as primarily relevant to history and humanities students, this collection provides the backbone for a fully immersive Escape Room Activity and exposure to primary sources normally not considered part of the normal STEM course work. The hands-on activity provides an opportunity for critical thinking, reflection, and teamwork. The poster will highlight the archival collection, the challenges of designing instruction for cross-disciplinary work, building faculty buy-in and support, and assessment options addressing the ACRL Framework; specifically Scholarship as Conversation, and Information has Value. A handout with URL links will provide participants the opportunity to evaluate their collections and best practices tips for designing a similar activity

Cannon-Rech, Dawn Nikki

Johnson, Autumn M.

English

Reaching out to STEM Students beyond the one-shot requested instruction sessions is challenging. Creating faculty buy-in for non-traditional STEM instruction is doubly challenging. This poster will highlight a recent activity designed to draw STEM participation in utilizing a unique set of resources from the institution’s Archival Collections. Normally viewed as primarily relevant to history and humanities students, this collection provides the backbone for a fully immersive Escape Room Activity and exposure to primary sources normally not considered part of the normal STEM course work. The hands-on activity provides an opportunity for critical thinking, reflection, and teamwork. The poster will highlight the archival collection, the challenges of designing instruction for cross-disciplinary work, building faculty buy-in and support, and assessment options addressing the ACRL Framework; specifically Scholarship as Conversation, and Information has Value. A handout with URL links will provide participants the opportunity to evaluate their collections and best practices tips for designing a similar activity

Cannon-Rech, Dawn N

Johnson, Autumn

Georgia Southern University: Digital Commons@Georgia Southern

Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy 2020 Conference Archive Feb 21st, 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM Archives and STEM: The Perfect Formula for Immersive Cross-Disciplinary Instruction. Dawn N. Cannon-Rech Georgia Southern University, dcannonrech@georgiasouthern.edu Autumn Johnson Georgia Southern University, autumnjohnson@georgiasouthern.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit  Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Information Literacy Commons, and the Life Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Cannon-Rech, Dawn N. and Johnson, Autumn, "Archives and STEM: The Perfect Formula for Immersive Cross-Disciplinary Instruction." (2020). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 35. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2020/2020/35 This presentation (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences & Events at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu. bit.ly/GACOILescapeARCHIVES ANDSTEM: THEPERFECT FORMULAFOR IMMERSIVECROSS-DISCIPLINARYINSTRUCTIONDawn (Nikki) C annon-R echR es earch S ervices  L ibrariandcannonrech@georgias outhern.edus he, her, hersA utumn M. Johns onS pecial C ollections  L ibrarianautumnjohns on@georgias outhern.edus he, her, hersARCHIVES ANDS.T.E.M. THE PERFECTFORMULA FORIMMERSIVE CROSS-DISCIPLINARYINSTRUCTIONDawn (Nikki) Cannon-RechResearch Services LibrarianLiaison to College of Science & Mathematicsdcannonrech@georgiasouthern.edushe, her, hersAutumn M. JohnsonSpecial Collections LibrarianLiaison to History, Art, Theatre & Performanceautumnjohnson@georgiasouthern.edushe, her, hersPARTICIPANT EXPERIENCEThe escape game included a brief overview of game rules by Game Master (faculty librarian), a 5-minute video introducing participants to game task, and 45 minutes of gameplay.Game Master ended all games with a 10-minute reflection of the game experience, providing additional social and historical context of the materials. Participants were also asked to complete an assessment activity, designed to measure participant learning. Assessment was based on participant classification and/or major discipline. Participants included: 23 Faculty/Staff 139 Undergraduate/Graduate Students 50% Humanities Major 11% Natural Sciences Major 39% Other Majors (Education, Nursing, Math,  Engineering, etc.)Assessment for STEM students forced them to compare and contrast the field research aspects to current scientific practice. Supporting ACRL Frames “Information Has Value” and “Scholarship as Conversation,” students compared the data available through Harper’s original field notebooks and notecards to more recent scientific data and notes. Reflective discussion allowed them to weigh in on their perceived value for Harper’s data and how it might benefit scientific work today and in the future. INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNLibrarians utilized elements of backwards design to work from desired Learning Objectives to instructional outline. The Escape Game format supports the “Research as Inquiry” Framework (ACRL) as it places participants in scenarios where they must work together, synthesize ideas gathered from multiple sources, and draw reasonable conclusions based on the analysis and interpretation of information. The storyline and central task was designed around the Francis Harper materials housed in Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections. Harper was a Cornell-trained naturalist who studied plant life and culture of the Okefenokee Swamp from 1912-1951. The game explores aspects of Georgia folk culture, biodiversity, and the establishment of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. These materials have been used widely by historians, folklorists, biologists, archeologists, and geologists. We used high-quality surrogates of the archival materials including handwritten correspondence, government documents, field notebooks, photographs and film. Puzzle scenarios were designed, specifically, around the Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy (ACRL, RBMS, SAA): Identify the possible locations of primary sources Understand that historical records may never have existed, may not have survived, or may not be collected and/or publicly accessible. Identify and communicate information found in primary sources, including summarizing the content of the source and identifying and reporting key components such as how it was created, by whom, and whenbit.ly/archivesandSTEM