Using evidence-informed approaches to know and respond to students’ diverse needs
Background
Following Covid-19 disruption and significant cohort size growth BA Fine Art cohorts at Camberwell had not included research skills sessions in year 2 or 3 for some years. I have observed consistent and significant disparity between the numbers of 1:1 librarian tutorials requested by Fine Art Y3 students for their dissertation level project compared to Design, who schedule these sessions.
Current provision
The high demand for 1:1 requests indicated to me that a skills-based need is not being met. This also raises an alarm that provision is not equitable as only those aware of 1:1 provision, and confident to request it, get the information needed to research effectively at UAL. It also causes me a workload issue reducing my availability to students who may need the most help.
Fine art has a higher-than-average participation of students managing around neurodiversity and learning differences, with a clear link established between learning differences and creativity (Damiani, 2017) demonstrating the need for accommodation and equity. Additionally, there are high numbers of students studying in second languages, requiring support for developing language skills and confidence (Liu, 2023). However, in my experience many of the students requesting 1:1s are native English speakers looking to maximise already well-developed research skills; these students could have acquired the learning needed in group settings.
Feedback from tutors has highlighted attainment gaps in some cohorts. Research suggests a correlation between library use and attainment (Stone and Ramsden, 2013). It seems clear that the gap in library skills provision between Welcome Week inductions and the skills required for later units is too large in terms of both time passed and content delivered, potentially contributing to the gap. Students having been overwhelmed in Welcome Week, or learning in a new language environment, may not remember the access pages or tips covered. The library catalogue is very different from platforms that may look and feel similar, such as Google and online retail, so users can quickly become frustrated by poor results forming another barrier when accessing it later in their journey. We are also contending with the trend for students to rely heavily on Google for their research – despite knowledge that it is an inadequate resource (Becker, 2003).
Moving forwards
I have been offering a more sustainable and consistent programme of research skills sessions to span this gap in response to student needs but had not had traction. This term a combination of evidence; available attainment data, dissertation tutors’ feedback, and conversations about other cohorts’ approaches, has shifted the landscape. Having addressed the remaining barriers (session time and physical space) by proposing bite-sized 20–30-minute sessions delivered at weekly year-group meetings all my BA courses have now scheduled research skills sessions for Y2 unit 7 in the Spring term. I will ensure that the searches used to demonstrate the library catalogue are both engaging and inclusive; including image searches, streaming content, and practice-based resources, plus online sources such as ebooks.
I have recorded additional Moodle video tutorials covering more basic and less urgent elements for this unit, in addition to captioned recordings of the in-person content so that students who miss the sessions or who would like to revisit and recap any details have reference access. All videos will have clear sectioning and will be maximum 25 minutes long for bite-size use. Drop-in group sessions will be available to students who need more help in discussion and slide decks will be provided for those who prefer text-based resources. This combined in-person, video and group provision will be a key stepping- stone to bridge the gap between year 1 and year 3 expectations for all students across the cohorts.
References
Becker, N. J. (2003) ‘Google in perspective: understanding and enhancing student search skills’, New Review of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 9(1), pp. 84–99. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13614530410001692059.
Damiani, L. M. (2017) Art, Design and Neurodiversity. Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14236/ewic/EVA2017.40.
Liu, W. (2023) The theory of second language development for international students. Journal for Multicultural Education, Vol. 17(3), pp. 367-378. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-08-2022-0106.
Stone, G., & Ramsden, B. (2013) Library Impact Data Project: Looking for the Link between Library Usage and Student Attainment. College & Research Libraries, Vol. 74(6), pp. 546-559. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crl12-406.