Instruction in a Virtual Environment: Assessing the Needs for an Online Tutorial

Authors

Wendy Holliday, Utah State UniversityFollow
Sharolyn Erickson, Utah State University
Britt Fagerheim, Utah State UniversityFollow
Rob Morrison, Utah State University
Flora Shrode, Utah State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

The Reference Librarian

Volume

46

Issue

95-96

Publisher

Routledge

Publication Date

2006

First Page

187

Last Page

211

Abstract

In 2002, librarians at the Utah State University (USU) Libraries were awarded a grant to develop online tutorials. The major design challenge was to create tutorials specific to USU resources and students, including distance learners, while also making them flexible so that other Utah colleges and universities can adapt them for their own needs. The tutorials also needed to address the information behavior of a new generation of students accustomed to using computers and the Internet. While recent studies have begun to address some gaps in our knowledge of the information behavior of the Web Generation, we conducted a needs assessment to help us create a tutorial that more accurately addresses the existing knowledge and behavior of undergraduates at USU. We used multiple methods to determine the learning needs of our audience and to provide guidance for the design process.

Comments

Originally published by Taylor & Francis. Publisher's PDF available through remote link.

Recommended Citation

Holliday, W., Erickson, S., Fagerheim, B., Morrison, R. & Shrode, F. (2006). Instruction in a virtual environment: Assessing the needs for an online tutorial. The Reference Librarian 46 (95/96), 187-211.