finding your way around the engineering literature developing an online tutorial series for...

Finding Your Way Around the Engineering Literature

Developing an Online Tutorial Series for Engineering Students

Janet FransenUniversity of Minnesota

ASEE ELD (2011) - session T530

The Joys of a Professional Development Leave

New Grad Student Orientation

AEM CS ECE

• The Libraries have lots of resources

• My name is Jan• I’m your librarian• I’m here to help

So what do they need?

• “Big picture” of engineering communication and practical skills

• Consumable in short bursts• Accessible whenever and wherever

the student needs it• A compelling reason to participate

What tool to use?

• Easy enough for a SME to learn• Inexpensive enough to install as

needed• Rapid prototyping, and easy editing

later• Capture screencasts and make them

interactive• Tools for quizzing• Our choice: Adobe Captivate

Lessons Learned

What makes these different?

• Examples are all engineering-related• Informed by citation analysis of past

theses and dissertations• Reviewed by faculty members

Citation Analysis

• By department• Past three calendar years• Limited to what was available online• Tedious, but worth it

– Not without its statistical problems, but…

– Helped me and will help the students understand what happens in grad school with this population

Electrical Engineering results

What’s next?

• Continue working on content• Citation analysis for AEM and CS• Incorporate suggestions from faculty• Assessment plan

Take a look

• Z.umn.edu/englit• Z.umn.edu/ececite