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Scoring: Bibliographic instruction helps freshman athletes compete in the academic league
Scoring: Bibliographic Instruction Helps Freshman Athletes Compete in the Academic League by Phyllis 1. Ruscella
Motivated by accreditation agencies, public concern, and NCAA standards, many campuses have adopted programs to ensure the academic success of collegiate athletes. This article describes a librarybased instructional module developed at the University of Central Florida for freshman athletes. The development and implementation of the 61 sessions are discussed.
The author wishes to acknowledge the
assistance
of DeLyn
Davis
Bradford
and
Nancy Stephens in the preparation of the manuscript. Phyllis L. Ruscella is Coordinator Bibliographic Instruction, University Central
Florida,
Orlando,
of of FL.
T
he quality of college athletes’ education is at stake in a contest being played on many American campuses. The playing field of academia has pitted an educational team with a scholastic mission against an intercollegiate sports program team with a competitive mission. Intensifying the contest are the involved alumni, media, and athletic department personnel who favor the sports program with financial and social support. Poised between these opposing sides are the athletes. Often identified as having athletic potential at an early age, they spend their youth trying, with decreasing success, to participate on both the academic and athletic teams. Recent reports of declining standards in American education’ and of escalating profits in college sports have fostered a new found awareness of the plight of collegiate athletes. The employment of questionable recruitment practices and flexible scholastic requirements often instills unrealistic goals and expectations in student athletes. Also, an intricate network of commercial and institutional forces, often with family and peers functioning as enablers, delivers the gifted athlete to the college/ university arena with little desire or skill to achiev-other than on the sports program team. The column “Status of Sports Investigations on College Campuses” in the Chronicle of Higher Education reports the disheartening results of this mismatched competition. Sinking graduation rates, discreditable moral and ethical behavior, and legal violations among college athletes have commanded the attention of those in positions of authority at all levels of involvement. One
attempt to correct the scholastic imbalance and address related societal issues has been Proposition 48, in which the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reaffirmed and strengthened the admissions standards for freshman athletes at member institutions.
A New Game? Historically, colleges and universities have identified segments of the student population in need of specialized services. This growing list includes such groups as military veterans, minority students, disabled students, reentry adult students, honors students, and more recently, English-as-a-secondlanguage students.* One implication of Proposition 48 is that educational institutions are also “morally obligated to provide academically weak athletes with superior academic support programs.“3 Institutions with competitive “revenue sports” programs, eager to maintain accreditation and avoid sanctions, have taken up the cause of student athletes by providing specialized services addressing their scholastic needs.
UCF Student Athletes Program The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a relatively new higher educational institution. Since the first academic semester in 1968, its rapid growth has paralleled that of the surrounding locale. (The U.S. Census Bureau recently listed Orlando as one of America’s 40 largest metropolitan areas, recording a dramatic 50 percent increase in population over the past decade.)4 UCF’s athletic program took root in the late 197Os, stalled in the early 198Os, and emerged as a respectable, competitive program
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, vol. 19, no. 4, p. 232-236 01993 by the Journal of Academic Librarianship. All rights reserved.
in 1985 with the arrival of a new athletic director. Although the swelling numbers of UCF alumni and the geographic growth patterns of Central Florida have increased and will continue to increase the importance placed on UCF intercollegiate athletics, campus administrators have expressed spirited determination not to compromise the institution’s academic integrity in attracting alumni support/ dollars. A 1988 piece in the Chronicle ofHigher Education asserted that UCF “is one of several universities that . . . have given academic administrators, rather than sports officials, control over their academic-advisory programs for athletes.“5 UCF’s Office of Undergraduate Studies has adopted a program for athletes that is fashioned after the Penn State model. Campus professionals carefully monitor all athletes’ academic careers, helping them to achieve “good academic standing as determined by the academic authorities” and to maintain “satisfactory progress,” both of which are requisites for NCAA eligibility.6 To this end, and in cooperation with the athletic department, the program offers career direction, counseling and testing, peer tutoring, and presentations that contribute to the athlete’s success in the academic arena. Sandra Reeves, Academic Coordinator for Athletes, oversees advisement for a special student athlete population of 400 in 7 major sports; approximately 33 percent are women, 60 to 75 percent are on athletic scholarships, and about 23 percent are freshmen. Many of the 90 or so freshmen in this target group are unaware of the rigors of collegiate life and the competition they’ll face on the playing field and in the classroom. To prevent sports from becoming “so important to these young people that their personal futures are tossed aside in pursuit of sport,“’ efforts are made to balance their commitment to practice and to study through a mandatory evening study hall. Four nights per week throughout the academic year, not just in season, these freshman athletes are required to attend a two-hour study hall. Upper-division athletes whose GPAs fall to 2.2 are also required to attend study halls, and tutoring, counseling, and other support services are available to prevent their grades from slipping beneath 2.0, the minimum GPA required by the NCAA for participation in intercollegiate sports.*
Emulating the Penn State advising program for athletes, the Academic Coordinator for Athletes established a varied program during the study hall sessions. In addition to self-directed textbook study and one-on-one tutoring, sessions also offer structured presentations on relevant topics such as time management, effective study techniques, career decision making, and, most recently, library/research skills. Library Involvement Approached by the undergraduate studies program for athletes, the University Library eagerly accepted the proposal to participate in the structured support program for this “at-risk” group. During the early days of fall semester 1989, the Library Director, the Bibliographic Instruction Coordinator, and the undergraduate studies Academic Coordinator for Athletes met to discuss the research needs of freshman athletes and to write goals to meet these identified needs. It was decided that two one-hour sessions, taking place within the scheduled evening study halls, would be taught by a librarian during the mid-term weeks of the semester. Those who teach in the library’s bibliographic instruction program would determine lesson objectives and content. Essential to the design of an instructional module is “an accurate assess-
ment of the existing situation,” including a definition of the target audience.9 Conflicting profiles of the student athlete exist in the literature. Jesudason asserts that athletes, as a group, suffer from “severe educational problems,“” while Lapchick, a notable authority in the field, believes that “the typical student athlete, contrary to the public’s image, performs as well or better academically than other students.“” Recent findings of the NCAA president’s commission show that college athletes “devote about as much time to academics as do students involved in other extracurricular activities.“‘2 Data gathered at UCF support the view that athletes’ study habits and academic aptitudes are comparable to those of other undergraduates with similar time limitations. A comparison of admissions standards averages for UCF freshman athletes and all UCF freshmen, and the NCAA minimum admission requirements is shown in Figure 1. Official university findings show that “athletes at the University of Central Florida are performing at a higher level academically than their non-athletic peers,“13and a greater percentage of them graduate (see Figure 2). A UCF Library survey of approximately 60 freshman athletes and 60 other freshmen revealed that the two groups share more similarities. Statistics assess-
Figure 1 Admissions Standards, 1988-89
SAT
n
UCF Freshman
GPA
ACT Class
q UCF
Freshman Football & Basketball Recruits
the Journal of Academic
q
NCAA Minimum for Freshman Athletes
Librarianship,
September
1993
233
Figure 2 UCF Graduation Rates, 1988-89
Graduated
Graduated
L/
‘\._.____.-,
/’
Did not graduate 57.7% Recruited Athletes 1983-84 Academic Year
ing aptitudes and experience indicated comparable experience in writing research papers and using libraries, and comparable expectations for future library use. Two differences were noted: the non-athletes reported having more experience with personal computers and computerized library catalogs and doing less reading for enjoyment than did the athletes. ‘Ihe reading materials listed by athletes were highly concentrated in the area of sports publications. This information was valuable in determining the strengths and weaknesses of this BI target audience and in designing an appropriate lesson. The BI Sessions Generally speaking, all freshmen at UCF take English Composition I and II, and most receive the generic oneshot lesson on the fundamentals of University Library usage, including instruction in the online catalog, LC classification system, LC subject headings, arrangement of serials, etc. Therefore, the freshman athletes would receive this basic library instruction through the BI program already in place. Our challenge was to plan two hours of library instruction that would go beyond the basics, presenting more sophisticated library research techniques and promoting critical thinking skills. The survey results suggested that the instruction should also cover computerized information retrieval techniques and should encourage extracurricular reading in areas other than sports.
234
”
Did not graduate 65.3% All Students
Bibliographic instruction is thought to be most effective when it is courserelated and occurs at the moment of need-that is, when the research assignment is made. This instructional scenario, however, was not possible given the study hall situation. Therefore, a more difficult motivating technique became paramount: to inspire interest and enthusiasm, to show students that, as Hobbins asserts, “a library session will improve grades and facilitate research.“14 For project continuity, one BI librarian assumed the planning, design, and implementation responsibilities for the sessions, with input from public services/B1 colleagues and assistance from a number of staff. It was decided to divide the freshman athlete study hall into three groups of approximately thirty. Each group was to receive two, onehour lessons in the BI classroom, at night during both the seventh and eighth week of the fall 1989 semester. Session one. The fiit session focused on the “big picture,” covering areas such as: an overview of the evolution of information formatting, the conceptualization search topic,
of a valid re-
the categorization of types of sources, and the characteristics organization.
the Journal of Academic Librarianship, September 1993
of bibliographic
Several teaching techniques were used, including group discussion, role-playing, and group activity. A time line, labeled with dates significant to the development of information, was drawn on the board. The librarian passed out samples of information formats-a book, a newspaper, a phonograph record, a reel-to-reel tape, a videocassette, etc. After some discussion of relevant historical events, each student was asked to go to the board and note on the time line where the development of his/her particular format would have occurred. Students consulted with one another in attempting to determine the relationship among and sequencing of the formats. The exercise visually demonstrated the recent rapid developments in information formatting, and students came to understand that their generation must learn ways to deal with the “information explosion.” Identification of and relationships among media was quickly apparent to an audience so accustomed to the multi-media environment of our contemporary life. The logical question was raised: Given the massive quantities and many types of information available in a library, a university, and the rest of society, how do I know what to use and what to reject? Using a modification of Cerise Oberman’s square matrix exercise for developing a manageable thesis,15 the librarian had students contribute ideas to fill in, on an overhead transparency, the what, who, when, where, and why categories for the general topic “sports.” Working in pairs, students wrote a thesis statement/topic sentence by combining possibilities from the completed matrix. In sharing their ideas with others, students realized how many different approaches one could take to researching the same general topic. In developing the matrix, they saw how it was possible to define the parameters of a library-based assignment prior to beginning the research process-a focus that would allow them to maximize the quality and minimize the quantity of time spent searching for information. Some students within the group raised the issue of the “kinds” of information needed to prove or refute a thesis statement. The librarian discussed the use of reference books for an overview, circulating books for in-depth and retrospective information, and journal articles for current and local information. Since the UCF Library is a U.S. Gov-
ernment Depository Library, federal documents were also discussed as a source of additional information and detailed statistical data. Finally, after examining the types of sources available, students discussed the four most common ways of organizing information-alphabetical, chronological, numerical, and topical-and how they relate to electronic information sources and other nonprint formats. Listing title keywords such as “encyclopedia,” “dictionary,*’ and “chronology” alerted students to these as markers of organizational styles. Session two. The second session, which was taught by the same librarian, began with a brief review of the four general concepts explored in the first session. Instruction had moved to more concrete areas. Using a PC, an overhead projector, Kodak Datashow, and a projection screen, the librarian demonstrated how the online catalog would allow students to: l
l
l
l
select from the subject/sub-topic menu, use bibliographic information to determine relevance and usefulness, assess ranges of LC call numbers pertaining to specifics of the topic, and determine the location of sources within the five floors of library stacks.
A hands-on activity had pairs of students selecting and using subject-specific print indexes to identify relevant articles for sports-related topics assigned by the librarian. After reviewing the elements in an index entry, students completed the exercise by verifying one citation for a journal article through a title search on the online catalog using terminals available in the BI classroom. They checked to see if UCF subscribed to the particular journals from their citations, and determined the location of the four different periodical formatsloose issue, bound, microfilm, and microfiche-within the collection. This activity led into a brief introduction to CD-ROM databases. Once again using projection equipment for classroom demonstration, the librarian pointed out common techniques used in CD-ROM searching, such as “highlighting” menu commands and using function keys, and pointed out that displayed records usually follow the last in/first out rule of information loading.
Using the Business Periodical Index CD-ROM on WILSONDISC software, students learned how to assess a database by asking themselves: What is the content? (bibliographic vs. full-text scope) What is the coverage? (limited date range vs. comprehensive) Does it use formal subject indexing? (controlled vocabulary vs. free text/ keyword) l
l
Will it combine two subjects? (browse alphabetical list vs. Boolean logic) Can it generate a customized bibliography on a specified topic? (print select citations vs. all citations)
A follow-up discussion helped students make judgments about when a search is best executed in the print indexes as compared to the electronic databases. The concluding minutes of session two were devoted to a discussion of the usefulness of in-house guides to local collections. A specially designed pathfinder on sports was compiled and distributed as an example of an extensive UCF series of subject-specific bibliographies, collectively called “Info-to-Go.” This handout reinforced the idea that librarians have done much to help patrons pursue ideas independently. In closing, the athletes were encouraged to call the librarian directly for an appointment to work through any problematic research assignments. An Evaluation The intangible goal of raising selfesteem, or of instilling in this group a balance between athletic and academic commitment, or of enhancing the quality of the total university experience remains finitely immeasurable. However, we have been able to evaluate the success of the project in meeting instructional goals through verbal feedback from students, student comments about the library experience included on the endof-the-year evaluation of the program for athletes, and the satisfaction expressed by the professionals involved. Many of the players sought out the instructing librarian for additional assistance on term papers. Still others responded positively by reintroducing themselves when they encountered the librarian at the reference desk or when they attended one of her course-related BI sessions.
With this positive feedback in mind, all parties responsible for the project favored a second year of implementation. Few modifications to the lessons were necessary. Adjustments were made to the pacing of the instruction and some refinements were made to the print and visual support materials, but the skills taught and the resources introduced were left generic enough to encourage students to adapt them to any assignment and apply them in any library facility. Conclusion A columnist in Time magazine recently said that “sports fans crave the illusion of a guaranteed future”-they want to believe that a team will always have a winning season.16 Perhaps it is that craving that has encouraged the public, the education system, and even the athletes themselves to place more emphasis on on-the-field success than in-the-class success. The widespread abuses evidenced in intercollegiate athletics have incited a call for reform, which could be interpreted more positively as a chance to offer greater academic opportunities to athletes.17 Academic standards for athletes have been recently redefined, endorsed, and laid at the doorstep of college/university athletic departments and administrators. The responsibility now is to afford student athletes the opportunity to succeed equally in both the sports arena and the academic arena. This necessitates consciousness raising and collaborative efforts at all levels of academia. As a member of the university educational team, the academic library should aggressively participate in campus-wide efforts to sustain the scholastic achievement of its athletes. And what better place to begin than with the freshmen recruited to play a sport and enrolled to earn a college degree? Bibliographic instruction can teach students to conduct effective and efficient research, to evaluate information, and to think critically. Knowing how to select, manipulate, and synthesize information may not only improve athletes’ academic performances, it may also increase their self-confidence at competing in the academic league. BI is just one of many factors that can help collegiate athletes achieve lifelong success after their glory days in organized sports are over. That success depends, in part, on academia’s ability to convert “at-risk’ students into active learn-
the Journal of Academic
Librarianship,
September
1993
235
ers, equipped not only with factual knowledge but also with knowledge of how to find and analyze information.
References ‘See A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform: A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education (Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). 2Charles S. Farrell, “Consortium Aims to Help Athletes Complete Degrees,” Chronicle of Higher Education 30 (June 26, 1985): 24. 3Melba Jesudason, “Proposition 48 and User Education for Athletes,” RSR 17 (Spring 1989): 14. 4Peter Mitchell, “Greater Orland-A New Top 40 Hit,” The Orlando Sentinel (February 21, 1991): Al; A16. %usan Oberlander, “Penn State Tries Newand ExpensivwWays to Advise Athletes,” Chronicle of Higher Education 35 (December 7, 1988): A40. 61991 -92 National Collegiate Athletic Association Manual; Article I4 (Overland Park, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association, 1991), p. 136. ‘Richard E. Lapchick, On the Mark: Putting the Student Back in Student Athlete (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1987). p. x. ONCCA Manual, p. 137. Beverly Renford and Liiea Hendrickson, Bibliographic Instruction: A Handbook (New York: Neal-Schuman, 1986) p. 2. loMelba Jesudason, “Proposition 48 and User Education for Athletes,” p. 15. ‘Richard E. Lapchick, “The Student Athlete,” New Perspectives 4 (Winter 1988): 35. r2Douglas Lederman, “Players Spend More Time on Sports Than on Studies, an NCAA Survey of Major-College Athletes Finds,” Chronicle of Higher Education 35 (December 7, 1988): A33. 13”CoIlege Notebook: UCF Athletes Smarter Than Their Classmates,” The Orlando Sentinel, Orange South Section (October 22, 1989): 19. r4John Hobbins, “Seminars and Assignments: The Reinforcement Approach,” in Academic Library Instruction: Objectives, Programs, and Faculty Involvement, ed. Hannelore B. Rader (Ann Arbor, MI: Peirian Press, 1975) p. 65. ‘Cerise Oberman, “Question Analysis and the Learning Cycle,” Research Strategies 1 (Winter 1983): 30. IsDan Goodgame, “Sorting Out Mixed Signals,” Time 137 (February 18, 1991): 27. “Douglas Lederman, “Iowa State Chief Endorses Sports Reform, But Rejects Plan to Raise Academic Standards,” Chronicle of Higher Education 36 (October 24, 1990): A34. V
236
the Journal of Academic Librarianship,
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Motivated by accreditation agencies, public concern, and NCAA standards, many campuses have adopted programs to ensure the academic success of collegiate athletes. This article describes a librarybased instructional module developed at the University of Central Florida for freshman athletes. The development and implementation of the 61 sessions are discussed.
The author wishes to acknowledge the
assistance
of DeLyn
Davis
Bradford
and
Nancy Stephens in the preparation of the manuscript. Phyllis L. Ruscella is Coordinator Bibliographic Instruction, University Central
Florida,
Orlando,
of of FL.
T
he quality of college athletes’ education is at stake in a contest being played on many American campuses. The playing field of academia has pitted an educational team with a scholastic mission against an intercollegiate sports program team with a competitive mission. Intensifying the contest are the involved alumni, media, and athletic department personnel who favor the sports program with financial and social support. Poised between these opposing sides are the athletes. Often identified as having athletic potential at an early age, they spend their youth trying, with decreasing success, to participate on both the academic and athletic teams. Recent reports of declining standards in American education’ and of escalating profits in college sports have fostered a new found awareness of the plight of collegiate athletes. The employment of questionable recruitment practices and flexible scholastic requirements often instills unrealistic goals and expectations in student athletes. Also, an intricate network of commercial and institutional forces, often with family and peers functioning as enablers, delivers the gifted athlete to the college/ university arena with little desire or skill to achiev-other than on the sports program team. The column “Status of Sports Investigations on College Campuses” in the Chronicle of Higher Education reports the disheartening results of this mismatched competition. Sinking graduation rates, discreditable moral and ethical behavior, and legal violations among college athletes have commanded the attention of those in positions of authority at all levels of involvement. One
attempt to correct the scholastic imbalance and address related societal issues has been Proposition 48, in which the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reaffirmed and strengthened the admissions standards for freshman athletes at member institutions.
A New Game? Historically, colleges and universities have identified segments of the student population in need of specialized services. This growing list includes such groups as military veterans, minority students, disabled students, reentry adult students, honors students, and more recently, English-as-a-secondlanguage students.* One implication of Proposition 48 is that educational institutions are also “morally obligated to provide academically weak athletes with superior academic support programs.“3 Institutions with competitive “revenue sports” programs, eager to maintain accreditation and avoid sanctions, have taken up the cause of student athletes by providing specialized services addressing their scholastic needs.
UCF Student Athletes Program The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a relatively new higher educational institution. Since the first academic semester in 1968, its rapid growth has paralleled that of the surrounding locale. (The U.S. Census Bureau recently listed Orlando as one of America’s 40 largest metropolitan areas, recording a dramatic 50 percent increase in population over the past decade.)4 UCF’s athletic program took root in the late 197Os, stalled in the early 198Os, and emerged as a respectable, competitive program
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, vol. 19, no. 4, p. 232-236 01993 by the Journal of Academic Librarianship. All rights reserved.
in 1985 with the arrival of a new athletic director. Although the swelling numbers of UCF alumni and the geographic growth patterns of Central Florida have increased and will continue to increase the importance placed on UCF intercollegiate athletics, campus administrators have expressed spirited determination not to compromise the institution’s academic integrity in attracting alumni support/ dollars. A 1988 piece in the Chronicle ofHigher Education asserted that UCF “is one of several universities that . . . have given academic administrators, rather than sports officials, control over their academic-advisory programs for athletes.“5 UCF’s Office of Undergraduate Studies has adopted a program for athletes that is fashioned after the Penn State model. Campus professionals carefully monitor all athletes’ academic careers, helping them to achieve “good academic standing as determined by the academic authorities” and to maintain “satisfactory progress,” both of which are requisites for NCAA eligibility.6 To this end, and in cooperation with the athletic department, the program offers career direction, counseling and testing, peer tutoring, and presentations that contribute to the athlete’s success in the academic arena. Sandra Reeves, Academic Coordinator for Athletes, oversees advisement for a special student athlete population of 400 in 7 major sports; approximately 33 percent are women, 60 to 75 percent are on athletic scholarships, and about 23 percent are freshmen. Many of the 90 or so freshmen in this target group are unaware of the rigors of collegiate life and the competition they’ll face on the playing field and in the classroom. To prevent sports from becoming “so important to these young people that their personal futures are tossed aside in pursuit of sport,“’ efforts are made to balance their commitment to practice and to study through a mandatory evening study hall. Four nights per week throughout the academic year, not just in season, these freshman athletes are required to attend a two-hour study hall. Upper-division athletes whose GPAs fall to 2.2 are also required to attend study halls, and tutoring, counseling, and other support services are available to prevent their grades from slipping beneath 2.0, the minimum GPA required by the NCAA for participation in intercollegiate sports.*
Emulating the Penn State advising program for athletes, the Academic Coordinator for Athletes established a varied program during the study hall sessions. In addition to self-directed textbook study and one-on-one tutoring, sessions also offer structured presentations on relevant topics such as time management, effective study techniques, career decision making, and, most recently, library/research skills. Library Involvement Approached by the undergraduate studies program for athletes, the University Library eagerly accepted the proposal to participate in the structured support program for this “at-risk” group. During the early days of fall semester 1989, the Library Director, the Bibliographic Instruction Coordinator, and the undergraduate studies Academic Coordinator for Athletes met to discuss the research needs of freshman athletes and to write goals to meet these identified needs. It was decided that two one-hour sessions, taking place within the scheduled evening study halls, would be taught by a librarian during the mid-term weeks of the semester. Those who teach in the library’s bibliographic instruction program would determine lesson objectives and content. Essential to the design of an instructional module is “an accurate assess-
ment of the existing situation,” including a definition of the target audience.9 Conflicting profiles of the student athlete exist in the literature. Jesudason asserts that athletes, as a group, suffer from “severe educational problems,“” while Lapchick, a notable authority in the field, believes that “the typical student athlete, contrary to the public’s image, performs as well or better academically than other students.“” Recent findings of the NCAA president’s commission show that college athletes “devote about as much time to academics as do students involved in other extracurricular activities.“‘2 Data gathered at UCF support the view that athletes’ study habits and academic aptitudes are comparable to those of other undergraduates with similar time limitations. A comparison of admissions standards averages for UCF freshman athletes and all UCF freshmen, and the NCAA minimum admission requirements is shown in Figure 1. Official university findings show that “athletes at the University of Central Florida are performing at a higher level academically than their non-athletic peers,“13and a greater percentage of them graduate (see Figure 2). A UCF Library survey of approximately 60 freshman athletes and 60 other freshmen revealed that the two groups share more similarities. Statistics assess-
Figure 1 Admissions Standards, 1988-89
SAT
n
UCF Freshman
GPA
ACT Class
q UCF
Freshman Football & Basketball Recruits
the Journal of Academic
q
NCAA Minimum for Freshman Athletes
Librarianship,
September
1993
233
Figure 2 UCF Graduation Rates, 1988-89
Graduated
Graduated
L/
‘\._.____.-,
/’
Did not graduate 57.7% Recruited Athletes 1983-84 Academic Year
ing aptitudes and experience indicated comparable experience in writing research papers and using libraries, and comparable expectations for future library use. Two differences were noted: the non-athletes reported having more experience with personal computers and computerized library catalogs and doing less reading for enjoyment than did the athletes. ‘Ihe reading materials listed by athletes were highly concentrated in the area of sports publications. This information was valuable in determining the strengths and weaknesses of this BI target audience and in designing an appropriate lesson. The BI Sessions Generally speaking, all freshmen at UCF take English Composition I and II, and most receive the generic oneshot lesson on the fundamentals of University Library usage, including instruction in the online catalog, LC classification system, LC subject headings, arrangement of serials, etc. Therefore, the freshman athletes would receive this basic library instruction through the BI program already in place. Our challenge was to plan two hours of library instruction that would go beyond the basics, presenting more sophisticated library research techniques and promoting critical thinking skills. The survey results suggested that the instruction should also cover computerized information retrieval techniques and should encourage extracurricular reading in areas other than sports.
234
”
Did not graduate 65.3% All Students
Bibliographic instruction is thought to be most effective when it is courserelated and occurs at the moment of need-that is, when the research assignment is made. This instructional scenario, however, was not possible given the study hall situation. Therefore, a more difficult motivating technique became paramount: to inspire interest and enthusiasm, to show students that, as Hobbins asserts, “a library session will improve grades and facilitate research.“14 For project continuity, one BI librarian assumed the planning, design, and implementation responsibilities for the sessions, with input from public services/B1 colleagues and assistance from a number of staff. It was decided to divide the freshman athlete study hall into three groups of approximately thirty. Each group was to receive two, onehour lessons in the BI classroom, at night during both the seventh and eighth week of the fall 1989 semester. Session one. The fiit session focused on the “big picture,” covering areas such as: an overview of the evolution of information formatting, the conceptualization search topic,
of a valid re-
the categorization of types of sources, and the characteristics organization.
the Journal of Academic Librarianship, September 1993
of bibliographic
Several teaching techniques were used, including group discussion, role-playing, and group activity. A time line, labeled with dates significant to the development of information, was drawn on the board. The librarian passed out samples of information formats-a book, a newspaper, a phonograph record, a reel-to-reel tape, a videocassette, etc. After some discussion of relevant historical events, each student was asked to go to the board and note on the time line where the development of his/her particular format would have occurred. Students consulted with one another in attempting to determine the relationship among and sequencing of the formats. The exercise visually demonstrated the recent rapid developments in information formatting, and students came to understand that their generation must learn ways to deal with the “information explosion.” Identification of and relationships among media was quickly apparent to an audience so accustomed to the multi-media environment of our contemporary life. The logical question was raised: Given the massive quantities and many types of information available in a library, a university, and the rest of society, how do I know what to use and what to reject? Using a modification of Cerise Oberman’s square matrix exercise for developing a manageable thesis,15 the librarian had students contribute ideas to fill in, on an overhead transparency, the what, who, when, where, and why categories for the general topic “sports.” Working in pairs, students wrote a thesis statement/topic sentence by combining possibilities from the completed matrix. In sharing their ideas with others, students realized how many different approaches one could take to researching the same general topic. In developing the matrix, they saw how it was possible to define the parameters of a library-based assignment prior to beginning the research process-a focus that would allow them to maximize the quality and minimize the quantity of time spent searching for information. Some students within the group raised the issue of the “kinds” of information needed to prove or refute a thesis statement. The librarian discussed the use of reference books for an overview, circulating books for in-depth and retrospective information, and journal articles for current and local information. Since the UCF Library is a U.S. Gov-
ernment Depository Library, federal documents were also discussed as a source of additional information and detailed statistical data. Finally, after examining the types of sources available, students discussed the four most common ways of organizing information-alphabetical, chronological, numerical, and topical-and how they relate to electronic information sources and other nonprint formats. Listing title keywords such as “encyclopedia,” “dictionary,*’ and “chronology” alerted students to these as markers of organizational styles. Session two. The second session, which was taught by the same librarian, began with a brief review of the four general concepts explored in the first session. Instruction had moved to more concrete areas. Using a PC, an overhead projector, Kodak Datashow, and a projection screen, the librarian demonstrated how the online catalog would allow students to: l
l
l
l
select from the subject/sub-topic menu, use bibliographic information to determine relevance and usefulness, assess ranges of LC call numbers pertaining to specifics of the topic, and determine the location of sources within the five floors of library stacks.
A hands-on activity had pairs of students selecting and using subject-specific print indexes to identify relevant articles for sports-related topics assigned by the librarian. After reviewing the elements in an index entry, students completed the exercise by verifying one citation for a journal article through a title search on the online catalog using terminals available in the BI classroom. They checked to see if UCF subscribed to the particular journals from their citations, and determined the location of the four different periodical formatsloose issue, bound, microfilm, and microfiche-within the collection. This activity led into a brief introduction to CD-ROM databases. Once again using projection equipment for classroom demonstration, the librarian pointed out common techniques used in CD-ROM searching, such as “highlighting” menu commands and using function keys, and pointed out that displayed records usually follow the last in/first out rule of information loading.
Using the Business Periodical Index CD-ROM on WILSONDISC software, students learned how to assess a database by asking themselves: What is the content? (bibliographic vs. full-text scope) What is the coverage? (limited date range vs. comprehensive) Does it use formal subject indexing? (controlled vocabulary vs. free text/ keyword) l
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Will it combine two subjects? (browse alphabetical list vs. Boolean logic) Can it generate a customized bibliography on a specified topic? (print select citations vs. all citations)
A follow-up discussion helped students make judgments about when a search is best executed in the print indexes as compared to the electronic databases. The concluding minutes of session two were devoted to a discussion of the usefulness of in-house guides to local collections. A specially designed pathfinder on sports was compiled and distributed as an example of an extensive UCF series of subject-specific bibliographies, collectively called “Info-to-Go.” This handout reinforced the idea that librarians have done much to help patrons pursue ideas independently. In closing, the athletes were encouraged to call the librarian directly for an appointment to work through any problematic research assignments. An Evaluation The intangible goal of raising selfesteem, or of instilling in this group a balance between athletic and academic commitment, or of enhancing the quality of the total university experience remains finitely immeasurable. However, we have been able to evaluate the success of the project in meeting instructional goals through verbal feedback from students, student comments about the library experience included on the endof-the-year evaluation of the program for athletes, and the satisfaction expressed by the professionals involved. Many of the players sought out the instructing librarian for additional assistance on term papers. Still others responded positively by reintroducing themselves when they encountered the librarian at the reference desk or when they attended one of her course-related BI sessions.
With this positive feedback in mind, all parties responsible for the project favored a second year of implementation. Few modifications to the lessons were necessary. Adjustments were made to the pacing of the instruction and some refinements were made to the print and visual support materials, but the skills taught and the resources introduced were left generic enough to encourage students to adapt them to any assignment and apply them in any library facility. Conclusion A columnist in Time magazine recently said that “sports fans crave the illusion of a guaranteed future”-they want to believe that a team will always have a winning season.16 Perhaps it is that craving that has encouraged the public, the education system, and even the athletes themselves to place more emphasis on on-the-field success than in-the-class success. The widespread abuses evidenced in intercollegiate athletics have incited a call for reform, which could be interpreted more positively as a chance to offer greater academic opportunities to athletes.17 Academic standards for athletes have been recently redefined, endorsed, and laid at the doorstep of college/university athletic departments and administrators. The responsibility now is to afford student athletes the opportunity to succeed equally in both the sports arena and the academic arena. This necessitates consciousness raising and collaborative efforts at all levels of academia. As a member of the university educational team, the academic library should aggressively participate in campus-wide efforts to sustain the scholastic achievement of its athletes. And what better place to begin than with the freshmen recruited to play a sport and enrolled to earn a college degree? Bibliographic instruction can teach students to conduct effective and efficient research, to evaluate information, and to think critically. Knowing how to select, manipulate, and synthesize information may not only improve athletes’ academic performances, it may also increase their self-confidence at competing in the academic league. BI is just one of many factors that can help collegiate athletes achieve lifelong success after their glory days in organized sports are over. That success depends, in part, on academia’s ability to convert “at-risk’ students into active learn-
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ers, equipped not only with factual knowledge but also with knowledge of how to find and analyze information.
References ‘See A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform: A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education (Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). 2Charles S. Farrell, “Consortium Aims to Help Athletes Complete Degrees,” Chronicle of Higher Education 30 (June 26, 1985): 24. 3Melba Jesudason, “Proposition 48 and User Education for Athletes,” RSR 17 (Spring 1989): 14. 4Peter Mitchell, “Greater Orland-A New Top 40 Hit,” The Orlando Sentinel (February 21, 1991): Al; A16. %usan Oberlander, “Penn State Tries Newand ExpensivwWays to Advise Athletes,” Chronicle of Higher Education 35 (December 7, 1988): A40. 61991 -92 National Collegiate Athletic Association Manual; Article I4 (Overland Park, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association, 1991), p. 136. ‘Richard E. Lapchick, On the Mark: Putting the Student Back in Student Athlete (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1987). p. x. ONCCA Manual, p. 137. Beverly Renford and Liiea Hendrickson, Bibliographic Instruction: A Handbook (New York: Neal-Schuman, 1986) p. 2. loMelba Jesudason, “Proposition 48 and User Education for Athletes,” p. 15. ‘Richard E. Lapchick, “The Student Athlete,” New Perspectives 4 (Winter 1988): 35. r2Douglas Lederman, “Players Spend More Time on Sports Than on Studies, an NCAA Survey of Major-College Athletes Finds,” Chronicle of Higher Education 35 (December 7, 1988): A33. 13”CoIlege Notebook: UCF Athletes Smarter Than Their Classmates,” The Orlando Sentinel, Orange South Section (October 22, 1989): 19. r4John Hobbins, “Seminars and Assignments: The Reinforcement Approach,” in Academic Library Instruction: Objectives, Programs, and Faculty Involvement, ed. Hannelore B. Rader (Ann Arbor, MI: Peirian Press, 1975) p. 65. ‘Cerise Oberman, “Question Analysis and the Learning Cycle,” Research Strategies 1 (Winter 1983): 30. IsDan Goodgame, “Sorting Out Mixed Signals,” Time 137 (February 18, 1991): 27. “Douglas Lederman, “Iowa State Chief Endorses Sports Reform, But Rejects Plan to Raise Academic Standards,” Chronicle of Higher Education 36 (October 24, 1990): A34. V
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