A Game-based Learning Approach to Information Literacy: Knovel Global Academic Challenge
- Conference
- Location
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New Orleans, Louisiana
- Publication Date
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June 26, 2016
- Start Date
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June 26, 2016
- End Date
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June 29, 2016
- ISBN
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978-0-692-68565-5
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Engineering Libraries
- Page Count
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13
- DOI
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10.18260/p.26324
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/26324
- Download Count
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602
Paper Authors
Daniel Christe Drexel University, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics
Daniel Christe is pursuing concurrent Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering, respectively at Drexel University in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. His research interests center on design of novel architectured engineering materials such as functional fabrics that communicate, sense, and adapt. Daniel is currently a member of the Theoretical & Applied Mechanics Group, within Drexel University’s Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics Department. He has also held a research appointment at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Augmenting his scientific interests, Daniel serves as a STEM educator working to engage minorities through research-based learning experiences, and create new approaches to 21st century information literacy education, in his role as Innovation Advisor to Elsevier's Academic Engineering Solutions Library Advisory Board (AES-LAB).
Savannah Lee Drexel University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Savannah Lee is a fourth-year Electrical Engineering Drexel student. She was inspired to pursue engineering after
her research project, “A Characterization of Enolase: A Glycolytic Enzyme in Plasmodium Yoelii”, was chosen to be
presented at the International Science and Engineering Fair. Furthering her interest, Savannah designed a
dehydration detector, “Detecting Dehydration through Skin Conductivity”, that won first place in poster competitions
of both the Society of Women Engineers and the Drexel Freshman IEEE. This inspired her to join IEEE, where she
served as the outreach chair for one year followed by being elected President of the Student Branch. Savannah
earned the IEEE Section Leader Scholarship, third place in the IEEE Undergraduate Paper Contest, and first place
in the SAC Ethics Competition. She co-founded and organized the first student-run hackathon at Drexel, Dragonhacks, with over 500 participants. She hosts STEM events for over one hundred middle school students. She
serves over 500 members by planning numerous IEEE technical and non-technical events, and also serves as a
mentor for Women in Computer Science. Savannah completed two co-ops as a Hardware Engineer at Woodward
McCoach and a Mission Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin. She was recently awarded the Alan Kirsch Award,
Larry K Wilson Award, and the ECE Department Award for her leadership. For the 2015-16 and 2016-17 year she
was awarded the Lillian Moller Gilbreth Memorial scholarship from Society of Women Engineers. In her free time, Savannah volunteers on the Mother-Infant Floor at Cooper Hospital and is a Resident Assistant at Drexel University
for freshman halls. She enjoys camping, hiking, kayaking and spending time with her two Labrador Retrievers and
her family.
Rishiraj B Mathur Drexel University, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics
Rishiraj is a graduating senior B.S. student studying Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics. He has been part of the NASA RASC-AL forum of 2015 and led the team for Drexel to present their ideas pertaining to Earth independent habitats and Mars colonization. He has also done research on Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with the Drexel Smart House and is currently redesigning the structure of the Drexel Ride, a motion simulator housed at Drexel University, to expand it's usability for research and education.
Krzysztof W Mazur Drexel University, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics
Jay J. Bhatt Drexel University
Jay Bhatt is responsible for building library collections in engineering subject areas, outreach to faculty and students, and teaching information and research skills to faculty and students in Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and related subject areas. He provides individual and small group consultations to students, instructional sessions to specific classes, online research support in both face to face and distance learning programs, and conducts workshops for specialized research areas. Jay is actively involved with the Engineering Libraries Division of the American Society for Engineering Education
Christopher A. Badurek
Drexel University
orcid.org/0000-0001-5741-4333
Earth and Natural Sciences Liaison, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Matthew Morton Knovel at Elsevier
As Customer Engagament manager at Elsevier, Matthew Morton developed the digital user experience and go to market launch of the 2015 Knovel Academic Challenge. Prior to the fall launch, Matthew put in place a partnership with Drexel to build out problem sets for the Challenge.
Abstract
Academic librarians have launched multiple efforts to address 21st century information literacy needs of students and faculty, such as the usage of databases. Despite these efforts, undergraduate students remain largely unfamiliar with their usage. Knovel (recently acquired by Elsevier) provides an online library of engineering-focused content, serving more than 700 customers worldwide, including over 400 universities. The Knovel Academic Challenge is a global game designed to highlight key features of the Knovel Academic Collection, which includes 3500 reference items and 90,000 interactive tables, graphs, and equations. In this work, we investigate how online games can be used to promote database literacy. In previous years, challenge questions were comprised of interactive equation references, unit conversions, derivatives, and periodic table lookups. For the Fall 2015 challenge, a committee of students at Drexel University developed a brand new set of questions based on contemporary engineering grand challenges. To generate on campus engagement in the challenge, we organized hackathon-inspired “Knovel marathon” nights in which undergraduate and graduate students solved the challenge, the vast majority of them using Knovel for the first time. We observed high levels of engagement and enthusiasm during the marathon, demonstrating how games can be used to demonstrate key functionalities of databases and library resources, and their application to academic research workflows.
Christe, D., & Lee, S., & Mathur, R. B., & Mazur, K. W., & Bhatt, J. J., & Badurek, C. A., & Morton, M. (2016, June), A Game-based Learning Approach to Information Literacy: Knovel Global Academic Challenge Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26324
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