Library and Information Science Commons^™

Developing Students' Information And Research Skills Via Blackboard, Jacqui Weetman Dacosta, Becky Jones

Communications in Information Literacy

This paper summarizes work undertaken at De Montfort University (Leicester, UK) to develop students' information and research skills using the Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment. It outlines how a traditionally delivered and assessed program was reviewed and revised in order to produce a blended learning experience for students. The librarians involved undertook this project with students from the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences during March/April 2005, teaching two groups in parallel--one group using Blackboard and another using the traditional teaching method. Both groups were given a diagnostic evaluation to gauge their confidence levels with both information skills and using Blackboard, …