Intern Questionnaire

I am posting the questionnaire that I have developed for the Reference Interns and which I am using for the analysis component of this study. The questionnaire is comprised of three parts. The first is a cover letter explaining why I am asking the interns for their help, the second has questions that will be used for the analysis in my Needs Assessment, while the third is aimed at gathering information to be used in the Learner/Contextual Analysis component of this project. I am hoping to have the questionnaires back by Saturday 9/29/2007.
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Intern Questionnaire
-- Reference Chat --

Fellow Reference Interns,

This questionnaire has been designed to help me gather information for a Needs Assessment that I’m doing for my Instructional Design class. My project is to work on developing an instructional tool for teaching Reference chat to Reference Department Interns. I decided to design an instruction tool specifically for the Interns because I felt that it would be fairly easy to collect data. I am hoping that you, all current Reference Interns, will be able to help by answering a few questions for me. There are two parts to this questionnaire. The first part addresses the performance goals that I have established for this project, and the second has been designed to obtain general information on the learners that the instruction is aimed at (you guys.) If you could get these back to me by Saturday this week that would be amazing. You can just answer on the downloaded questionnaire, save it with changes and send it back to me in an attachment. I will also put a folder at the Reference desk in case you would rather just print it out and fill it out by hand. I will put my name on the outside of the folder. I don’t think it will take very long for you to fill this out, and it will be very helpful to me to have your input! No names will be used on my blog or in my project, just the data that I collect. You can follow the work that I’m doing on this project at http://christiesidblog.blogspot.com/. The blog explains the project much better than this letter.

Thanks, Christie Peters
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Performance Goals

1) The following list of performance goals have been identified for Intern Reference chat instruction. Please prioritize these goals in order of importance as perceived by you, with 1 being the most important and 5 being the least.

· To understand how to log into both versions of Reference chat service used by Jackson Library, Velaro and Trillian ___
· To be well versed in Reference chat etiquette ___
· To be well informed about the tools available to the intern/librarian from the Reference chat services ___
· To understand how to prioritize Reference chat questions in relation to other Reference intern responsibilities ___
· To be comfortable using the Reference chat service ___


2) The same 5 performance goals are listed below. Based on the instruction that you have received on how to use Reference chat during your intern training, please mark how well you feel the training achieved the goal, with 1 being not at all and 10 being perfectly.

· To understand how to log into both versions of Reference chat service used by Jackson Library, Velaro and Trillian ___
· To be well versed in Reference chat etiquette ___
· To be well informed about the tools available to the intern/librarian from the Reference chat services ___
· To understand how to prioritize Reference chat questions in relation to other Reference intern responsibilities ___
· To be comfortable using the Reference chat service ___


3) Are there any performance goals that you feel are important regarding Reference chat instruction that have not been listed above? If so please list the and tell me where you would place it in the prioritization and how well you feel this goal was achieved during your training session.

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Learner and Contextual Data

General Group Characteristics

1 – What is your age? _____

2 – What is your gender? _____

3 – What is the highest degree that you earned prior to enrollment in the MLIS program? _____

Prior Knowledge

4 – Have you ever worked at a Reference desk at another library? ­­_____

5 – If you answered yes to the last question, did you ever use a Reference chat service while working in this Reference Department? _____

6 – Have you ever used a Reference chat service in another setting prior to the instruction in Reference chat that you received during your Intern training? _____

7 – Did you have experience using an instant messaging service prior to becoming an intern at Jackson Library? _____

General Learning Preferences

8 – How do you feel you learn best? (check one)
a) visual
b) auditory
c) experiential

Perceived Importance of Instruction

9 – How important do you feel it is that you receive adequate instruction in Reference chat prior to your being required to use it in an actual Reference setting with a patron, on a scale of 1 to 10? _____

10 – How well prepared did you feel after receiving your training in Reference chat, on a scale of 1 to 10? _____

A Needs Assessment for Reference intern training in Reference chat

1 - The needs assessment model that I chose for this project is the James Popham Model. I chose this particular model for two primary reasons. First, there are only 9 interns in the Reference Department, and they are all highly educated. The fact that this model uses a questionnaire is appealing because the current interns can contribute to the development of the instruction. In addition to having been through the Reference chat training for interns, such as it is now, most of these students have been in the classroom either as a teacher or a student for a very long time. As such, they may have valuable insights into ways that can make the instruction better. This seems to be a much more reasonable approach than me developing the instruction without their input. Second, this instruction is geared towards a very specific activity. The other needs assessment models that we have looked at seem to be geared more towards developing entire curriculums or working with younger students.

2 - Performance Goals
a) To understand how to log into both versions of Reference chat service used in Jackson
Library, Velaro and Trillian.
b) To be well-versed in Reference chat etiquette.
c) To be well informed about the tools available to the intern/librarian from the Reference chat services.
d) To understand how to prioritize Reference chat questions in relation to other Reference intern responsibilities.
e) To be comfortable using the Reference chat service.

3 - A questionnaire will be developed and distributed among the current Reference interns at Jackson Library. This questionnaire will address all relevant objectives. It will be comprised of three different parts. The first two parts of the questionnaire will be quantitative. The first will list the performance goals listed above and the interns will be asked to rank them in order of their perceived importance. The second part will list the same performance objectives with a scale from 1-10. The interns will be asked to assess how well the training that they have received in Reference chat helped them achieve each objective. Because the current interns have already had a training session in Reference chat, they should be ideally suited to respond to this these questions. The third part of the questionnaire is qualitative. In this section, all performance objectives will be listed and the interns will be asked if there is anything that they think is important to note about that objective that may help in designing this instructional tool. They will also be asked if there are any additional performance goals that they feel should be added to the list.

4 - At this point in the process, the needs all appear to be instructional. The interns that this instruction is aimed at will have no experience in Reference chat. Only through instructional intervention will they gain this skill. There are no obvious areas for improvement in which non-instructional intervention would be helpful.

5 - The learning environment is very relaxed. Interns have a one hour training session every week of the semester, barring holidays, etc. Each week there is a different topic. Reference chat was one of the sessions. Usually an assignment is given to the interns at the end of the session and they have a week to complete the assignment. There was, however, no assignment given for the Reference chat session.

6 - At present, there is one intern coordinator in the Reference Department. He is responsible for the initial 10 hour orientation training. Once the basics are covered, however, he has different subject liaisons in the Reference Department teach a training session on their particular field. Reference chat fell into the realm of orientation training. It is unlikely that anyone else would assume that responsibility unless they took over the position of intern coordinator.

7 - There is no existing curricula for Reference chat instruction being used at Jackson Library currently. The instruction this semester consisted of interns going up to the front computer in the training room and answering Reference chat questions that were being asked by a Reference librarian downstairs. These questions were based on real questions that had come through the department since the service has been in place. The instructor helped if needed, but he let the intern try to answer the question the best that he or she could using the information they had learned during other training sessions. The other interns could offer suggestions.

8 - The intern training usually takes place in a library staff training room on the 7th floor of Jackson Library. The room is equipped with approximately 10 computer stations, with one computer in front for the instructor. There is an overhead projector that can display the instructor’s computer screen.

9 - There is one central reference desk with a computer. This desk is, in essence, a podium at which the librarian/intern sits. There is a lower desk behind the podium. This also has a computer. All other staff computers are located inside the Reference Department office. When an intern is working, they usually sit at the podium. If a librarian is on duty at the same time, they generally sit at the lower desk and let the intern handle all of the questions, unless volume picks up and they need to help or the intern needs assistance. During the day, someone in the Reference office typically answers all Reference chat questions. At night, however, and on the weekends, the intern on duty answers the reference chat questions. The intern coordinator schedules the interns in such a way that every intern has duty at times when they are alone and responsible for handling Reference chat questions, along with all other.

10 - This instruction will take place is the training room on the 7th floor of Jackson Library.

11 - The mission statement for the Reference Department is:

Services and Collections:
· Provide expert reference and information service to all library users regardless of location.
· Provide an inviting and welcoming environment for learning and research.
· Provide leadership in developing increasingly effective reference collections in all formats
to guide patrons through a variety of research processes.
· Provide leadership in Library-related activities by serving as liaisons.
· Develop the Libraries' collection to support the teaching and research needs of the
University.

Instruction:
· Provide instruction in the retrieval and use of information resources to groups and
individuals.
· Take initiative to target classes/groups for instruction.
· Develop techniques and modes of instruction delivery taking into account different
learning styles, location of users, and current technologies.

Organizational Climate and Culture:
· Treat all patrons with respect and courtesy
· Treat all colleagues with respect, encouragement, and a supportive attitude.
· Collaborate and communicate with colleagues to fulfill Library goals
· Constantly seek to expand professional knowledge and expertise

12 - The learners for which this instructional tool is being developed are new Reference Department interns. These interns have no previous experience using a reference chat service. Current learners are being used to help develop the instruction.

What I want out of this ID class

My goal, when I graduate with my MLIS, is become an Emerging Technology/Information Services Librarian. I am taking Instructional Design because the role of the librarian is changing in such a way that instruction is a regular part of the job description in libraries of all types. I am hoping that this class will make me more marketable when I begin looking for jobs.

Because I'm doing a practicum in the Reference Department this semester, I would like to do my big instructional design project on a Reference related instructional problem. I'm not really sure how to go about this though. I'm hoping that we will get a little more instruction on that front before I have to commit to an actual project. The technology aspect of this class scares me a little bit, but I have to admit that learning about some of the technology out there has been exciting. That has been an unexpected benefit to taking this class.