Can Library Research Be Fun? Using Games for Information Literacy Instruction in Higher Education

Georgia Library Quarterly Volume 53 Issue 3 Summer 2016 Article 7 7-1-2016 Can Library Research Be Fun? Using Games for Information Literacy Instruction in Higher Education Jennifer Young Emory University, Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/glq Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Library and Information Science Commons, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons Recommended Citation Young, Jennifer (2016) "Can Library Research Be Fun? Using Games for Information Literacy Instruction in Higher Education," Georgia Library Quarterly: Vol. 53 : Iss. 3 , Article 7. Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/glq/vol53/iss3/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Georgia Library Quarterly by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contact . Young: Can Libraries Be Fun? Can Library Research Be Fun? Using Games for Information Literacy Instruction in Higher Education By Jennifer Young The basic makeup of any game consists of four components: a goal, a set of rules, a feedback system, and voluntary participation. As the late philosopher Bernard Suits described it, “Playing a game is the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles” (McGonigal 2011, 22). Games are challenging, social, meaningful, and rewarding, and gaming can enhance the learning experience of students in classrooms and libraries. Gamification, a relative of gaming, is the use of game elements in a non-gaming context. The term was coined in 2008 but was not widely used until 2010 (McGonigal 2011). Gamification involves making an activity into a game that normally wouldn’t be a game, using game mechanics, aesthetics, and modes of thinking. Both games and gamification have been applied for educational purposes from preschool all the way through higher education. They have proven to be useful in education to engage and motivate learners and build problem-solving skills. The use of games and gamification for educational purposes in academic libraries is a relatively new concept. Applications have included bibliographic instruction activities and classroom research assignments. While games of all types have been implemented in libraries, virtual and virtual-reality hybrid games have notably been a growing mode of choice for library games in academic settings. As with other applications of gaming in education, the focus of games created for education in libraries is on learning objectives. These goals are integrated into the structure of the game (Margino 2013). Published by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University, 2016 The goals of bibliographic instruction and library-based classroom assignments include educating students on how to locate appropriate resources and increasing awareness of how to determine the value of information (Association of College and Research Libraries 2000). Game play is an ideal strategy for achieving these goals, as gameplaying appeals to modern students, increases motivation, allows for socializing, and gives context to the learning material. Games can aid in meeting all four of the Information Literacy Standards established by the Association of College and Research Libraries (Nicholson 2009). Through gaming elements, academic libraries can enhance the user experience by giving students meaningful, satisfying work and catering to their learning styles and information-seeking behaviors. Though posing some limitations in an educational setting, games and gamification have the potential to improve student engagement and significantly increase positive learning. Why play games in library instruction? Motivating students to learn, especially in topics that do not initially interest them, is a challenge for all educators and specifically for library instructors. According to the New Media Consortium Horizon Project: 2013 Higher Education Edition, games can be used in educational contexts to reinforce the application of skills and knowledge in the real world (Johnson et al. 2013). In their wide and varied application, games “can help with new skill acquisition while boosting motivation to learn” (22) and significantly increase positive 1 Georgia Library Quarterly, Vol. 53, Iss. 3 [2016], Art. 7 learning over traditional lecture-based instruction (Broussard 2012). In libraries, games have already proven to be a successful venture beyond the typical instructional toolkit. Game-playing in library instruction and research-based classroom activities “presents a solution to facilitating students’ engagement with instruction content, self-discovery of information, and learning through trial and error” (Margino 2013, 335). Because games “emphasize continual improvement of skills” (Broussard 2014, 30), they are particularly effective in library instruction, which focuses on processes and skills over content. In a video produced by Nicholson (2009), Paul Waelchli, now library director at Cornell College, describes how virtual games align with the first four Information Literacy Standards established by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Modern students in higher education are among the most prolific video game players in the United States, which makes them a target group for applications of gaming in education. Approximately one-third of game players are graduate or undergraduate students (Sirigos 2014). However, game players are not just young people; the average age of game players is thirty-one (McGonigal 2011). With games, there is a potential to enhance the learning experience for students of all ages. Traditional undergraduate and graduate students hail from the “me” generation, meaning they are focused on how the world impacts them and what gains they can achieve. For this reason, Millennials seek context in their learning environment; they want to know why they need to know something and have little patience for instruction that does not appear to benefit them. The Millennial generation “bores easily” (Sirigos 2014, 10), wants instant feedback and gratification, is comfortable with technology, and prefers classroom activities that provide interaction and socializing. Game elements cater to these characteristics and offer a unique opportunity for educators to meet the specific psychological and pedagogical needs of these students (Sirigos 2014). With respect to the library, higher education students have strong and sometimes critical opinions of their libraries. According to a 2010 OCLC report on perceptions of libraries, “college students feel that search engines trump (Association of College and Research Libraries 2000; Nicholson 2009) https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/glq/vol53/iss3/7 2 Young: Can Libraries Be Fun? libraries for speed, convenience, reliability, and ease of use” (54), yet 43 per (...truncated)