27 - Leveraging Google Forms to Promote Student Engagement in the Virtual Library Classroom

Background: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all medical school instruction transitioned to virtual. When moving an annual EndNote workshop for first-year medical students online, we realized that we needed a way to ensure that students were following along and engaged. This led to the conception of an interactive online form completed throughout the workshop, as well as an overhaul of the workshop’s learning objectives. Introducing a synchronous assessment tool allowed us to rethink the class itself and include an interactive component on academic integrity in addition to EndNote instruction.

Description: In order to realign our session with medical school priorities, as well as the ACRL Information Literacy Framework and the AAMC LCME Accreditation Standards, we developed new learning objectives. Our new learning objectives were designed to incorporate tangible academic integrity concepts and skills alongside reference management and EndNote-specific skills. Using Google forms, we created a form shared with students via the Zoom chat feature at the beginning of the session. Students were asked to keep the Google form, EndNote software, and Zoom software open on their computers for the duration of the one hour session. Students completed the Google form throughout the session, as each section of the form aligned with a specific learning objective. Form submissions were used to track attendance and assess student engagement with and understanding of session material.

Conclusion: All students that attended submitted their completed form within a few hours of the virtual session. Of the 107 students who submitted the form, 4 asked questions about EndNote functionality, and 1 student asked about library services. Students commented on the interactive nature as well as the usefulness of the content. While these statements were appreciated, we were most excited by the low number of questions about EndNote functionality (3.7% of all attendees). When these sessions were taught in person without a Google form or physical worksheet of any kind, a large portion of the class would have clarifying questions about EndNote. Therefore, we found that an interactive online form may increase engagement and retention during online instructional sessions.