Purpose & Goals

The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Library has distributed a biennial survey since 2016 to identify users’ needs and demonstrate the library’s impact on students’ academic success. The findings over the years have consistently shown that students’ library use was associated with their GPA; however, directions of the relationships varied by physical library and online library use; there were negative relationships between physical library visits and GPA, whereas there was a positive correlation between student online library use and GPA. As part of a part of a federally funded two-year research project (LG-252338-OLS-22) to better understand the underlying variables contributing to these findings, two library assessment tools were developed (Student Academic Engagement and Success Survey & an 8 week of Online Weekly Journal) and piloted in Spring 2023. The surveys were developed to explore students’ self-regulation, academic engagement and library use, and its relationship with student success and students’ own definition of success. This poster reports on the preliminary data from the first year of the study, focusing on campus engagement, the reasons why students use the physical library building and online library website, the reasons why they do not use the library, and factors affecting their academic engagement.

Design & Methodology

The Student Academic Engagement and Success Survey (Survey 1) was designed to capture students’ reported utilization of campus resources like the writing center, cultural centers, print or online library resources, and use of the physical library. The survey further explores reasons for using or not using library facilities and websites, and it investigates students' perceptions of their behavior regulation and personal definitions of academic success. It was distributed in January 2023 to a random sample of 25% of the undergraduate students at the UIC. Out of 4,870 students, 426 students responded (9% response rate). In addition, 77 students agreed to participate in an online weekly journal survey, which captured their engagement activities over an 8-week period (March to May 2023), including the frequency of their physical and online library use and enquired as to what factors affected their academic work (e.g. missing classes, not completing assignments). Student responses were analyzed using SPSS. Although both surveys captured students’ engagement activities, Survey 1 captured the students’ responses retrospectively from the past semester, while the online weekly journal captured their responses based on their activities each week, over 8 weeks. Campus engagement questions captured frequency of visits to various campus units such as the library, online library use, academic support services, cultural centers, student organization events, and the writing center. Physical library activities captured reasons visiting the library including studying/ homework, computer use, attending online class) and non-school activities (e.g. job interview), praying/ meditation, collaborative studying/homework. Online library website activities that were captured included accessing Libguides, checking library hours, chatting with librarian, consultations, database searching for journal articles, request library materials (ILL), and reserve study room.

Findings

Based on Survey 1, the library (both physical and online) was the top academic engagement resource students utilized, followed by academic support services and student organization events. Findings were similar for the online weekly journal, although student organization events were attended more frequently than academic support services. Based on Survey 1, the top reasons students reported using the library were studying/ assignments, and computer use. The third and fourth common reasons for using the library were not academically related: "taking a break" and "meeting friends." Based on the online weekly journals, the primary reasons were studying, breaks, and computer use, followed by meeting with friends. For both surveys, the top reasons for students using the library website were searching databases for journal articles and searching databases for books, followed by using Libguides. However, there were students who reported never using the physical library (20%) or the library website/ online library resources (21%), and they were asked “why?” The primary reasons for not using the physical library included: other study space on campus, studying at home/ residence hall, other study space off campus, not needing library materials for coursework, or material needed was online. Students’ reasons for not using the library website included: not needing library materials/ resources for coursework, finding what they needed on Google, and not knowing how to search online resources. In addition to capturing students’ campus engagement, the online weekly journal also captured what affected their engagement. The top three factors affecting their academic experience included: stress, social media, friendships/socializing over the 8-week period.

Action & Impact

These findings were used to modify the surveys for future distribution. The revised surveys will be distributed at two academic institutions in Spring 2024. The survey instruments will be made available after the completion of the study at the project’s website (Summer 2024).

Practical Implications & Value

The findings of this study highlight the importance of the library within that engagement in terms of both academic and non-academic activities. The library plays a pivotal role in students’ overall academic engagement with the physical library and the library’s online resources being the top two most frequently utilized campus resources. While students go to the library to engage in academic activities such as studying, they also use the library for non-academic reasons such as socializing and taking a break, and other variables such as stress impact their academic engagement. Better understanding how these variables relate with the students’ own perceptions of success and success as measured by GPA, may highlight factors to address when supporting student success. Several reasons exist for non-library use and further action is needed, particularly for those who do not access the online resources because they do not know how to search.