Active Learning Works! Until it Doesn't: Measuring the Effectiveness of Activity-Based Learning Exercises on Information Anxiety

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study served to investigate how information literacy instruction can alleviate information anxiety in online learners. While there has been much research to demonstrate that hands-on or activity-based learning is beneficial in reducing library anxiety, those studies have not been conducted for the online classroom. Using a required, first-semester course in the University of Southern California's School of Social Work online program, this study hypothesized that activity-based online library instruction sessions will result in a measurable reduction of information anxiety. Using a pre- and post-session survey instrument, this study discovered that activity-based instruction for online students may not be as effective in reducing information anxiety as previous research suggested.