Scavenger Hunt Research Articles

Low-Tech Scavenger Hunt Model for Student Orientation

ABSTRACTScavenger hunts are an effective, fun way of orienting new students to the library. The low-tech nature and small scale of the scavenger hunt program described here might be more suitable for health sciences libraries than other models, particularly for libraries with small staffs. This model also includes a unique optional element useful for library marketing. This article describes the methods used, shares reactions of program participants, and provides suggestions for those considering orienting students in this way.

Milestones for medical students completing a clinical genetics elective.

We are not aware of any competency-based evaluation method that is specifically designed for a genetics elective for medical students. Here, we aimed to create a milestone template to improve evaluation and to use the feedback from the template to improve the elective. Through an iterative process using feedback from eight medical students and eight attendings, we crafted a milestone template for the medical student genetics rotation. A "scavenger hunt" of activities was developed to address several gaps discovered through this process. All participants felt that the milestone template was complete for the student level and that it improved evaluation. In response to faculty feedback, we modified the evaluation process such that several evaluators rated students in only selected domains. Scavenger hunt activities were designed to address five domains that the students reported to be inadequately covered. Developing a milestone template has taken us a step closer to meaningful assessment of students completing the genetics elective and simultaneously allowed us to strengthen the elective. Meaningful elective experiences in genetics that provide individual feedback within a learner-centered assessment of progress and flexible out-of-classroom activities may contribute to lifelong learning and interest in genetics and genomics.Genet Med 19 2, 236-239.

Library Lights Out

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and implementation of Library Lights Out, an annual collaboration between the library and Housing & Residential Life at Eastern Washington University (EWU). This creative outreach program features collaborative educational and recreational activities, is a cost-sharing partnership and serves to further the organizational goals of both the library and Housing & Residential Life. Design/methodology/approach The John F. Kennedy Library at EWU was initially approached by Housing & Residential Life with the idea for an overnight event in the library, which became Library Lights Out. Student participants in this event spend the night in the library and participate in a variety of educational, team-building and fun programs, such as a library resources scavenger hunt and “capture the flag” in the library stacks. Library Lights Out has become an annual event funded primarily by Housing & Residential Life, facilitated by the library and driven by students. Findings Library Lights Out has been a successful partnership that benefits the library, students and Housing & Residential Life. Originality/value This paper adds to the limited body of literature on academic library outreach to residence halls by highlighting three unique aspects of Library Lights Out. First, it is a cost-sharing partnership which was initiated by Housing & Residential Life and not by the library. Second, it occurs in the library and not in the residence halls, unlike most library outreach to residence halls. Finally, it is an overnight sleepover event with a combination of an educational program and recreational activities and games.

¡Miranos! (Look at Us! We Are Healthy!): Home-Based and Parent Peer-Led Childhood Obesity Prevention.

Parent interventions for childhood obesity prevention have traditionally experienced low participation rates or used passive methods such as newsletters. In contrast, the ¡Miranos! intervention home-based activities included parent-led face-to-face meetings delivered after school, take-home bags with educational materials, and scavenger hunt games to deliver health information to Head Start families regarding nutrition, physical activity, and healthy growth promotion for their preschooler. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with three intervention centers (two that received only center-based activities and one that received center- and home-based activities) and one comparison center. Data were collected on participating Head Start children and their parents/guardians and included parent attendance, parent health message recall through intercept interviews, parent knowledge through pre- and posttests, and family supportive behaviors and child health behaviors through a parent questionnaire. Parents/guardians that received both center- and home-based activities significantly increased knowledge scores (t = 2.50, degrees of freedom = 123, p < .05) and family supportive behaviors from baseline to follow-up (t = 2.12, degrees of freedom = 122, p < .05). This study demonstrates the effects home-based interventions can have when coupled with center-based activities and implemented in the center at the end of the school day.

Contraceptives Scavenger Hunt: An Example of Experiential Learning in a Sexual and Reproductive Health College Class

Teaching sexual and reproductive health in general, and contraceptives in particular, presents instructors with diverse challenges. While instructors need to cover textbook concepts, the classroom setting does not offer much context for a significant, experiential learning opportunity. We have developed and implemented a Contraceptives Scavenger Hunt assignment, designed to facilitate experiential learning and put class concepts into real-life context. Students were provided with three groups of sexual and reproductive health items that were discussed in class (contraceptives for males, contraceptives for females, and other interesting items). They had to choose one item from each group and hunt for it in local stores, pharmacies, sex shops, and so on. They reported on their overall experience and identified barriers they would not have thought of in class (e.g., transportation, cost, ease of access). Variations to this activity, its implications for experiential learning, challenges to its implementation, and its impact on student learning outcomes were discussed.

Fit to last: Exploring the longevity of the survival processing effect.

Mounting evidence indicates that processing items for their survival value produces superior recall compared to a number of other well-known memory-enhancing techniques, and that this mnemonic advantage remains up to 48 hours after encoding (Raymaekers et al., 2014 ). However, little attention has been dedicated to the survival processing effect in location memory, which may represent a better test of adaptive memory than retrieval of verbal information. The current study aims to fill this gap by exploring the longevity of the survival processing effect with both word list (Experiment 1) and location-based (Experiment 2) stimuli. Participants rated target items using a single incidental encoding scenario, either Survival versus Pleasantness (word stimuli) or Survival versus Scavenger Hunt (location stimuli). They were then asked to complete a surprise recall task immediately after the ratings and a second recall task 96 hours later. The results demonstrated that, despite a general reduction in memory performance across time, the survival processing advantage was detected at both test times for both stimuli types. These findings provide further support for the survival processing effect and extend the observed effect duration for both word lists and location to 96 hours.

Crowdsourcing for Context: Regarding Privacy in Beacon Encounters via Contextual Integrity

Abstract Research shows that context is important to the privacy perceptions associated with technology. With Bluetooth Low Energy beacons, one of the latest technologies for providing proximity and indoor tracking, the current identifiers that characterize a beacon are not sufficient for ordinary users to make informed privacy decisions about the location information that could be shared. One solution would be to have standardized category and privacy labels, produced by beacon providers or an independent third-party. An alternative solution is to find an approach driven by users, for users. In this paper, we propose a novel crowdsourcing based approach to introduce elements of context in beacon encounters.We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach through a user study, where participants use a crowd-based mobile app designed to collect beacon category and privacy information as a scavenger hunt game. Results show that our approach was effective in helping users label beacons according to the specific context of a given beacon encounter, as well as the privacy perceptions associated with it. This labeling was done with an accuracy of 92%, and with an acceptance rate of 82% of all recommended crowd labels. Lastly, we conclusively show how crowdsourcing for context can be used towards a user-centric framework for privacy management during beacon encounters.

The Effect of a Summer Camp Intervention on the Nutrition Knowledge and Dietary Behavior of Adolescent Girls.

The purpose of this study was to design a rewards-based nutrition intervention program to improve knowledge and dietary behaviors of adolescent girls. Our participants consisted of eight girls ages 11 to 13 years. Nutritional knowledge was assessed before and after intervention program through a "Jeopardy" style quiz game and posttest questionnaires. Participants were also interviewed throughout the week about typical dietary behaviors, daily physical activity, and self-esteem. Educational activities took place for 2 to 3 hours each day and included a grocery store scavenger hunt, healthy baking demonstrations, and relay races. Participants received bracelets and charms as rewards for participation in activities. Nutritional knowledge increased for six out of eight participants, although the overall increase was not found to be statistically significant (p = .20). Significant correlations were found between measures including dietary behavior (soda consumption per week and perceived importance of body weight: r = -.827, p = .01), self-esteem (weight and endurance: r = .801, p = .03), and fitness levels (weight and curl-ups completed in 30 seconds: r = -.729, p = .04). This study shows promising evidence that this nutrition education intervention could be effective at increasing nutrition knowledge, thus potentially affecting future dietary behaviors of adolescent girls.

Building a scalable mobile library orientation activity with Edventure Builder

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the technical aspects of using the Edventure Builder platform to create UC San Diego’s scalable, interactive, online library orientation activity, which was designed for the university’s new First Year Experience program. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines a case study using a successive approximation model for the build process of a mobile library scavenger hunt. Findings – The Edventure Builder software is intuitive, scalable and provides a variety of options to users, including flexibility in question format, a WYSIWYG interface, and branching logic. The main limitation is that analytics is still in beta testing and users must request that data be sent in an Excel spreadsheet via e-mail. Originality/value – This paper is of interest to information professionals who would like to create a mobile library orientation activity using the Edventure Builder platform.

Enhancing Prelicensure Nursing Students' Use of an Electronic Health Record

BackgroundNursing students must develop competency in the use of electronic health records (EHRs). This pilot investigates the impact of using a simulated EHR during high-fidelity human simulation. MethodPrelicensure students were evaluated pre- and postsimulation on accuracy and time to complete an EHR-based scavenger hunt. Focus groups evaluated student perception of the experience. ResultsNavigation time improved significantly (p < .0001) without decline in accuracy (p = .141). Student focus group comments support movement in level of proficiency from novice to competent. ConclusionIntegration of a simulated EHR into high-fidelity simulation improves student speed while maintaining accuracy in the utilization of health care technologies.

Using Scavenger Hunts to Familiarize Students with Scientific Journal Articles.

Primary scientific literature can be difficult to navigate for anyone unfamiliar with its foreign, formal structure. We sought to create a fun, easy learning tool to help familiarize students of all ages with the structure of a scientific article. Our main learning objective was for the student to realize that science writing is formulaic—that specific information is found in predictable locations within an article—and that, with an understanding of the formula, anyone can comfortably navigate any journal article and accurately predict what to expect to find in each section. To this end, we designed a Journal Article Scavenger Hunt that requires the user to find and identify a series of commonplace features of a primary research article. The scavenger hunt activity is quick and easy to implement, and is adaptable to various ages and settings, including the classroom, lab, and at outreach events. The questions in the scavenger hunt can be scaled in difficulty and specificity to suit the instructor’s needs. Over many years of using this activity, we have received positive feedback from students of all ages, from elementary school students to lay adult-learners as well as science teachers themselves. By making the unknown seem predictable and approachable, the scavenger hunt helps a variety of audiences feel more comfortable with science and more confident in their ability to engage directly with the scientific literature. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education

Safe labs for science: An interactive approach to safety training

Safe working in Chemistry involves critical analysis, interactive thinking and the evolving application of risk assessment to procedure, reagent and environment. It also requires cooperation and teamwork. These are transferable skills that all scientists should possess, but safety training is too often presented to undergraduate students as a set of rules with little rationale offered to justify them. Attempts to go beyond a set of rules are frequently perceived by students and academics as tedious if not outright boring – however necessary they may be. We describe the first stages of development of a safety training component for mainstream Chemistry courses that will allow students to identify safe and unsafe practices, undertake formal risk assessment, and enable them to improve the safety of their own environment. Our starting point is a Safety Training Workshop for our own 3rd year undergraduates, including case studies, a (competitive) team exercise (a lab ‘scavenger hunt’) and electronic self-testing, designed to alleviate the tedium. They also emphasise the cooperative nature of safe working and encourage teamwork – aspects which are normally neglected in degree programmes in Science. We also report on the positive student response.

The Luminescent Lunchbox: Translating Research on Edible GRAS Probes into an Educational Kit in Photophysics

Current research on generally recognized as safe (GRAS) luminescent food components can be used as an effective tool to explain the electromagnetic spectrum and its use in luminescence spectroscopy to elementary and middle school students.This project translates our research on food fluorescence into an educational kit, the “Luminescent Lunchbox”, with instructions and supplies necessary to conduct four photophysical-related activities:1-“Light Show”: students explore the concepts of energy, frequency, and wavelength by measuring the temperature of different colored LEDs whose irradiance wavelength was characterized at a reference lab. Students interpret results to establish the inverse correlation between wavelength and temperature.2-“Fluorescent Food Scavenger Hunt”: students are introduced to fluorescence and its extensive occurrence in biological samples by photo-exciting selected foods and observing their fluorescence emission. They are also encouraged to further explore food fluorescence through a scavenger hunt for luminescent foods in their own homes and report findings on a citizen science website.3-“Rainbow Ghosts”: students are provided with instructions and materials to build a simple spectrofluorometer out of a diffraction grating, LED lights and a common camera phone. Upon photoexcitation of a food or material with a LED light, the emission can be characterized using the cell phone. The predominant colors in the spectrum that appear on the cell phone screen correspond to the fluorescence emission band of the samples.4-“Shine Refine”: the spectra observed in the previous activity are enhanced by using gelatin-cast absorptive filters. The utilization of properly selected filters allows the student to obtain sharper spectra of the food samples, effectively eliminating the contribution of the light source.The “Luminescent Lunchbox” educational kit aims to help students understand the conditions, applications, and limitations of luminescence in the context of scientific research.

Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh (review)

Reviewed by: Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh Alaine Martaus McIntosh, Will Burning Midnight. Delacorte, 2016 [320p] Library ed. ISBN 978-0-553-53412-2 $20.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-553-53410-8 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-553-53411-5 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7-10 Ever since thousands of mysterious colored spheres suddenly appeared around the globe, the world’s economy has revolved around the dwindling supply of these seemingly magical marbles. Seventeen-year-old David “Sully” Sullivan trades these marbles at a local Yonkers flea market, and he’s intrigued when beautiful seventeen-year-old Hunter appears with a rare trade and a natural talent for finding the most well-hidden spheres. Soon the two strike up a partnership, but even as Sully starts falling for Hunter, their friendship is strained by their discovery of a never-before-seen Gold. Rather than sell the priceless sphere, they hit the road, with friends in tow and a marble-hunting billionaire on their trail. With an inventive premise, this sci-fi adventure offers a scavenger hunt story with layers both political and emotional. The detailed backstory and underlying logic are clearly conveyed without dragging down the pace, and the plot manages to twist and surprise. The real strength of the narrative rests with the relationships, though, as old and new, romantic, familial, and platonic connections face tests and betrayals. Ultimately a winning story of friendship in the face of easy money and power, this novel has much to offer the reader who’s up for something new. Copyright © 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Creating an Engaging Library Orientation: First Year Experience Courses at University of California, San Diego

This article focuses on the development of an engaging library orientation module for UC San Diego First Year Experience (FYE) courses. The library module included a brief in-class presentation about research concepts and library services, an online interactive library scavenger hunt given as an in-class activity, and a homework assignment where students created public service announcements highlighting their favorite library space or resource. Over 400 FYE students completed the library module, and many indicated a marked increase in comfort using the library by the end of the module. Recommended practices are included for those wishing to create a similar module.

A tablet-based surrogate system architecture for "in-situ" evaluation of cyber-physical transport technologies

As advanced intelligent transportation systems become more prevalent with the use of cyber-physical systems, information and communications technologies, and Big Data, there is an increasing need to improve the process of technology evaluation. Existing procedures typically involve pure computer simulations followed by expensive and restricted field studies. We propose a more integrated solution: using mobile devices to mimic the algorithms within actual technologies so that advanced technological design alternatives can be cheaply evaluated on the field. A process architecture is developed for a tablet-based cyber-physical surrogate system. The tablet devices can mimic many equipment packages and can transmit data, location, text, and video between themselves and a central facility. Measures of effectiveness are identified for evaluating these surrogate systems in field trials. Three surrogate systems are implemented as field experiments conducted on the Ryerson University campus in Toronto, ON. The experiments? measures of effectiveness are deviation from a schedule, total process time, and person counts-applicable to many real world transportation problems. The experiments demonstrate how we can quantitatively measure these technologies from the field: an average improvement of 64% in cumulative schedule deviation for the Uniform Arrivals experiment, 27% in the total process time for the Scavenger Hunt experiment, but a poor mimic error when evaluating the LIVEGAUGE stationary sensor. An open-source online repository for these surrogate systems is created and discussed.

Estudo comparativo da metodologia ativa “gincana” nas modalidades presencial e à distância em curso de graduação de Farmácia

Introdução: O crescimento da educação a distância (EaD) no Brasil tem sido cada vez mais intenso, inclusive em cursos da saúde. Objetivos: Realizar análise comparativa da “Gincana” nas modalidades presencial e a distância. Em 2012, a “Gincana” foi desenvolvida a distância, sendo denominada “Gincana Virtual”. Métodos: Equipes foram formadas e tarefas eram formuladas e trocadas entre elas, sendo avaliadas a construção da tarefa, factibilidade, pertinência de conteúdo e resposta. A gincana foi aplicada na modalidade a distância no primeiro semestre 2012 (n=40) e presencial no segundo semestre do mesmo ano (n=42). Foi respondido um questionário final de avaliação, considerando: Metodologia, Material, Tarefas e Considerações. Ainda foi avaliado o desempenho entre as modalidades. Resultados: A “Gincana” apresentou diferença significativa, sendo preferida pelos alunos na modalidade presencial. Conforme os comentários dos alunos, o uso do Fórum síncrono como forma de interação é inovador, porém pode dificultar a interação e o dinamismo da atividade. Por outro lado, incentiva a participação da turma, devido ao fato da EaD diminuir a exposição do aluno. Houve um melhor desempenho acadêmico, na média, na modalidade presencial. Conclusão: As gincanas promovem um aumento da atenção e da concentração dos estudantes por conta da competição, portanto, a ferramenta de interação da “Gincana Virtual” deve ser interativa e dinâmica, assim como ocorre no presencial.

Radiology in Medical Education: A Pediatric Radiology Elective as a Template for Other Radiology Courses

PurposeTraditionally, the pediatric radiology elective for medical students and pediatric residents constituted a morning teaching session focused mainly on radiography and fluoroscopy. A more structured elective was desired to broaden the exposure to more imaging modalities, create a more uniform educational experience, and include assessment tools. MethodsIn 2012, an introductory e-mail and formal syllabus, including required reading assignments, were sent to participants before the start date. A rotating weekly schedule was expanded to include cross-sectional imaging (ultrasound, CT, MR) and nuclear medicine. The schedule could accommodate specific goals of the pediatric resident or medical student, as requested. Starting in 2013, an online pre-test and post-test were developed, as well as an online end-of-rotation survey specific to the pediatric radiology elective. Taking the Image Gently pledge was required. A scavenger hunt tool, cue cards, and electronic modules were added. ResultsPre-test and post-test scores, averaged over 2 years, showed improvement in radiology knowledge, with scores increasing by 27% for medical students and 21% for pediatric residents. Surveys at the end of the elective were overwhelmingly positive, with constructive criticism and complimentary comments. ConclusionsWe have successfully created an elective experience in radiology that dedicates time to education while preserving the workflow of radiologists. We have developed tools to provide a customized experience with many self-directed learning opportunities. Our tools and techniques are easily translatable to a general or adult radiology elective.

Empowering Residents

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether “The Deck Test,” a three-part examination consisting of an oral evaluation, a simulation of obstetric emergencies and a scavenger hunt, is a valuable and trusted tool in progressing a resident from direct to indirect supervision when managing the labor and delivery. METHODS: We conducted an institutional review board–exempt, anonymous survey. The survey was administered to faculty and residents. All survey questions used a visual analog scale (0–100 mm). Our primary outcome was to determine a supervisor's comfort with the residents' ability to manage labor and delivery both before and after passing The Deck Test. Secondary outcomes included the perceived value of the examination and the residents' self-assessment of their comfort before and after passing The Deck Test. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the data. RESULTS: The faculty, supervisory residents and junior residents each regard The Deck Test as a valuable tool (85.83, 92.35, 97.58, respectively). The survey determined that the comfort level faculty and supervisory residents have when allowing a junior resident to independently supervise labor and delivery increased significantly after passing The Deck Test (faculty, P=.0037; supervisory residents, P<.05). This was also found to be significant when the two groups are combined (P=.00048). Resident self-assessment of comfort level also increased significantly (P=.0051). CONCLUSION: The three-part Deck Test is a valuable and trusted tool in assessing a resident's preparedness to progress from direct to indirect supervision when managing labor and delivery.

Hunting for Knowledge: Using a Scavenger Hunt to Orient Graduate Veterinary Students.

Active participation in orientation is hoped to increase understanding and use of library resources and services beyond the effect of tours or welcome lectures. Timed scavenger hunts have been used to orient undergraduate and medical students to academic libraries. This report describes the planning, execution, and evaluation of an untimed iPod-documented scavenger hunt in 2012 for first-year graduate veterinary students, and the modification and execution of the hunt for new students in 2013. Findings about the hunt's utility as a learning opportunity, based on student participation, staff experiences, and student and staff perceptions, inform recommendations for the characteristics of a scavenger hunt that facilitates hands-on learning in the library while placing reasonable demands on library staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]