Student centred active learning approach in an
online information literacy credit course for doctoral students
The University of Tartu Library in Estonia has been running online, credit bearing courses since 2006. For PhD level, there is an "introduction to information research" course. Information literacy is presented as a transferable skill and is a university wide elective subject. The course concentrates on effective information search and management, is conducted within Moodle, is available in both Estonian and English, and offers beginner to advanced options. It takes nine weeks to complete.
students thought the course should be compulsory - for lecturers too
good for getting rid of old/bad search habits
Information Literacy through Inquiry: Using
Problem-Based Learning in Information Literacy Instruction
One shot information literacy delivered in one hour.
Students
suffer from "I Already Know That" syndrome so need to challenge them.
To do this, Alan used modified problem based learning in a session that
was peer observed. Students had to get into groups of three - a seeker, a
scribe and a spokesperson. A research trigger was provided to drive the session - this could be anything relevant to the subject area. The presentation section provided an opportunity for reflection. It was about the process rather than the product. An energised atmosphere was observed in the room. Might be more POGIL (process oriented guided enquiry learning) rather than traditional PBL.
Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.
Eliot, T.S., The Waste Land, Project Gutenberg, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost, viewed 26 April 2012.
April is definitely not the cruelest month when you get to attend LILAC! By far the best conference I have ever attended. I've gained lots of inspiration for my work and my PG Cert. I also caught up with old friends and made new ones. Many thanks to the LILAC committee for all their hard work in organising this outstanding event!
Tara Brabazon gave LILAC 2012 a closing keynote speech that is sure to go down in history! Entitled Time for a digital detox? Building intellectual fitness we were treated to an energetic extavaganza, complete with music (name that tune!).
Tara set 4th year student the task of producing an annotated bibliography. They couldn't do this and gave up. They didn't have the required information literacy skills.
An Information Literacy course, with grades attached, should be made compulsory. The University of Wollongong do this with their programme Start Smart.
Answering the employability agenda:
multi-professional collaboration in an era of multiliteracies Kaye Towlson gave a very interesting talk about how learning developers and
librarians have collaborated at De Montfort University to deliver multiliteracies and
respond to the all important employability agenda.
Pre-induction/assessment - students sent link to interactive induction before arriving.
Provided lunchtime and twilight workshops during key promotion weeks e.g. targeting students when their first assignment was due. They want to encourage peer mentors to come back after graduation to explain importance of multiliteracies in the "real world" to current students.
Students often don't transfer skills, even across modules. They learn something for one area but then don't think to apply it to another area.
Employability module? Would need an authentic context and be run at the right time to make it meaningful.
Benefits of working together include the development of multiliteracies, flexibility and professional trust.
Lesson Study: Or, How We Learned to Stop Lecturing
and Let the Students Learn
Eric Jennings from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire spoke about how he and his colleagues collaborated to plan, observe and reflect on their lessons. They did this using a method called lesson study, which originated in Japan. An introduction to lesson study by Catherine Lewis, from Mills College in the US, is included in the short video below:
At UWEC, the library and faculty discussed what they wanted to get out of lesson study. Nine goals were identified but this would have been impossible to achieve in a one off 50 minute session. They therefore narrowed these down to more focused goals, including determining where to go for different types of resources and recognising & demonstrating the transferability of search skills (relates back to what Kaye said in the previous session).
First year students had to arrive at the information literacy session with a certain amount of prior knowledge, gained from having watched a video and doing some background research on a particular topic. I find it hard to imagine many of my students actually doing this! However, the collaborative nature of the project meant that faculty were fully engaged with the process and so made it clear to students that they must complete the pre-session tasks.
Active learning was a key feature of the session. Students had to pair up and search for their partner's topic. As students had already conducted their own search prior to the session, they could see how someone else might approach searching for the same topic. I think this kind of peer learning can be very effective. However, in the first session, it emerged that students didn't understand why they were searching for their partner's topic. When the findings were discussed as part of the lesson study process, the session was revised - broken into more discrete parts and further explanation of the partner topic search was provided.
Positive outcomes of lesson study:
Some of the advantages of having someone observe your lesson is that they can see if/when students lose interest, view the lesson from the students' perspective and get a feeling of the classroom dynamics.
Student led content leads to more relevant instruction.
Faculty and librarian collaboration - working together as peers, increased understanding of information literacy concepts by the faculty staff.
As part of the Postgraduate Certificate of Special Study in Supporting Learning which I am currently undertaking, I have recently been observed twice and observed a colleague's session. Although initially a scary prospect, I have found this to be one of the most valuable parts of the course.
The Road Map: an information literacy planning aid
Richenda Gwilt, who I worked with in my graduate trainee year, gave a talk about a new "framework" developed at the University for the Creative Arts. Her colleague, Kristy Widdicombe, was unfortunately unwell, so Richenda had to deliver both parts of the presentation. Appropriately for UCA, all the slides included pictures of student work. This reminded me how much I loved my year at the Kent Institute of Art & Design (as it was called then!).
UCA had used an information literacy framework in the past but it was largely ignored as it wasn't useful for the subject areas. They therefore decided to create an Academic Literacy Framework (ALF), which includes all the necessary attributes to be a successful student. Employability is linked to external benchmarks, particularly for creative industry employers. They looked at where academics go to get learning outcomes. This is a framework by name but not by nature. It has changed the way that librarians think about and articulate what they do, as well as providing evidence to support that what they were doing already was good.
Positive outcomes of ALF:
justify librarians
equity of skills at each campus
allows pick & mix to suit different groups - students learn best when teaching is in context
TeachMeet
This was TeachMeetdone speed dating style. There were two rounds and we chose four "meets" per round (out of seven). It was difficult to choose! I attended the folowing:
Library Treasure Hunts at the University of Kent, Jane Alderson-RiceTo make the library less intimidating, treasure hunts were devised, which students did in groups of four. Provides a good basis for introducing journals and databases. Key benefit is that students get to know library staff, which is good for future communication.
From e-learning to e-teaching: using real time support to maximise our reach, Michelle Schneider, University of LeedsWebinars for EndNote as face to face sessions were over-subscribed and unsuitable for distance learners. Used Adobe Connect, which allowed different layouts, polls and the ability to record the session. A facilitator was on hand to answer questions. Numbers initially limited to twenty to make it manageable but it would be possible to accommodate more. Lasted one hour.
Sowing the seeds of IL in the mobile wilderness: using creative mobile DL tools to cultivate active learning in secondary schools, Tia Eposito & Anna Martinez, Boston College High SchoolMade everything mobile friendly - mobile friendly sites for library pages and apps for the catalogue and databases. See http://bchigh.libguides.com/mobile/1326
'Likeing' library instruction: reaching students using the library Facebook Challenge, Jill Barr-Walker and Beth Russell, NYU Abu DhabiSee https://www.facebook.com/nyu.abudhabi.library Students 'like' who page and answer a monthly question, get entered into a prize draw. The question encourages them to use library resources. Most students answer correctly and it attracts new students every month. Ideas given for collaborating with other university services on prizes e.g. coffee shop, bookshop, etc. They also have a 'tip of the week' on the page.
Using current technologies to build relationships with academic staff: a series of workshops, Christina Harbour & Rachel Isaac-Menard, Writtle CollegeSeries of sessions for staff, held first thing, lunchtime and after hours.
Be current - keeping up to date
Search savvy - database tips
Be noticed - online image management
Be out there - blogging
Just-in-time tutorials for engineering students, Bonnie Osif, Pennsylvania State UniversityEngaging with engineering students can be challenging for various reasons, such as distance and number of students. Therefore, some short, online tutorials were developed especially for these students, for them to use at the point when they need to acquire particular information literacy skills.
Changing the focus of induction to improve the student experience, Dan Pullinger, University of LeedsThere
is a 15 minute induction talk - making the most of what the library has
to offer. There is a Library Guide available online, which includes
videos. It's had a lot of hits http://library.leeds.ac.uk/tutorials/libraryguide/ Online quiz available - librarians can choose from a pool of 40 questions. They tell them NSS scores for the library and about the skills employers want. Use Articulate software.
Think like a
librarian: best practices for offering open workshops, Merinda Kaye
Hensley, University of Illanois at Urbana-Champaign "Savvy Research workshops"
http://illinois.edu/calendar/month/4068?cal=20120425&skinId=1977
They see over 1000 students per semester - different levels, needs,
disciplines. Mendeley is the most popular workshop offered. Online learning through video tutorials also available http://www.library.illinois.edu/learn/
END OF TEACHMEET
Embedding Information Literacy Skills as
Employability Attributes, Serengul Smith & Adam Edwards This talk was given jointly by an academic and a librarian from Middlesex University, and so the emphasis was very much on collaboration. This is very important to gain students' trust. At Middlesex, CBI employability attributes were mapped to modules. Mentioning emplayability gives librarians a hook, which makes it easier to get your school to give you time. Shared ownership of skills reduces duplication. A menu approach was applied to sessions (smorgasbord). The sessions were interactive, not death by PowerPoint. For example, showing students a picture of a fruit stall and asking what they see. Benefits have included better marks for attendees, increased use of library resources and a better understanding of academic integrity.
Does it make any difference? An impact evaluation
of the libraries' educational activities at Lund University, Sweden Last May, I was given the wonderful opportunity to visit Lund University for two weeks, through the Erasmus scheme. While I was there, I met with Lena Landgren, Anna Wiberg, Sara Akramy and Bitte Holm to discuss their impact evaluation of teaching (see my previous post at http://thelibrarianidentity.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/breakfast-at-library-hq.html) It was great to see them again at LILAC and to hear how the impact evaluation study has progressed.
Students think that information searching is time consuming. The point was made that library user education should have the same conditions relating to learning outcomes and assessment as other education programmes. Added values of this study have included contribution, collaboration and cooperation. They had a meeting in February to ensure the next steps. Time saving measures will be introduced, such as asking fewer questions in the focus groups. There will be one interviewer and one person taking notes. They will be increased contact with course coordinators. Targets for each faculty based on the information gained from the study need to be formulated. The next round of activities for this project need to be planned for implementation from Autumn 2012 to Spring 2013 and a reevaluation will occur in Spring 2014.
