As the semester comes to a close, it is time for me to reflect on what I have learned about instructional methods and information literacy in libraries. I have learned quite a bit in such a short amount of time and I hope to keep this blog handy for when I start preparing instruction for my own students someday. I have talked about what it means to be "information literate" and have discussed characteristics of the various teaching and learning styles. I have explored ways in which critical thinking and active learning should be incorporated into instruction and have touched on a couple of the assessment methods that I might prefer when I start teaching. Finally, I have discussed my own teaching philosophy and what I think the future of information literacy will look like.
I know that by the simple act of exploring these topics more thoroughly, I have already developed a good foundation on which to build my teaching skills. I hope to bring some of these ideas and techniques into the workplace soon so that I can have a great impact on my students. I know they will never be as passionate about libraries as I am. I don't expect them to be. But I do hope that they will walk out of my classroom having learned something that they can use to help them in their own research endeavors. I want them to be successful and I hope that I can be the one who helps contribute to their success. Thanks for reading :)
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Instruction Session Reflections
Recently I worked on a group project for my Instructional Methods course in which we were in charge of creating an instruction session for a group of students. We had complete control over who our audience (or students) would be, what we should teach them that would be relevant to their needs, and how we should present the information so that it had the greatest impact.
The first step was figuring out what and to whom we should teach. Knowing that most health related information is online and that adults over the age of 60 typically lack the knowledge needed to be able to find, evaluate, and use this information, we came up with the idea that we should create a 30 minute, face-to-face instruction session that would be aimed at showing seniors how to access health information online.
We knew that a face-to-face session would be best as some older adults may need help learning how to first navigate to a website. An online tutorial may be confusing for older adults who do not know how to use a mouse or type a URL into the address bar of a web browser. To assist us in our classroom, we chose a simple PowerPoint presentation as it would be easier to read for those who have poor eyesight. While Prezi would have made the presentation more attractive to us, it has too much movement and may be too "busy" and confusing for seniors to look at. We kept the concepts simple and focused on how to find information in only one health-related website, the National Institutes of Health Senior Health website. We demonstrated how to adjust the font and contrast so that information can be seen better with aging eyes. Finally, we showed them how to look up information on various maladies in both text and video formats and where to find help if they did not find the information they needed. Our goal was to ensure that older adults left the instruction session with the confidence to be able to independently search for relevant health information from their own computer.
Active learning exercises were scattered throughout the instruction session to ensure that seniors got to practice searching on their own while instructors roved the classroom to assist where needed. Each participant will leave the session with a certificate of achievement as well as a coupon for additional instruction sessions. Most importantly, each individual leaves the classroom with a newly acquired sense of independence knowing that they no longer have to rely on others for access to health-related information because now they possess the skills needed to find relevant information on their own!
This project had its successes and challenges along the way. The biggest challenge was finding a time when my classmates and I could meet. It sounds simple enough, but when one group member lives in Japan, another in Florida, and others in various states throughout the country, it becomes difficult to select a time when we all can meet. Often, there would be one or two of us that could not make it to the meeting so it was essential for someone to take notes and send an email out to the group with all of the topics that were discussed. I was fortunate enough to work with classmates who were just as passionate about presenting quality instruction as I am. It wasn't so much about getting a good grade. Instead, we really put a lot of thought into how we can present the information in a way that would accommodate older learners have a positive impact and in our community. Overall, we succeeded in being able to work together over space and time to present quality instruction with a purpose!
The first step was figuring out what and to whom we should teach. Knowing that most health related information is online and that adults over the age of 60 typically lack the knowledge needed to be able to find, evaluate, and use this information, we came up with the idea that we should create a 30 minute, face-to-face instruction session that would be aimed at showing seniors how to access health information online.
We knew that a face-to-face session would be best as some older adults may need help learning how to first navigate to a website. An online tutorial may be confusing for older adults who do not know how to use a mouse or type a URL into the address bar of a web browser. To assist us in our classroom, we chose a simple PowerPoint presentation as it would be easier to read for those who have poor eyesight. While Prezi would have made the presentation more attractive to us, it has too much movement and may be too "busy" and confusing for seniors to look at. We kept the concepts simple and focused on how to find information in only one health-related website, the National Institutes of Health Senior Health website. We demonstrated how to adjust the font and contrast so that information can be seen better with aging eyes. Finally, we showed them how to look up information on various maladies in both text and video formats and where to find help if they did not find the information they needed. Our goal was to ensure that older adults left the instruction session with the confidence to be able to independently search for relevant health information from their own computer.
Active learning exercises were scattered throughout the instruction session to ensure that seniors got to practice searching on their own while instructors roved the classroom to assist where needed. Each participant will leave the session with a certificate of achievement as well as a coupon for additional instruction sessions. Most importantly, each individual leaves the classroom with a newly acquired sense of independence knowing that they no longer have to rely on others for access to health-related information because now they possess the skills needed to find relevant information on their own!
This project had its successes and challenges along the way. The biggest challenge was finding a time when my classmates and I could meet. It sounds simple enough, but when one group member lives in Japan, another in Florida, and others in various states throughout the country, it becomes difficult to select a time when we all can meet. Often, there would be one or two of us that could not make it to the meeting so it was essential for someone to take notes and send an email out to the group with all of the topics that were discussed. I was fortunate enough to work with classmates who were just as passionate about presenting quality instruction as I am. It wasn't so much about getting a good grade. Instead, we really put a lot of thought into how we can present the information in a way that would accommodate older learners have a positive impact and in our community. Overall, we succeeded in being able to work together over space and time to present quality instruction with a purpose!
Sunday, December 1, 2013
The Future of Information Literacy in Academic Health Sciences Libraries
I have recently started working as a Graduate Assistant at an Academic Health Sciences Library in my state and have had the opportunity to sit in on various staff and department meetings, a couple of face-to-face instruction sessions, and numerous reference transactions. What I have noticed is the passion of our education and reference librarians when it comes to increasing the information literacy of our students. Our librarians are constantly plugging the library's services and thinking of new and creative ways to instruct students both online and face-to-face. This got me wondering how this passion for libraries and instruction translates over to the student population and what it means for the future of information literacy?
Currently, there are many options for students to customize certain databases, search multiple databases using a single search interface, and keep track of it all with citation management software. It is easy for students to get lost in it all and feel overwhelmed, especially if they have very little to no information literacy to begin with. It is essential, therefore for students to get some training. That is where the need for education and reference librarians comes in! I recently sat in on a "Searching for the Evidence" class at my library where students learn effective search techniques and which databases are used for finding evidence-based medical information. The class was comprised of first-year residents from the School of Medicine and, when asked about their typical search methods, a couple of the students said that they only perform searches in Google. It surprised and shocked me to learn that despite the access they have to top notch databases, they still preferred Google. Why is that? My theory is that Google feels safe to them because they lack the knowledge needed to perform effective searches in more relevant databases like PubMed or Ovid MEDLINE. By attending this class, these students will learn that not only is there life beyond Google, but they will have a much easier time finding information that is credible and useful if they know how and where to look. As databases get more complex, the need for instruction will only increase. As a result, the need for library instructors to teach the ins and out of these databases so that they are better understood by the students who use them will also increase. By providing students access to these classes, academic health sciences librarians will not only increase the information literacy of medical students, but they will also prove that the library is a valuable and necessary component to medical school education.
Which brings me to my next point. How will the faculty's perception of the library change as more and more students depend on the library for assistance in their research? I read an article recently that talked about the relationship between faculty at academic institutions and librarians and I learned that faculty members often do not view academic librarians as equals (Julien and Pecoskie, 2009). An example from the article talks about a librarian who visited a classroom for the purpose of information literacy instruction. The faculty member in charge of the class said something along the lines of "don't stress out about trying to remember everything that is said today, it is only worth 5 points of your total grade". What kind of message do you think this sends to the students? That because it's library instruction it is not as important as what your regular class instructor teaches you? That you don't need to pay attention because you can just search Google and be fine? It would be unfair of me to generalize here and say that all faculty feel this way about librarians because that is not the case. There are plenty of university faculty that very much value the work that academic librarians do and how their instruction can better the work of their students. But what worries me are the ones that don't and the potential negative impact this will have on students in the long run.
So, how can we get the "Google Generation" to see that the library is the place to start for research rather than the Google search bar? I think more and better advertising is a good start. Just the other day I was given the task of making flyers for the library's upcoming classes. I was told to print only two flyers - one gets posted inside the library's north elevator and one gets posted in the south elevator. Only two? In the elevators?! Who is going to see that? Now, in my library's defense, we do advertise these classes on the library's website. However, if students are going to Google instead of the library's website, they won't see those notifications either, now will they? How else can we reach out to the student population? Should we have faculty plug our classes to their students? Can we hand out welcome gifts to new students with a mug, posti-its, and a stuffed school mascot (all with the library's logo, of course)? Perhaps these are ideas that I can run by my new boss...
It is difficult to say what information literacy will look like in the future. I know what I want it to look like. In a perfect world, students will be just as passionate about using their library as they are for their studies. They will recognize that the library is a great place to start their research. It's okay if you don't know how to search that database, we'll teach you! We just need to spread the word. Eventually, they'll get it :)
References
Julien, H., Pecoskie, J. (2009) Librarians' experiences of the teaching role: Grounded in campus relationships. Library & Information Science Research, 31(3), 149-154.
Currently, there are many options for students to customize certain databases, search multiple databases using a single search interface, and keep track of it all with citation management software. It is easy for students to get lost in it all and feel overwhelmed, especially if they have very little to no information literacy to begin with. It is essential, therefore for students to get some training. That is where the need for education and reference librarians comes in! I recently sat in on a "Searching for the Evidence" class at my library where students learn effective search techniques and which databases are used for finding evidence-based medical information. The class was comprised of first-year residents from the School of Medicine and, when asked about their typical search methods, a couple of the students said that they only perform searches in Google. It surprised and shocked me to learn that despite the access they have to top notch databases, they still preferred Google. Why is that? My theory is that Google feels safe to them because they lack the knowledge needed to perform effective searches in more relevant databases like PubMed or Ovid MEDLINE. By attending this class, these students will learn that not only is there life beyond Google, but they will have a much easier time finding information that is credible and useful if they know how and where to look. As databases get more complex, the need for instruction will only increase. As a result, the need for library instructors to teach the ins and out of these databases so that they are better understood by the students who use them will also increase. By providing students access to these classes, academic health sciences librarians will not only increase the information literacy of medical students, but they will also prove that the library is a valuable and necessary component to medical school education.
Which brings me to my next point. How will the faculty's perception of the library change as more and more students depend on the library for assistance in their research? I read an article recently that talked about the relationship between faculty at academic institutions and librarians and I learned that faculty members often do not view academic librarians as equals (Julien and Pecoskie, 2009). An example from the article talks about a librarian who visited a classroom for the purpose of information literacy instruction. The faculty member in charge of the class said something along the lines of "don't stress out about trying to remember everything that is said today, it is only worth 5 points of your total grade". What kind of message do you think this sends to the students? That because it's library instruction it is not as important as what your regular class instructor teaches you? That you don't need to pay attention because you can just search Google and be fine? It would be unfair of me to generalize here and say that all faculty feel this way about librarians because that is not the case. There are plenty of university faculty that very much value the work that academic librarians do and how their instruction can better the work of their students. But what worries me are the ones that don't and the potential negative impact this will have on students in the long run.
So, how can we get the "Google Generation" to see that the library is the place to start for research rather than the Google search bar? I think more and better advertising is a good start. Just the other day I was given the task of making flyers for the library's upcoming classes. I was told to print only two flyers - one gets posted inside the library's north elevator and one gets posted in the south elevator. Only two? In the elevators?! Who is going to see that? Now, in my library's defense, we do advertise these classes on the library's website. However, if students are going to Google instead of the library's website, they won't see those notifications either, now will they? How else can we reach out to the student population? Should we have faculty plug our classes to their students? Can we hand out welcome gifts to new students with a mug, posti-its, and a stuffed school mascot (all with the library's logo, of course)? Perhaps these are ideas that I can run by my new boss...
It is difficult to say what information literacy will look like in the future. I know what I want it to look like. In a perfect world, students will be just as passionate about using their library as they are for their studies. They will recognize that the library is a great place to start their research. It's okay if you don't know how to search that database, we'll teach you! We just need to spread the word. Eventually, they'll get it :)
References
Julien, H., Pecoskie, J. (2009) Librarians' experiences of the teaching role: Grounded in campus relationships. Library & Information Science Research, 31(3), 149-154.
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