Transcript Professional Development for Librarians with Instructor

Professional Development for
Librarians with Instructor
Responsibilities
Clara Fowler
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center,
Houston
Michele Ostrow
University of Texas at Austin
Fran Ebbers
St. Edwards University, Austin
Teaching librarians to teach:
Using professional
competencies as a
framework to guide
continuing
education and
promotion
Continuing education
should model needed skills
• active and collaborative
learning activities
• asking and answering
questions
• higher level Information
Literacy skills
• scaffolding instruction across
sequential classes
• teaching effectively in multiple
settings
Identifying existing teacher training
programs
• Most faculty-level
training addresses
teaching a semesterlong class.
• Difficult to find
models that teach
instructors to create
and deliver effective
instruction sessions in
a limited period of
time.
Our goals today:
• Give examples of
professional
development programs
that you can adopt or
modify to suit your
needs.
• Present techniques for
keeping track of your
own continuing
education for your
professional or tenure
review process.
Obstacles to an in-house program:
• Teaching librarian role may be filled
by only one person (or very few) in
the library.
• Lack of specific performance
measures focused on teaching.
• Lack of quality professional
development training or staff
dedicated to staff training in
libraries.
• Lack of funds allocated to staff
training.
Charge of the Proficiencies for Instruction
Librarians Task Force
focus on broad areas of
proficiency rather than a
comprehensive list of
skills
outline an approach to
assist individuals and
organizations in selecting
the proficiencies most
appropriate for their
environment
Proficiencies document available at http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/profstandards.cfm
Organization of
the Proficiencies
1.
2.
Administrative ability
Assessment and evaluation
skills
3. Communication skills
4. Curriculum knowledge
5. Information literacy
integration skills
6. Instructional design skills
7. Leadership skills
8. Planning ability
9. Presentation skills
10. Promotion skills
11. Subject expertise
12. Teaching skills
5. Information literacy
integration skills
The effective instruction librarian:
5.1 Is able to describe the role of information literacy in academia and the
patrons, programs, and departments they serve.
5.2 Collaborates with classroom faculty to integrate appropriate information
literacy competencies, concepts and skills into library instruction sessions,
assignments and course content.
5.3 Communicates with classroom faculty and administrators to
collaboratively plan and implement the incremental integration of
information literacy competencies and concepts within a subject discipline
curriculum.
5. Information literacy
integration skills
The effective coordinator of instruction:
5.4 Investigates coordinating information literacy standards with institution’s
program review, departmental learning objectives, and/or accreditation
standards.
5.5 Collaborates with institution-wide faculty development programs to
support ongoing faculty training.
5.6 Encourages, guides, and supports instruction librarians to collaborate
with classroom faculty and administrators in the development of
increased focus on information literacy – whether at the course, program,
department, or campus-wide level.
6. Instructional design skills
The effective instruction librarian:
6.1. Collaborates with classroom faculty by defining expectations
and desired learning outcomes in order to determine
appropriate information literacy proficiencies and resources to
be introduced in library instruction.
6.2. Sequences information in a lesson plan to guide the instruction
session, course, workshop, or other instructional material.
6.3. Creates learner-centered course content and incorporates
activities directly tied to learning outcomes.
6.4. Assists learners to assess their own information needs,
differentiate among sources of information and help them to
develop skills to effectively identify, locate, and evaluate sources.
Continued…
6. Instructional design skills
The effective instruction librarian:
6.5. Scales presentation content to the amount of time and space
available.
6.6. Designs instruction to best meet the common learning
characteristics of learners, including prior knowledge and experience,
motivation to learn, cognitive abilities, and circumstances under which
they will be learning.
6.7. Integrates appropriate technology into instruction to support
experiential and collaborative learning as well as to improve student
receptiveness, comprehension, and retention of information.
The effective coordinator of instruction:
6.8 Identifies, encourages, and supports training opportunities for
librarians in instructional design and incorporating technology to
support pedagogy.
12. Teaching skills
The effective instruction librarian:
12.1 Creates a learner-centered teaching environment by
using active, collaborative, and other appropriate learning activities.
12.2 Modifies teaching methods and delivery to address different learning
styles, language abilities, developmental skills, age groups, and the diverse
needs of student learners.
12.3 Participate in constructive student-teacher exchanges by encouraging
students to ask and answer questions by allowing adequate time,
rephrasing questions, and asking probing or engaging questions.
12.4 Modifies teaching methods to match the class style and setting.
12.5 Encourages teaching faculty during the class to participate in discussions,
link library instruction content to course content, and to answer student
questions.
12.6 Reflects on practice in order to improve teaching skills and acquires new
knowledge of teaching methods and learning theories.
12.7 Shares teaching skills and knowledge with other instructional staff.
How can you use these competencies
in your library?
Solo instruction librarians:
– focus on one competency
for a semester.
– develop a reading list
– develop in class activities
that focus on your selected
proficiency
– have a fellow librarian
watch you teach and give
you feedback
– ask the students to give
you feedback
How can you use
these competencies
in your library?
Group of teaching librarians:
– select one proficiency to focus on for a semester and
create your own learning community.
Instruction Coordinators:
– develop a comprehensive program using the entire list of
proficiencies.
Administrators:
– use the competencies to justify for more staff or to move
instruction to a higher priority in the core functions of the
library.
Proficiencies in Action
Ideas from the UT-Austin Libraries
Line and Form by bookgrl, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bookgrl/1097742165/
UT Libraries:
Who Teaches?
• Library Instruction Services department
• Instruction Librarians in branches
• Subject specialists across campus libraries with
instructor responsibilities
• Interns from School of Information
Support & Mentoring
School of Information Interns
• Proficiencies 5, 7, 10, 12
• Tips & Techniques for
Library Instruction
• Interns from School of
Information
• New librarians & librarians
new to teaching
• Librarians integrating
information literacy into
departmental curricula
Shared Materials/Shared Ideas
• Proficiencies 1, 6, 9, 12
• Clearinghouse of Library
Instruction Materials
• Shared directory or wiki
• De.icio.us
• Diigo
“RIOT” – The Journal Club
• Proficiencies 1,
3, 6, 7
• Topics include
learning styles,
active learning,
assessment,
technology,
outreach
MIT Science Library Journals by nic221, http://www.flickr.com/photos/nic221/391536867
Assessment of Student Learning
• Proficiency 2
• Pre/Post tests
• Tips & Techniques for
Library Instruction
• Assessment bank &
SurveyMonkey
Finals by Shaghaghi www.flickr.com/photos/shaghaghi/73645535
Workshops & Discussion Groups
• Proficiencies 1, 3, 6, 9, 12
• Discussion groups = 1 theme
with facilitator
• Workshops = presentation &
active learning
• Topics: active learning,
“embedding” in
Blackboard, learning
styles, assignment design,
etc.
Questions?
Question mark? by Leo Reynolds www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/12364944