Transcript Questioning the LIS Internship: Who is the Learner?

Evaluating Who is Learning with
Real Learning Connections
Nora J. Bird
Assistant Professor LIS Dept.
Michael Crumpton
Assistant Dean, University Libraries
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AGENDA
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Motivation and Theory
Research Questions and Models
Setting and Participants
Sources of Evidence
Results
– Students
– Faculty and Program
– Librarians
• Future Directions
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MOTIVATION
The LIS Department has a mission of
educating future librarians
The University Libraries has many
work/study opportunities for LIS students
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MOTIVATION
Cooperation might provide:
1) Students with jobs but no tuition
assistance
2) Help to tenure track librarians with
publishing requirements
3) Re-education for LIS faculty without
recent practice experience
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THEORY AND
BACKGROUND
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Donald Schön
• "In some fields, the question of
professional artistry has come up in the
context of continuing education. Educators
ask how mature professionals can be
helped to renew themselves so as to avoid
'burnout,' how they can be helped to build
their repertoires of skills and
understandings on a continuing basis.“
Educating the Reflective Practitioner p. 15
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“Build or re-build their repertoire
of skills and understandings…”
• How does that work for faculty especially
in disciplines that are tied to practice like:
– Librarianship
– Business Administration
– Counseling
– Architecture and Design
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Schön again
• "In the terrain of professional practice,
applied science and research-based
technique occupy a critically important
though limited territory, bounded on
several sides by artistry." p. 13
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Faculty renewing artistry..
• Where do theory and practice meet for
faculty members?
• How is that related to community
engagement?
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Experiential Learning
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Creating meaning via direct activities
Learning through meta-reflection
Engaging the full person
Facilitating learning through experience
"For the things we have to learn before we can do
them, we learn by doing them."[--Aritotle
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David Kolb on Experiential Learning
• Learner must
– be willing to be actively involved in the
experience;
– be able to reflect on the experience;
– possess and use analytical skills to
conceptualize the experience; and
– possess decision making and problem
solving skills in order to use the new
ideas gained from the experience.
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Education is not training
• Education is for the long term
• Training are the skills to accomplish the
present task
• What is the epi
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS
AND MODEL
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Questions
• R1: Is there a better, more connected
model to describe the internship
relationship in LIS?
• R2: What are the benefits to all
participants in the internship?
• R3: How can the model be extended to
other learning opportunities?
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Student Employee* Model
Librarian
Student/employee
Learning goals defined by the practitioner
*or students working while in school
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Traditional Model of Internship/Practica
Librarian
Student
Faculty
(research)
Reflection on process is primarily done by the student
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SETTING AND
PARTICIPANTS
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Setting
• The University of North Carolina at
Greensboro LIS Department and
University Libraries
• Collaboration between these fostered by
– grant projects
– alumni on staff
– students employed in paid and unpaid
positions
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Some definitions at UNCG
• Practicum – working for class credit only.
Usually project driven and goals satisfy
curriculum
• Internships – student workers paid by the
hour and task driven. Additional training
and experience are provided by librarians.
• Graduate assistantship – Stipend plus
tuition, work for the department as
research assistants, etc.
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RLC Internships/Practica
• Stipend paid by Libraries
• Tuition subsidy paid by LIS Department
• Projects were proposed by various
departments in the Libraries and only
some were funded
• Students chosen by LIS Faculty and Chair
and Libraries Assistant Dean and Dean in
consultation with project librarians.
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Participants/Process
• Projects were advertised to last during an
academic year.
• The second year more applications and an
interview process
• Third year most applications were from
students new to the program
• One faculty member involved in all 3 years;
others depending on projects
• Member of library administration involved in
coordination
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Over the Years
Year
#Students
#Librarians/
Archivists
LIS Faculty
First
2
3
1
Second
3
6
2
Third
3
4
3
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EVIDENCE
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Sources of Evidence
• 2 years of sporadic journal entries
• 3 years of learning objectives from faculty,
students and practitioners
• 2 1/2 years of summary reports from
faculty, practitioner, and students
• 2 administrative reports
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Project Learning Objectives
• Each project was designed with learning
objectives for all participants.
• Self-assessment was done in the form of
evaluations of the success of the projects
and meeting of goals.
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Sample Learning Objectives
From Year 2.
Student:
• Will understand selection criteria and other
practical considerations surrounding the use of
archival materials.
• Will become familiar with technical standards
and formats for digital projects.
• Will become familiar with metadata schemas
including technical, administrative, and
descriptive metadata.
• Will gain experience using digital collections
management software.
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Learning Objectives Sample (con.)
Librarian:
• Will benefit from research into comparable projects that
the student will complete during each phase.
• Will be exposed to theoretical material being taught in
courses such as LIS 631 (Emerging Trends in
Information Access), LIS 640 (Organizing Library
Collections),
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Learning Objectives Sample (con.)
Teaching Faculty:
• Will see practical examination of theoretical concepts
related to digitization and metadata for a digital project.
• Will have the opportunity to examine issues of
interdepartmental collaboration and communication.
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Summary Reports
• Written from separate perspectives.
• Cumulated in the administrative reports
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RESULTS
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Student Learning
1st Year
• More than a Graduate Assistantship
– Practical experience while learning “the basics” of
library studies
– Networking alliances
– Academic financial support (Student)
– Communicate academic initiatives and needs
– Practitioner viewpoint encouraged
– Collaborative and open – no hierarchy
• Archives are a different discipline that require
humility
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Student Learning
2nd Year
• Ethical responsibilities of archivists
especially in oral histories
• Assessment methods and applications
and the power of analytics
• Collaboration in digital projects
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Student Learning
3rd Year so far
• Teaching is not presentation and there are
a million software programs
• Conceptual framework for artifact
collection.
• Cloud computing and the impact on
technical services
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A depth of student learning
“The discussions surrounding these artifacts
were some of the best learning
experiences of the project, because they
helped me to connect the conceptual
aspect of the object with the people who
would potentially come in to view the
artifact.”
-3rd year student participant
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Faculty Learning
2nd year
• Role of Oral Histories in academic
archives
• Oral Histories as digital objects
(transcription, abstracting, tagging)
• Creation of a digital project – conception
through implementation in ContentDM
• Academic library assessment activities – is
it research?
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Practitioner Learning
• Learning goals
– Relive LIS school lessons that get lost in the
“chaos of work”
– Recognize the need for learning something
new while maintaining existing routines
– Revisit their own learning activities
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Practitioner Learning
• Working with student in this way
– The student’s experience is a reminder of
what it takes to process new information. In
the midst of work this can be considered
natural or forgotten completely.
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Some Products
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BEYOND THE
PARTICIPANTS
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LIS Department learning
• Restructuring of LIS 650 to include more
management
• Incorporating more alternative formats
• Cooperation among archives, cataloging,
digital projects
• Enhancement of Archives education
experiences
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Learning for LIS Education
• The Real Learning Connections model
shows the impacts that can occur on
practice, preparing students, and
curriculum.
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Learning for Library Organizations
• Renewal of learned theoretical concepts
not used since academy
• Bridges for expanding current practices
• Insights into efficiencies and “better”
practices
• Collaborative and learned solutions
• Higher level of sharing an experience
• Better partners for LIS internship support
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Future Directions
• Toolkit with self-guiding instructions for the
librarian supervisor for implementing RLC
practica
• Partnerships with other institutions
• Changes in “regular” practicum
• Considerations for interns hired outside of
project environment
• Future project oriented methods of work
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REFERENCES
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Ash, S. L. and Clayton, P. H. (2004). The articulated learning: An approach to
guided reflection and assessment. Innovative higher education, 29 (2): 137-154
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Diambra, J. F., Cole-Zakrewski, K., and Booher, J. A. (2004). Comparison of
internship stage models: Evidence from the intern experiences. Journal of
Experiential Education 27 (2), 191-212.
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Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and
development, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
•
Moon, J. A. (2006). Learning journals: A handbook for reflective practice and
professional development. London: Routledge.
•
Schön, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
•
Stauffer, S. (2006, November). A framework for a "Teaching Library": A preliminary
study. Paper presented at the NYLA Annual Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY.
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