Competency K
"Design training programs based on appropriate learning principles and theories."
Introduction
In May 2011, the Los Angeles Times published an article relaying the mistreatment of school librarians employed by the Los Angeles Union School District (LAUSD) (Tobar). In an effort to balance the district budget, the district sought to layoff all but the most vital personnel—approximately 85 school librarians with teacher credentials were laid off in March. Based on a district rule, the librarians could be transferred to classroom teaching positions, but only if they had teaching experience within the last five years. Lawyers representing the LAUSD questioned the librarians about their fitness as teachers.
Although this is a more recent incident, librarians are frequently questioned about exactly what they do. Many a library school student is questioned about why they need a Masters degree in order to check out books. Academic librarians in universities are also sometimes seen as lesser faculty members. Walter’s study “Librarians as Teachers: A Qualitative Inquiry into Professional Identity” (2008), includes references to a number of studies, such as that of Hernon and Pastine (1977), Divay, Ducas, and Michaud-Oystryk (1987), Oberg, Schleiter, and Van Houten (1989), Nitecki (1993), Ivey (1994), and Fagen (2002), that have shown that students and faculty do not fully understand the work of librarians, including librarians’ teaching responsibilities.
In spite of of these identity challenges, librarians are indeed teachers. While some may have learned the art of teaching while on the job, many Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) holders have taken classes concerning learning theory and teaching. As my aim is to become a reference and instruction librarian in a university or a reference librarian in a public library, some of the courses I took during my two years of library coursework were specifically related to teaching in the library profession, including LIBR 210 Reference and Information Services, LIBR 250 Design and Implementation of Instructional Strategies for Information Professionals, and LIBR 287 Seminar in Information Science with an emphasis on information literacy.
The experiences and assignments I completed in these courses have provided me with a background in a number of schools of instruction, including the behaviorist, constructivist, and humanist models. In my development as a teacher, I have been most influenced by constructivism and the active learning approach adhered to by the behaviorist school. In the lesson plans I am providing as evidence of meeting competency K, I employed constructivist and active learning principles. As mentioned in my lesson plan on American Memory from LIBR 287, “Constructivism holds that learning ‘is a process in which learners construct meaning rather than merely take in ideas and memorize them. The constructivist model depends quite a bit on social interactions that allow learners to test their understandings against those of others’” (Grassian and Kaplowitz, 2009, p. 31). Active learning techniques can be used to provide students with opportunities to engage with the course material, allowing for “increase[d] retention of information following the class period” (Keyser, 2000, p. 35). These can range from such as ice breakers; short tests and quizzes; in-class writing; encouraging student participation by responding supportively to student discussions, answers, and questions; allowing for student problem-solving; peer teaching; and “short exercises applying the concept just introduced” (Keyser, 2000, p. 39-41). In short, effective teachers, whether at the reference desk or in classrooms, encourage their students to practice concepts.
Evidence
As evidence for meeting competency K, I am including assignments from LIBR 250 Design and Implementation of Instructional Strategies for Information Professionals and LIBR 287 Seminar in Information Science, which focused on information literacy.
LIBR 250: Instructional Design Plan
The coursework in LIBR 250 focused on developing a complete instructional design plan on an area of our choice. The instructional design plan I have submitted is an accumulation of six assignments. Due to the constraints of the assignment format, the document reveals quite a bit of overlap between instructional steps. In a real teaching scenario, the plan would be adapted to fit either Robert Gange’s Nine Events of Instruction model, Madeline Hunter's Seven Step Lesson Plan, or the 5 E’s of Constructivism Lesson Planning Model (Pennsylvania State University, 2009). Although I did not actually teach the lesson I planned, the document shows that I have an understanding for how to approach teaching, beginning with developing a needs assessment of my students; planning instructional goals and learning objectives; and developing activities for participation and assessment.
The lesson I created was designed as though I were teaching a one-time session to beginning college students about how to create effective search terms when looking for journal articles in an online database. In the instructional design plan, I wrote: "College students need to know how to find journal articles that will allow them to make, support, and counter arguments in their papers. Teaching students how to find journal articles for their research topics, however, is not solely about teaching the students how to use the technology; rather, students need to use critical thinking skills to come up with various related terms."
Although I do not mention the Association for College and Research Libraries’ Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (ACRL, 2000), this lesson meets standard two: “The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.” One of the performance indicators for this standard specifies that students should be able to “[construct] and [implement] effectively-designed search strategies,” which includes “[identifying] keywords, synonyms and related terms for the information needed.” These standards can be used to create a student-centered approach to learning as they “provide students with a framework for gaining control over how they interact with information in their environment. It will help to sensitize them to the need to develop a metacognitive approach to learning, making them conscious of the explicit actions required for gathering, analyzing, and using information” (ACRL, 2000).
With this constructivist approach to learning in mind, I worked to create a lesson that went beyond the traditional lecture. For effective learning, students need to reflect on their learning and also be involved in the learning process. The lesson I designed has some lecture, a variety of YouTube videos to watch, opportunities for group discussion, and a hands-on group activity.
LIBR 287: American Memory Lesson Plan, PowerPoint, Reflection, and Elluminate Recording
In LIBR 287, I created a twenty-minute lesson that I presented to fellow graduate students via Elluminate web conferencing software. I have submitted my lesson plan; PowerPoint presentation; link to the Elluminate session recording; and my reflection of the lesson’s outcome, which has teacher comments and suggestions.
For the lesson, I had my classmates pretend to be declared history majors at a university. This particular lesson was designed as the second part of a two-part workshop introducing students to historical research and writing. In part one, the students were introduced to the difference between primary and secondary sources. In part two, students were introduced to the Library of Congress’ American Memory Project as a resource for primary source material. The objectives of the lesson were to teach students about the background of the American Memory project, show the students the various ways they can search or browse the collections available through American Memory, and also provide the students with an opportunity to practice searching on their own and share their results with the class.
My lesson plan is based on Robert Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction Model, which provides a framework for gaining attention, informing learners of the objective, stimulating recall of prior learning, presenting the stimulus, providing learning guidance, eliciting performance providing feedback, assessing performance, and enhancing retention and transfer (Pennsylvania State University, 2009). My lesson plan also details the theoretical framework I used, including constructivist and sociocultural theories, and the motivation for teaching the lesson and having students learn the material.
While this lesson is more lecture based due to the twenty-minute time limitation, this final activity, in which students were able to explore a collection and share their finds with the class, does allow for students to practice searching for primary sources available from American Memory. The ultimate goal was to introduce students to a resource that provides free primary sources that could potentially be used in their work as history students. Although there were a few problems in delivering my lesson, and there are several changes I would make were I to teach this lesson again, as discussed in the reflection of my instructional session, the lesson was successful.
References
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). (2000). Information literacy standards for higher education.
Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm
Keyser, M.W. (2000). Active learning and cooperative learning: understanding the difference and using both styles effectively. ResearchStrategies, 17(1), 35-44.
Pennsylvania State University. (2009). Lesson planning. Retrieved from http://www.personal.psu.edu/scs15/idweb/lessonplanning.htm
Tobar, H. (2011). The disgraceful interrogation of L.A. school librarians. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/13/local/la-me-0513-tobar-20110513
Walter, S. (2008). Librarians as teachers: A qualitative inquiry into professional identity. College & Research
Libraries, 69(1), 51-71.
In May 2011, the Los Angeles Times published an article relaying the mistreatment of school librarians employed by the Los Angeles Union School District (LAUSD) (Tobar). In an effort to balance the district budget, the district sought to layoff all but the most vital personnel—approximately 85 school librarians with teacher credentials were laid off in March. Based on a district rule, the librarians could be transferred to classroom teaching positions, but only if they had teaching experience within the last five years. Lawyers representing the LAUSD questioned the librarians about their fitness as teachers.
Although this is a more recent incident, librarians are frequently questioned about exactly what they do. Many a library school student is questioned about why they need a Masters degree in order to check out books. Academic librarians in universities are also sometimes seen as lesser faculty members. Walter’s study “Librarians as Teachers: A Qualitative Inquiry into Professional Identity” (2008), includes references to a number of studies, such as that of Hernon and Pastine (1977), Divay, Ducas, and Michaud-Oystryk (1987), Oberg, Schleiter, and Van Houten (1989), Nitecki (1993), Ivey (1994), and Fagen (2002), that have shown that students and faculty do not fully understand the work of librarians, including librarians’ teaching responsibilities.
In spite of of these identity challenges, librarians are indeed teachers. While some may have learned the art of teaching while on the job, many Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) holders have taken classes concerning learning theory and teaching. As my aim is to become a reference and instruction librarian in a university or a reference librarian in a public library, some of the courses I took during my two years of library coursework were specifically related to teaching in the library profession, including LIBR 210 Reference and Information Services, LIBR 250 Design and Implementation of Instructional Strategies for Information Professionals, and LIBR 287 Seminar in Information Science with an emphasis on information literacy.
The experiences and assignments I completed in these courses have provided me with a background in a number of schools of instruction, including the behaviorist, constructivist, and humanist models. In my development as a teacher, I have been most influenced by constructivism and the active learning approach adhered to by the behaviorist school. In the lesson plans I am providing as evidence of meeting competency K, I employed constructivist and active learning principles. As mentioned in my lesson plan on American Memory from LIBR 287, “Constructivism holds that learning ‘is a process in which learners construct meaning rather than merely take in ideas and memorize them. The constructivist model depends quite a bit on social interactions that allow learners to test their understandings against those of others’” (Grassian and Kaplowitz, 2009, p. 31). Active learning techniques can be used to provide students with opportunities to engage with the course material, allowing for “increase[d] retention of information following the class period” (Keyser, 2000, p. 35). These can range from such as ice breakers; short tests and quizzes; in-class writing; encouraging student participation by responding supportively to student discussions, answers, and questions; allowing for student problem-solving; peer teaching; and “short exercises applying the concept just introduced” (Keyser, 2000, p. 39-41). In short, effective teachers, whether at the reference desk or in classrooms, encourage their students to practice concepts.
Evidence
As evidence for meeting competency K, I am including assignments from LIBR 250 Design and Implementation of Instructional Strategies for Information Professionals and LIBR 287 Seminar in Information Science, which focused on information literacy.
LIBR 250: Instructional Design Plan
The coursework in LIBR 250 focused on developing a complete instructional design plan on an area of our choice. The instructional design plan I have submitted is an accumulation of six assignments. Due to the constraints of the assignment format, the document reveals quite a bit of overlap between instructional steps. In a real teaching scenario, the plan would be adapted to fit either Robert Gange’s Nine Events of Instruction model, Madeline Hunter's Seven Step Lesson Plan, or the 5 E’s of Constructivism Lesson Planning Model (Pennsylvania State University, 2009). Although I did not actually teach the lesson I planned, the document shows that I have an understanding for how to approach teaching, beginning with developing a needs assessment of my students; planning instructional goals and learning objectives; and developing activities for participation and assessment.
The lesson I created was designed as though I were teaching a one-time session to beginning college students about how to create effective search terms when looking for journal articles in an online database. In the instructional design plan, I wrote: "College students need to know how to find journal articles that will allow them to make, support, and counter arguments in their papers. Teaching students how to find journal articles for their research topics, however, is not solely about teaching the students how to use the technology; rather, students need to use critical thinking skills to come up with various related terms."
Although I do not mention the Association for College and Research Libraries’ Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (ACRL, 2000), this lesson meets standard two: “The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.” One of the performance indicators for this standard specifies that students should be able to “[construct] and [implement] effectively-designed search strategies,” which includes “[identifying] keywords, synonyms and related terms for the information needed.” These standards can be used to create a student-centered approach to learning as they “provide students with a framework for gaining control over how they interact with information in their environment. It will help to sensitize them to the need to develop a metacognitive approach to learning, making them conscious of the explicit actions required for gathering, analyzing, and using information” (ACRL, 2000).
With this constructivist approach to learning in mind, I worked to create a lesson that went beyond the traditional lecture. For effective learning, students need to reflect on their learning and also be involved in the learning process. The lesson I designed has some lecture, a variety of YouTube videos to watch, opportunities for group discussion, and a hands-on group activity.
LIBR 287: American Memory Lesson Plan, PowerPoint, Reflection, and Elluminate Recording
In LIBR 287, I created a twenty-minute lesson that I presented to fellow graduate students via Elluminate web conferencing software. I have submitted my lesson plan; PowerPoint presentation; link to the Elluminate session recording; and my reflection of the lesson’s outcome, which has teacher comments and suggestions.
For the lesson, I had my classmates pretend to be declared history majors at a university. This particular lesson was designed as the second part of a two-part workshop introducing students to historical research and writing. In part one, the students were introduced to the difference between primary and secondary sources. In part two, students were introduced to the Library of Congress’ American Memory Project as a resource for primary source material. The objectives of the lesson were to teach students about the background of the American Memory project, show the students the various ways they can search or browse the collections available through American Memory, and also provide the students with an opportunity to practice searching on their own and share their results with the class.
My lesson plan is based on Robert Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction Model, which provides a framework for gaining attention, informing learners of the objective, stimulating recall of prior learning, presenting the stimulus, providing learning guidance, eliciting performance providing feedback, assessing performance, and enhancing retention and transfer (Pennsylvania State University, 2009). My lesson plan also details the theoretical framework I used, including constructivist and sociocultural theories, and the motivation for teaching the lesson and having students learn the material.
While this lesson is more lecture based due to the twenty-minute time limitation, this final activity, in which students were able to explore a collection and share their finds with the class, does allow for students to practice searching for primary sources available from American Memory. The ultimate goal was to introduce students to a resource that provides free primary sources that could potentially be used in their work as history students. Although there were a few problems in delivering my lesson, and there are several changes I would make were I to teach this lesson again, as discussed in the reflection of my instructional session, the lesson was successful.
References
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). (2000). Information literacy standards for higher education.
Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm
Keyser, M.W. (2000). Active learning and cooperative learning: understanding the difference and using both styles effectively. ResearchStrategies, 17(1), 35-44.
Pennsylvania State University. (2009). Lesson planning. Retrieved from http://www.personal.psu.edu/scs15/idweb/lessonplanning.htm
Tobar, H. (2011). The disgraceful interrogation of L.A. school librarians. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/13/local/la-me-0513-tobar-20110513
Walter, S. (2008). Librarians as teachers: A qualitative inquiry into professional identity. College & Research
Libraries, 69(1), 51-71.
Files and Links
Below are the files and links to my pieces of evidence.
LIBR_250_final_instructional_design_plan.pdf | |
File Size: | 187 kb |
File Type: |
LIBR_287_american_memory_lesson_plan.pdf | |
File Size: | 182 kb |
File Type: |
LIBR 287_american_memory_powerpoint.pdf | |
File Size: | 407 kb |
File Type: |
LIBR_287_american_memory_lesson_reflection_with_comments.pdf | |
File Size: | 387 kb |
File Type: |
https://nexus.sjsu.edu/play_recording.html?recordingId=1267553060519_1312936459059
This is the link to the LIBR 287 American Memory instructional session recording on Elluminate. The password is Simmons. My session begins at 22:07 and ends at 40:04.
This is the link to the LIBR 287 American Memory instructional session recording on Elluminate. The password is Simmons. My session begins at 22:07 and ends at 40:04.