A collection of practical approaches to library instruction, covering library orientation, basic library skills, citing references, plagiarism, evaluating resources, developing specialized research skills, and using technology.
The newly revised third edition of Engaging Ideas delivers a step-by-step guide for designing writing assignments and critical thinking activities that engage students with important subject-matter questions.
Offering practical strategies for assessing information online, this guide helps students understand why digital literacy is a crucial skill for their education, future careers, and participation in democracy while providing them with the tools to locate reliable sources and websites among the clickbait and viral videos that pervade the web.
In Super Courses, education expert and bestselling author Ken Bain tells the fascinating story of enterprising college, graduate school, and high school teachers who are using evidence-based approaches to spark deeper levels of learning, critical thinking, and creativity--whether teaching online, in class, or in the field.
Participatory art engages its audience in the creative process. Similarly, librarians from UW-Eau Claire are engaging their students by “flipping the classroom” and giving students the opportunity to collaborate and actively engage with information literacy concepts and library collections. Librarians worked with the administration to acquire an iPad mobile lab in an arrangement that was mutually beneficial: Librarians were able to expand teaching spaces to accommodate growing demand for their instruction and experiment with active learning strategies; at the same time, librarians serve as ambassadors for the technology and active learning techniques across campus.
In the summer of 2019, four reference librarians at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the nation's capital, undertook a project to engage with the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy to deepen
their understanding of the Framework and translate its theoretical framing into praxis for their library.
This study sought to determine whether a flipped classroom that facilitated peer learning would improve undergraduate health sciences students' abilities to find, evaluate, and use appropriate evidence for research assignments.
Students completed online modules in a learning management system, with librarians facilitating subsequent student-directed, in-person sessions. Mixed methods assessment was used to evaluate program outcomes.
Ideas for incorporating technology into active learning
Using LibGuides to structure active learning activities and provide ahead-of-time instruction
Live polling during one-shot instruction to visualize interest and create peer engagement
Sharing engaging videos and tutorials with students before they come to a sesson
From Magdalena L. Barrera, San José State University
An activity to help students reflect on important questions surrounding a topic, reading, or skill.
Think-Pair-Share activities pose a question to students that they must consider alone and then discuss with a neighbor before settling on a final answer. This is a great way to motivate students and promote higher-level thinking.
The Question of the Day is an in-class project developed to use at the beginning of class and takes 5-15 minutes. It requires the students to start class as active participants and involves them in the material.
Use these tips to identify strategies for instructional planning, list pedagogically sound teaching methods, and describe the importance of integrating one-shot instruction into larger campus contexts.
From Meredith Farkas, Portland Community College
Topics include: limitations of one-shot instruction; extending the one-shot and infusing information literacy into the curriculum; meaningful assessment; reflective practice and peer learning for instructional improvement; the Framework for Information Literacy and its impact on our practice.
This discussion technique allows students to be actively engaged as they walk throughout the classroom. They work together in small groups to share ideas and respond to meaningful questions, documents, images, problem-solving situations or texts.
The Library Instruction Cookbook
Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom
MLA Guide to Digital Literacy
Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning