Teaching in the Mainstream Patricia Yocum A.M., A.M.L.S. University of Michigan

1. Teaching in the MainstreamPatricia Yocum A.M., A.M.L.S. University of Michigan  SEMLOL Schoolcraft College Friday November 16, 2007

2. Intrinsic Linkage Library Instruction One-shot sessions Credit bearing courses One-on-ones Tutorials Digital service Instructional Skills Development Individual Institution

3. Advantages of credit-bearing courses Systematic Thematic Developmental Transferable Inquiry based Observable (Somewhat) measurable Teaching is a personal relationshipTeaching is a personal relationship

4. More Opportunity to Teach to Different Learning Styles Visual Aural Kinetic

5. Greater range of instruction & learning modes Lectures, hands-on, guided exercises, assignments, reports, quizzes Narrative, reflective, written, oral Student work done solo, duos, trios, groups Power of discovery, analogy, repetition, experience, failure/success Impact of instructor credentials �performance� Teaching is a personal relationship

6. Credit-bearing courses have their own . . . Dynamic Requirements Rewards

7. Impetus for Considering a Credit Course Universal Advent of the digital Rapid transformation of scholarship & learning Growing need to develop new skills & proficiencies to succeed in the digital world

8. Impetus for the Academic Unit Conversion to a research curriculum Uneven quality of student research papers Concern about plagiarism Need to help students lay a suitable foundation for their academic work and lifelong learning in the digital world

9.  Impetus for the Library Transformation to a digital library Observation of challenges users encounter Information literacy movement

10. Impetus for Individual Librarians Record of guest lectures in LSA courses Undergraduate Library (UGL) ~ 150 lectures/term, humanities & social sci ~ 75-80% are for lower division courses Science Library ~ 30 lectures/term, natural sciences ~ 10 are for 100 level courses Professional involvement ACRL Instruction Section, MLA, IFLA, SLA, LOEX Experience teaching credit courses

11. Seeding the Field:Academic Integrity in the Classroom Renoir Gaither (Undergrad Library) & Patricia Yocum (Science Library) Collaborate with CRLT Develop a workshop for GSIs Fall 2001 Create Web Page Spring 2002 Meet w/ LSA Asst. Deans et al discuss plagiarism & the webpage 2002 Asst. Dean Evans Young in the group

12. More Seeding � Instructor College Session �Undergraduate Education in Transition: Perspectives from the Dean's Office� Wednesday January 12, 2005 Prof. Robert�Megginson� Prof of Mathematics� & Assoc Dean for Undergraduate & Graduate Education College of Literature, Science & the Arts (LSA) LSA Largest college at UM (c. 18,000 students) All liberal arts disciplines All levels from 1st year undergrads thru Ph.D.s

13. Assoc. Dean Megginson�s Perspective Instructional Technology Trying to get more faculty to use it UM needs to move toward the forefront Undergraduate Research Increasing role in curriculum Enormous effect on student retention especially among minorities Strong role for library in undergraduate research Challenge is to help students know library resources

14. Follow-Up Seminal articles on library instruction Occasional articles thereafter Chronicle of Higher Education Regular reading

15. February 2006 Email To Renoir Gaither & Patricia Yocum From Evans Young, Assistant to the Assoc Dean for Undergraduate & Graduate Education, LSA Re: article in the Chronicle of Higher Education Librarians ought to be involved w/ 1st yr students Evans� questions: Is there a way to make UM Library expertise available to First Year Seminar instructors? Might we be interested in discussing? Might other colleagues also be interested?

16. Proposal: UC 170 1 credit LSA course Credit/no-credit (pass/fail) 1 hour weekly meeting Hands-on is big component Limited to undergrads w/ no more than 2nd year standing Experimental / pilot Amanda Peters, Renoir Gaither, Patricia Yocum

17. Birthing the Course:Course Content Purpose What to cover How to present it Who presents what Syllabus Pedagogy Grading Evaluations

18. Birthing the Course: Administrative Proposal to & discussion with College Curriculum Committee Course description Job descriptions Applications & interviews Instructional venue & times Consulting with FYS Seminar Professors Coordinating schedules UM, LSA, and Library technology Marketing

19. Fall 2006�Research in the Digital Library� One large course cutting across all disciplines 13 class meetings including 4 breakout sessions Tiered lecture hall Monday 10:00-11:00 a.m. Enrollment: 36 1st year students Enrollment in First Year Seminars also required Shared laptops

20. Faculty Feedback Physics 112December 2006 Student papers Were better than those in previous years Showed a greater variety of sources consulted, number of sources consulted and sources understood Plagiarism disappeared. Professor said there was none of it in these papers.

21. Winter 2007 �Research Methods in the Digital Library� Separate sections Natural Science � Wed 9:00-10:00 Social Science � Tues 3:00-4:00 13 class meetings Stand alone course Enrollment Natural Science � 4 students Social Science � 8 students mix of 1st and 2nd year students Individual PCs in a computer lab (retro-fitted classroom)

22. Fall 2007 �Digital Research. . . Critical Concepts and Strategies� Stand alone course Separate sections Natural Science � Thurs 3:00-4:00 Social Science � Tues 3:00-4:00 Humanities � Mon 3:00-4:00 13 class meetings Enrollment 17/18/16 mostly 1st year undergrads Individual PCs in a computer lab

23. Syllabus F 2007Natural Sciences Section Getting Started; Information in the Academic World The Search Process; types of literature Mirlyn; University of Michigan Library System; Opening RefWorks Account Mirlyn; RefWorks Journal indexes; ProQuest; Quiz 1 Collecting Bibliographic Data; Reference Management Software; Mid-term course feedback Nobel Prizes; Searching authoritative websites Gale General Onefile; Quiz 2 Collecting Text, Developing an Original Voice Guest Lecturer: Mr. Renoir Gaither Comparing digital sources: ProQuest, Gen�l OneFile, Google, Google Scholar Specialized Sources in the Natural Sciences: Biosis Previews, Georef, Inspec, Pollution Abstracts, PubMed, SciFinder Scholar. . . Pt. 1 Specialized Sources in the Natural Sciences: . . . Pt. 2; Quiz 3 Academic Integrity; Science for the Informed Layperson; Looking Forward

24. Lesson Objectives Week 2 Students will be able to distinguish between a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal and a popular periodical. explain the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary types of information. Week 3 Students will be able to articulate a few criteria for what makes a source authoritative. tell the difference between a catalog & an index & be able to give at least one example of each. show someone how to find a book categorized by alpha-numeric order. list what elements make up a basic journal article or monograph citation. use a Boolean operator in a Mirlyn search of their own. construct a focused search in Mirlyn. set up a personal RefWorks account on their own time. Student will feel comfortable doing a basic search in Mirlyn.

25. Student Feedback Section 001 10/2007 What�s going well in this class? What has been especially effective for you as a learner? What is especially effective is learning about new ways to store data and strategies on research. I�m very happy I took this course because I now know how to look up good research and where to find it. I have learned a lot about the resources that UM offers such as Mfile, RefWorks, and Mirlyn. I�ve already used searching techniques for papers I have written for classes and RefWorks for citing sources. It made certain things a lot easier. I love how we are learning about so many new databases and new tools to use! This will really help me in the future.

26. Student Feedback on Instructional Modes The techniques we use to find the information are fantastic. I feel as though I�m learning where to properly look for material and how to look for it. I think that the quiz exercise about finding a specific book was the best exercise for me because I need a goal to obtain. I think it is good to hear from students about how they found the same resources using different methods. We get the opportunity to learn from each other. I like how we go over how to research together in class, and then we have to do it on our own at home. I like that we learned about Mfile and RefWorks (I use them a lot now). I love the PowerPoints!

27. What about this class needs improvement? I don�t find the slide presentations very helpful. I think that if we did more �hands on� research activities, we would benefit from the course more. More clarifications about assignment details. More showing how to specifically use each site on overhead in class. It moves very slowly and covers a lot of basic skills that I already know. I think that there should be an evaluating test early in the class using search engines/databases like Mirlyn/Google group. I think that instead of spending so much time in Mirlyn, that we should learn more about finding reliable information on the Web. We�ve all been using Google for years and are fairly effective at finding what we need, but it would be nice to learn about some alternative sources. Nothing

28. Assignment #6

29. Student Quiz Performancemax = 30 points

30. Lessons Learned So Far There is plenty to teach in a 1-credit course Students will elect such a course & stay with it; attendance in Sec 001 = 96% Developing course content is a lengthy, time-consuming, creative process Google as the foremost search engine is deeply rooted Students respond to being challenged

31. Lessons . . . cont. Marketing matters, especially for a new course A course differs significantly from the traditional library �one-shots� Feedback to and from students is vital Flexibility is sine qua non

32. Many Questions Remain Should the course continue to be offered? Can the course scale? ~6,000 1st year undergrads / year Can the course expand 2 or 3 credits Advanced course (for 3rd, 4th year students) Should it be required? What are possible adaptations? What qualifications & proficiencies should instructors have?

33. ACRL Standards for Proficiencies for Instruction Librarians and Coordinators2007 Administrative skills Assessment and evaluation skills Communication skills Curriculum knowledge Information literacy integration skills Instructional design skills Leadership skills Planning skills Presentation skills Promotion skills Subject expertise Teaching skills

34. Pat Wolfe Ed. D. Basic premises re: teachers, teaching & learning: We need to be a scientific-based profession We must learn how the brain works and teach on that basis The better we understand the brain, the better we are able to teach to it.

35. Major Recent Findings which have Application to the Classroom Experience sculpts the brain The brain seeks meaningful patterns Emotions are a primary catalyst in the learning process

37. Scott Walter How do librarians become better teachers? What can library leaders do to support the professional development of librarians as teachers? Questions & answers to them are intrinsically entwined Walter, Scott. Instructional Improvement: Building Capacity for the Professional Development of Librarians as Teachers, Reference & User Services Quarterly. vol. 45, no. 3, Spring 2006, p. 213-18.

39. Instructor College A staff-run, staff development initiative of the University Library Established 2001 following a report prepared by UM Librarians Public recognition Importance of instruction in the library sphere Commitment to instruction and instructor development Relationship of library to the academic mission

40. Instructor College Aims Promote learning Strengthen the instructional skills of Library staff Cultivate creativity Share in a community Deliver excellent instruction (lead by example) Help people use library resources

41. Operating Conditions Efforts organized by the IC Steering Committee Appointed by AD for Public Services Represents broad sectors of Public Services Appointment terms vary Service is an add-on to regular responsibilities No budget but strong funding support AD for Public Services Library Human Resources Efforts enriched via School of Information interns

42. Program Sessions -- Formats Presentations Panel discussions Demonstrations Hands-on w/ technology Roundtable discussions

43. Program Sessions -- Themes Theoretical to the practical Concepts & Principles Perspectives Developments Technology Instructional Skills Initiatives & offerings

44. Events 2001-2007

45. Critical questions What instructional competencies should we library instructors have? What would those competencies look like �in the flesh�? Can we identify a core curriculum which would cultivate those competencies? How could that curriculum be delivered?

46. For further reference University of Michigan Library http://www.lib.umich.edu/ Instructor College http://www.lib.umich.edu/icollege/ Wolfe, Patricia. Brain Matters:�Translating Research into Classroom Practice, Alexandra, Va.:�Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development,�c2001. Pat Wolfe Patwolfe.com Patricia Yocum pyocum@umich.edu