Structuring Services and Facilities for Library Instruction

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Courseware in academic library user education: a literature review from the GAELS Joint Electronic Library project

The use of courseware for information skills teaching in academic libraries has been growing for a number of years. The GAELS project was required to create a set of learning materials to support Joint Electronic Library activity at Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities and conducted a literature review of the subject. This review discovered a range of factors common to successful library courseware implementations, such as the need for practitioners to feel a sense of ownership of the medium, a need for courseware customization to local information environments, and an emphasis on training packages for large bodies of undergraduates. However, we also noted underdeveloped aspects worthy of further attention, such as treatment of pedagogic issues in library CAL implementations and use of hypertextual learning materials for more advanced information skills training. We suggest ways of improving library teaching practice and further areas of research

Courseware in academic library user education: A literature review from the GAELS Joint Electronic Library Project

The use of courseware for information skills teaching in academic libraries has been growing for a number of years. In order to create effective courseware packages to support joint electronic library activity at Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities, the GAELS project conducted a literature review of the subject. This review discovered a range of factors common to successful library courseware implementations, such as the need for practitioners to feel a sense of ownership of the medium, a need for courseware customization to local information environments, and an emphasis on training packages for large bodies of undergraduates. However, we also noted underdeveloped aspects worthy of further attention, such as treatment of pedagogic issues in library computer‐aided learning (CAL) implementations and use of hypertextual learning materials for more advanced information skills training. We describe how these findings shaped the packages produced by the project and suggest ways forward for similar types of implementation

Meaningful vs. rote learning in arithmetic the decomposition vs. the equal additions method of subtraction

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Librarians as Teachers: A Qualitative Inquiry into Professional Identity

This study explores the development of ???teacher identity??? among academic librarians through a series of semi-structured interviews. Drawing both on the idea of teacher identity from the literature of teacher education and on existing studies of professional stereotypes and professional identity development among academic librarians, this study explores the degree to which academic librarians think of themselves as teachers, the ways in which teaching has become a feature of their professional identity, and the factors that may influence academic librarians to adopt a ???teacher identity??? as part of their personal understandings of their role on campus.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Beyond the happy sheets! Evaluating learning in information skills teaching

This paper reviews three years of data measuring students' immediate reactions to a computer-assisted learning package in information skills and reports on work in progress to establish a more comprehensive programme of evaluation which will assess the longer term impact on learning of both the courseware itself and the way the courseware is delivered to students. The GAELS courseware was developed in the late 1990s as part of a collaborative project between the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, with funding from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council. The courseware was designed to teach higher level information skills and was initially developed for use with postgraduate engineering students; it has subsequently been adapted for use with students in other subject areas, including biological and physical sciences, and has been embedded for several years now in workshop sessions undertaken with postgraduate and undergraduate students across the Faculties of Science and Engineering at the University of Strathclyde. The courseware is introduced at the start of the academic session and made available on the Web so that students can use it as needed during their course and project work. During the first year, the courseware was used in isolation from other teaching methods (although a librarian was present to support students), whilst in the second and third years it was integrated into more traditional workshop-style teaching sessions (led by a librarian). Following work described in Joint (2003), library staff now wish to assess the longer term impact on learning of both the courseware itself and the way the courseware is delivered to students. However, the existing evaluation data does not adequately support this type of assessment. Teaching sessions are routinely evaluated by means of simple feedback forms, with four questions answered using a five-point Likert scale, collected at the conclusion of each session. According to Fitzpatrick (1998), such feedback forms measure students' reactions and represent but the first level of evaluation. Learning, which can be defined as the extent to which a student changes attitudes, improves knowledge and/or increases skill as a result of exposure to the training, is the second level and is not being measured with these forms. A more comprehensive programme of evaluation, including logging usage of the courseware outside teaching sessions and follow-up of students several months after their introduction to the courseware, is now being established to support a more meaningful assessment of impact of the courseware on student learning

Beyond The Book: Promoting Effective Research

In the past library professionals have primarily collected and provided access to materials; however, this paper will argue that we must now go beyond access or Beyond the Book. One way to do this is to learn about the information search process and then assume a new and more assertive role as a research advisor. We need to change our patrons \u27expectations so that they see us as knowledgeable about sources, yes, but also as experts on effective research as a process of discovery. Three relevant information search process models are covered, as well as the way people vary in their learning styles and thus approaches to research

Review of research and evaluation on improving adult literacy and numeracy skills

The purposes of this literature review are threefold. First, this review summarises findings of the research from the last decade in six fields identified by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) as critical to its forward planning: (1) the economic, personal and social returns to learning; (2) the quality and effectiveness of provision; (3) the number of learning hours needed for skills gain; (4) learner persistence; (5) the retention and loss of skills over time; (6) the literacy and numeracy skills that are needed. Second, this review assesses this evidence base in terms of its quality and robustness, identifying gaps and recommending ways in which the evidence base can be extended and improved. Thirdly, this review attempts to interpret the evidence base to suggest, where possible, how returns to ALN learning for individuals, employers and wider society might be increased through effective and cost-effective interventions

The Habit of Seeking: Liberal Education and the Library at Berea College

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