Envisaging young adult librarianship from a teen-centered perspective

Young adult library services were founded on the idea of meeting teens' needs and interests, yet an adult-centered perspective dominates both the research and practice in this area. This chapter presents a small-scale content analysis of recent professional literature as proof of the prevailing adult-centered perspective. It is then suggested that a teen-centered perspective for public library research and practice is a better approach in terms of benefits to the target population. A truly teen-centered perspective means that we must change our thinking to (1) conceptualize adolescents as "teens" instead of"young adults"; (2) focus on teen development; (3) focus on teens as individuals first and foremost, and as members of their age and other demographic groups second; and (4) make teens -- not information resources -- the center of our work.This chapter appears in A. Bernier (Ed.), Transforming young adult services (pp. 33-52). Chicago: Neal-Schuman, all rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or printed without permission in writing from the publisher

Testing the Benefits of Blended Education: Using Social Technology to Foster Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing in Face-To-Face LIS Courses

Blended education, which mixes elements of face-to-face and online educational delivery, can occur at the activity, course, program, or administrative level. This study examined the use of student blogs to test the benefits of course-level blended educational delivery for LIS students enrolled in a face-to-face course. Data collected from students' blogs were also used to assess whether Zach and Agosto's (2009) framework for maximizing student collaboration and knowledge sharing in online courses can be applied to face-to-face courses. The study found that blogs successfully supported collaboration and community building because they were well-suited to sharing course-related knowledge and because students encountered few technical barriers. These findings support Zach and Agosto's proposed criteria for selecting technologies to foster increased collaboration and knowledge sharing, e.g., low learning curves and easily facilitated student interaction. The results suggest that blended education can bring many of the educational benefits of online learning to face-to-face students

Shifting the focus from grades to reflection

What are grades for? In this interactive session, attendees will reflect on this overarching question. We will discuss our evolving practices regarding learning assessment, which can be broadly described as a shift from assigning student grades to encouraging student self-reflection. This session responds to currents across higher education, many of which were redoubled by the coronavirus pandemic: from metacognition in the classroom (ACRL, 2016; Ohtani & Hisasaka, 2018), to contemplative pedagogy (Zajonc, 2014), to “ungrading” (Blum, 2020), and beyond. Throughout the session, we will share assignments, rubrics, policies, etc., offering attendees concrete takeaways to enrich their own teaching practices. Background: Whence Grades? Educators may be surprised to learn that before the mid-19th century, universities kept no records of grades, though sometimes medals were awarded to outstanding individuals (Schneider & Hutt, 2013). Grades emerged in the late-19th century largely to coordinate the movement of students between institutions. Around this same time, research on intellectual ability appeared to show that levels of aptitude in a population conformed to a bell curve, and so experts argued that grade distributions should be synchronized likewise (Finkelstien, 1913). When attached to an assignment, grades are associated with feedback and may take two forms: evaluative (usually a letter or numerical score) and descriptive (constructive commentary) (Brookhart, 2008). As all educators in the ALISE community know first-hand, good descriptive feedback requires concentration and emotional intelligence, and can significantly increase workload on faculty (Crisp, 2007). But research has not conclusively shown that either evaluative or descriptive feedback reliably improve student performance on assignments (Schinske and Tanner, 2014). Students may be uninterested, for example, or find it difficult to act upon (Higgens et al., 2002; Weaver, 2006). Over the decades, research has shown that grades tend to diminish students’ interest in whatever they’re learning (Kohn, 2011). Grades create a preference for the easiest possible task, in which students do only what is necessary for a favorable grade and avoid intellectual risks. A grade-oriented environment is also associated with increased levels of cheating (Anderman and Murdock, 2007), and a fear of failure (Pulfrey, et al., 2011) and student anxiety and distress (Blum, 2020). Against this backdrop, educators across all subjects and institutional levels have been experimenting with alternatives to the conventional approach, often broadly put under the umbrella of “ungrading.” The book Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School (Sackstein, 2015) pointed the way, and the recent book Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) (Blum, 2020) reflects on the realities of doing away with grades in contexts big and small. Though full ungrading is far from standard as of yet, alternative strategies include: designing “grade-free” or “minimally-graded” assignments; training students in self-assessment; and centering peer feedback (Sackstein, 2015; Stommell, 2018). Moreover, many university programs have adopted emergency-response pass/fail systems during the pandemic (Johnson et al., 2020), offering another possible route for shifting the focus away from traditional grades. Given how much has changed in recent decades, we invite the ALISE community to question the validity and utility of the traditional grading system for LIS education. LIS programs are meant to prepare students to lead the information profession by constantly making the most ethical and appropriate judgements at personal, institutional, and social levels. Is it reasonable to expect an antiquated model for evaluation to help our students achieve such lofty aims? This panel will bring attendees together in a lively conversation about alternative visions of assessment and their capacity to transform LIS education for a more resilient future. Agenda - Tim Gorichanaz will welcome attendees and introduce the session (2 mins) Panelists will briefly introduce themselves (3 mins) - Tim Gorichanaz will lead the group through an activity to spark reflection and discussion on the essential purposes of grades, following the “Nine Whys” process designed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless (15 mins) - Jenna Hartel will contextualize the discussion thus far by presenting on the history and development of the grading system in higher education, including emerging alternative possibilities (10 mins) - Panelists will each give a 5-minute presentation sharing an alternative assessment they have used in their classes, with a focus on concrete materials attendees can adapt in their own teaching; a brief Q&A may follow each presentation (25 mins) - Denise Agosto will lead the group through an activity to reveal the actions, however small, that all attendees can do immediately to make their grading more meaningful for students, following the “15% Solutions” process designed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless (20 mins) - Kiersten Latham will moderate a closing Q&A session with the remaining time (15 mins) About the Panelists Tim Gorichanaz, PhD, is Assistant Teaching Professor at Drexel University. He teaches broadly in the LIS program and other areas at both graduate and undergraduate levels. He has implemented both minimal-grading and grade-free models in most of his classes. Denise E. Agosto, PhD, is Professor in the College of Computing & Informatics at Drexel University and the Director of the Master’s of Science in Information program. She teaches courses in social aspects of information systems, information literacy, qualitative research methods, and public library services. She is moving away from highly prescriptive assignments to give students increased agency in designing their own coursework and ways of representing their learning. Kiersten F. Latham, PhD, is the Director of Arts & Cultural Management and Museum Studies at Michigan State University. She teaches both graduate and undergraduate students across a variety of disciplines, all intersecting at the convergence of arts and museum management. For many years, she has experimented with reflective and student-led assignments, contemplative teaching, and ungrading techniques. Jenna Hartel, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. She embraces contemplative pedagogy in her classrooms and likewise employs alternative approaches to assignments and grading. Dr. Hartel allows students to submit creative deliverables (Hartel et al., 2017) such as drawing, poetry, sculpture, and even dance. Dr. Hartel won the 2016 Library Journal/ALISE Excellence in Teaching Award. References Anderman, E. M., and Murdock, T. (2007). Psychology of academic cheating. Elsevier. Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). (2016). Framework for information literacy for higher education. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework Blum, S. D. (Ed.). (2020). Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead). West Virginia University Press. Brookhart, S. M. (2008). Feedback that fits. Educational Leadership, 65(4), 54–59. Crisp, B. R. (2007) Is it worth the effort? How feedback influences students’ subsequent submission of assessable work. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 32(5), 571-581. Finkelstein, I. E. (1913). The marking system in theory and practice. Warwick & York. Hartel, J., Noone, R., & Oh, C. (2017). The creative deliverable. Journal for Education in Library and Information Science, 58(3), 176-183. Higgins, R., Hartley, P., & Skelton, A. (2002) The conscientious consumer: Reconsidering the role of assessment feedback in student learning. Studies in Higher Education, 27(1), 53–64. Johnson, N., Veletsianos, G., & Seaman, J. (2020). US faculty and administrators' experiences and approaches in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Online Learning, 24(2), –21. Kohn, A. (2011). The case against grades. https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/case-grades/ Ohtani, K., & Hisasaka, T. (2018). Beyond intelligence: A meta-analytic review of the relationship among metacognition, intelligence, and academic performance. Metacognition and Learning, 13(2), 179–212. Pulfrey, C., Buchs, C., & Butera, F. (2011). Why grades engender performance-avoidance goals: The mediating role of autonomous motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(3), 683–700. Sackstein, S. (2015). Hacking assessment: 10 ways to go gradeless in traditional schools. Times 10 Publications. Schinske, J., & Tanner, K. (2014). Teaching more by grading less (or differently). CBE—Life Sciences Education, 13, 159–166. Schneider, J., & Hutt, E. (2013). Making the grade: a history of the A–F marking scheme. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 46(2), 201–224. Stommel, J. (2018). How to ungrade. https://www.jessestommel.com/how-to-ungrade/ Weaver, M. R. (2006) Do students value feedback? Student perceptions of tutors’ written responses. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(3), 379–394. Zajonc, A. (2014). Contemplative practices in higher education: Powerful methods to transform teaching and learning. Jossey-Bass

Whatever happened to "always cite the source?" a study of source citing and other issues related to telephone reference

Reference & User Services Quarterly, 47(1): pp. 44-54.This article presents a study of source citing in telephone reference service at the twenty-five largest public library systems in the United States and Canada. The results showed that in eighty-six out of the 125 total reference transactions analyzed (68.8 percent of the cases), respondents gave no sources for their answers. The article also discusses a number of additional issues uncovered during the study that are not related to source citing but that have important itnplications for reference services. The authors conclude that best reference practices are not being followed in many instances of public library telephone reference, and they close with a number of simple suggestions for improving telephone, face-to-face, and digital reference services

Information behavior of online small groups engaged in math problem solving

At the Virtual Math teams (VMT) project, we are designing and experimenting online collaborative environments where small groups of students discuss about math together and solve interesting math problems using a chat program along with a shared whiteboard. During the problem solving process, students seek information for various purposes and from various resources. They share information and construct meaning of it through interactions within the group. Understanding their information behavior helps us to design information resources and learning environments to suit their needs. We have examined and analyzed students’ interactions using conversation analysis. We report here our findings on how small groups of students negotiate information needs, seek information, and use information to solve their problem. We then discuss the implications and make suggestions for design of digital libraries that can support collaboration and learning

Qualitative trends in library & information science (LIS) research

Background Over the past two decades, theorists have noted an increase in the use of qualitative research methods within library and information science (LIS). However, no recent study has sought to provide rigorous evidence of this increase. This ongoing study seeks to address two research questions: 1. How widespread is the use of qualitative data collection and analysis methods in the recent LIS research literature? 2. What are some common themes and trends within the body of recent LIS studies that have used qualitative methods? Data Collection The researchers mined the Web of Science database for abstracts from the top four LIS research journals for the period 2001-2006. Next, they designed an automated program to search the resulting pool of abstracts for set of 14 keywords. Manual analysis was then used to remove false drops. Data Analysis The study includes two data analysis stages. For Stage 1, the researchers used statistical methods to generate a quantitative snapshot of the data. The study is currently in Stage 2, which entails the use of qualitative data analysis techniques to search for themes and patterns within the pool of abstracts. Expected Findings The quantitative results will provide concrete evidence of the frequency of qualitative research methods within these top-ranked LIS research journals. The qualitative analysis will point to possible trends within LIS studies that use qualitative methods, such as dominant data collection or data analysis methods. Together, these results will help to provide a better understanding of the current face of LIS research

Innovative Teaching Strategies and Conventional Approaches for Enhanced Learning in a Global Information Environment

This SIG session features five panels that will share innovative ideas on teaching and learning in LIS. Each panel will showcase a novel approaches to pedagogy that attendees will find useful. Agosto and Poole discuss Community-Based Librarianship, a postbaccalaureate certificate program being developed at Drexel University. In Determining Community Needs with CARES, Bossaller, Adkins, and Kleinsorge demonstrate how the CARES Engagement Network, a free online resource, can be used in the LIS curriculum. Hands and Tucker discuss The 7-Slide Update: A Pedagogical Tool for Enriching Scholarly Communication, a guided approach that focuses on key dimensions of doctoral work. Alman and Faires provide an overview of the social media apps in use by iSchool faculty at San Jose State University in Extend Learning Beyond the Classroom with Social Media & Cloud-based Apps: Connecting, Communicating and Transforming LIS Education. In Social Justice Design and Implementation: Transforming LIS Education. Mehra discusses his critical pedagogies and reflective practices as an instructor of three graduate courses taught in LIS at the University of Alabama. Presentations will be followed by an interactive question and answer session

Examination of the Internet Public Library as dynamic, collaborative teaching laboratory

The Internet Public Library (www.ipl.org) is a collaborative online learning environment that involves LIS faculty and students as well as working librarians around the world. Over the past twelve years, the IPL has become more collaborative with the introduction of new technologies and cultural changes. The IPL team consists of a variety of people from around the world: LIS faculty, IPL staff librarians, masters and doctoral students, working librarians, and technology specialists. Through the IPL, library and information professionals are being prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities of the digital environment: the dynamic nature of information technology, changing social and cultural norms, and an abundance of freely available content are presented in the digital reference environment. Extensive training material has been prepared by the IPL staff and feedback is provided to students by IPL staff, faculty and volunteers. In addition to the learning environment, the IPL also offers a test bed for research related to collaborative online learning environments. For examples, questions such as the role of Web 2.0 resources such as Wikipedia, Facebook, MySpace and other social computing sites will be explored

Remote Reference in U.S. Public Library Practice and LIS Education

This article submitted to IUPUI ScholarWorks as part of the OASIS Project. Article reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Permission granted through posted policies on copyright owner’s website or through direct contact with copyright owner.The state of remote reference services in the United States was assessed by surveying remote reference availability at 100 U.S. public libraries, examining remote reference in the syllabi of American Library Association (ALA)-accredited library and information science (LIS) courses in the U.S., and analyzing national competencies and guidelines. Findings indicated that the telephone was the most common medium in use for remote reference services at public libraries, followed by e-mail and chat. In teaching, however, syllabi at LIS programs addressed digital remote reference media far more often than the telephone. Reference standards and guidelines primarily focused on general practices applicable to both remote and face-to-face reference work, rather than on specifics relevant to differing remote reference media types. Included in this study are recommendations to address this apparent disconnect among reference practices, teaching, and professional guidelines