Step Away from the Podium! A Lesson Plan for Peer Learning

Ready to revamp the way you teach the library catalog and general databases? Learn how to turn the typical lecture session on its head and ensure each class is different from the last. This versatile lesson can easily be sliced and diced into separate lessons. Attendees will be exposed to numerous attention-getting activities and a plan chock full of teaching moments. The combination of game-like activities, exploratory learning, and presentations will generate a buzz amongst your students. During the presentation, attendees may engage with the content by responding to online polls with their personal mobile devices or laptops. All lesson materials will be available to the attendees

Beyond Classroom Evaluation: Structuring Research for Dissemination

Librarians often pursue worthwhile classroom evaluations, yet the results of those evaluations do not always reach beyond the water cooler or an administrator’s office door. Whether successful or not, our findings can lead to rapid improvement in instructional methods, but only if we share our knowledge. If the thought of disseminating your research is overwhelming, you are not alone. This interactive session will provide you with techniques for parsing the research process to enable dissemination, especially through formal channels. Participants will draft an action plan for an instruction-related research project, including specific tasks, time horizon, and resource allocation. This session welcomes librarians new to the profession and those experienced librarians interested in conducting and publishing research for the first time

Lose the Lists! Elevating Your LibGuides to a New Level

This ain\u27t your mama\u27s LibGuide! Ready to think outside the box? Want to empower your students? A sampling of institutions reveals a clear focus for Libguides - lists, lists, and more lists! No one contests the informative value of this design, yet these Libguides often lack instructional components essential to student success. Break the Libguides mold! Discover how to create an instructional platform that addresses various learning styles. Informed by focus group data, develop a toolkit to elevate your LibGuides to a new level. This interactive session will help you lose the lists and empower your students today

Collection of Online Learning Objects for Research Success (COLORS) Pilot Project

The availability of library-related videos is growing; yet it is difficult to justify the impact of such time-consuming projects. In order to investigate the impact of such projects and a possible solution, the researchers asked students to create videos that appeal to their peers. The following research questions were posed: Will creation of media projects enable students to learn core research concepts and skills? Will a series of peer-created media engage students and help them acclimate to researching in an academic library? By asking students to create videos, the researchers were able to observe how users interact with and perceive library resources, such as next-generation discovery tools and information literacy concepts (e.g., differentiating primary from secondary sources). The videos will be used in a workshop setting as teaching tools so researchers can observe if students are engaged by peer-created videos and learn necessary skills. Survey responses will be collected to determine if creating and viewing videos has educational significance. The implications of this research will guide future decisions regarding the creation of instruction-related media and the understanding of user behavior. Through a new initiative, the COLORS project, all students will have access to peer-created library educational media that is available online for point-of-need use. Nonetheless, it is important to assess students’ reaction to peer-created media and determine whether the COLORS Project addresses the instructional needs of students unfamiliar with navigating library research. Objectives: This pilot project will help the researchers determine: (i) if students learn library research concepts and skills by creating educational media, and (ii) the extent to which the use of peer-created instructional materials, as introduced through workshops, is successful in acclimating students to the library. This research will guide decisions regarding future instruction and the use of educational media. Methodology: Fifty students in two sections of an undergraduate one-credit research class were divided into groups. Each group created a video to educate peers about either using a specific library tool or explaining a research concept. Projects were selected for inclusion in two educational workshops for students. Quantitative and qualitative survey responses from video creators and workshop attendees will be analyzed in spring of 2012 to determine the effectiveness of the video projects. While this research is currently in progress, numerical data from surveys of students creating media projects shows positive educational outcomes. Data will be collected in January 2012 from workshop attendees to determine the effectiveness of media projects

Estudio químico y microestructural sobre barras de mortero realizadas con mármoles de la provincia de Córdoba ensayadas por el método M-CAMBT

En un trabajo previo se estudió la potencial reactividad de mármoles de la provincia de Córdoba frente a la reacción álcali-carbonato (RAC) utilizando diferentes métodos de ensayo (IRAM 1700, ASTM C586, CSA A23.2-26A y M-CAMBT). Si bien todos los agregados se clasificaron como no reactivos, se registraron algunas expansiones, especialmente en el método M-CAMBT. A fin de determinar las causas de este comportamiento, se realizaron estudios químicos y microestructurales sobre las barras de mortero post ensayo, mediante estereomicroscopía, microscopía óptica de polarización, microscopía electrónica de barrido (MEB) y microsonda de electrones (ME). A nivel macroscópico las barras no evidenciaron deterioro. En sectores muy localizados se observó el desarrollo de materiales de neoformación en cavidades y en microfisuras en la pasta y en la interfase agregado-mortero. A nivel microscópico se observó el desarrollo de bordes de reacción en todos los mármoles dolomíticos y calco-dolomíticos y fisuras rellenas, asociadas principalmente a agregados con cuarzo tensionado. Los estudios de MEB y ME permitieron asociar los bordes de reacción a procesos de dedolomitización (en los mármoles dolomíticos y calco-dolomíticos) sin evidencias de expansión, siendo más acentuado este proceso cuanto mayor es el contenido de dolomita en la roca. Por otro lado, las fisuras rellenas con materiales de neoformación, se vinculan a procesos asociados a la reacción álcali-sílice (RAS), causados por la inestabilidad del cuarzo tensionado contenido en las mismas. Estos estudios apoyan la teoría que las expansiones atribuidas a la RAC son una combinación de procesos de dedolomitización no expansivos y expansiones por RAS producto de la sílice reactiva contenida en la matriz de las rocas carbonáticas

Dedolomitization and alkali-silica reactions in low-expansive marbles from the province of Córdoba, Argentina

Marbles from the province of Córdoba (Argentina) have been used as aggregates in concrete; however, there is little information about their potential reactivity and interaction with the cement paste. Recently, the alkali-carbonate reactivity of dolomitic to calcitic marbles from this province was determined by standardized methods (ASTM C1293, ASTM C586, CSA A23.2-26A) and a modification of the Chinese Accelerated Mortar Bar Method (M-CAMBT) using a single aggregate size fraction (2.5–5.0 mm). Although all samples behaved as non-reactive some expansion was recorded, especially in the M-CAMBT method. In this work microstructural and chemical studies were carried out by stereomicroscopy, polarizing microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) on mortar bars tested by the M-CAMBT method. Dedolomitization was detected in all dolomitic and calc-dolomitic marbles being more accentuated in the samples with more dolomite. This process is characterized by the development of different zones in the cement–aggregate interface that differ in texture and chemical composition and are similar to the zones described by other authors in dolomitic limestones typically associated with the so-called alkali–carbonate reaction. Therefore, the presence and distribution of dedolomitization appears not to be related to the texture of the aggregates but to the amount of dolomite in the rock. The low expansions recorded were associated with relict strained quartz and possibly with fine-grained phlogopite in the matrix of the rocks, which have acted as silica sources for the development of secondary silicates of variable composition (±Ca ± Na ± K ± Mg ± Al) and microfissures as a result of the alkali–silica reaction rather than the non-expansive dedolomitization process