Comic Book Guy in the Classroom: The Educational Power and Potential of Graphic Storytelling in Library Instruction

Whereas comics and graphic novels were once derided as “debased” texts unworthy of consideration in the academic classroom, they have recently gained more acceptance as valid educational resources. In fact, graphic narratives have a long history of success in terms of instruction and engagement, stretching back millennia. Comics can be very effective in academic settings, especially in library instruction, due to their engaging and participatory nature, as well as their ability to model behaviors and imbed lessons within a greater narrative. Many college and university instructors already utilize comics in their classrooms in a variety of manners, from examining existing comics as historical artifacts to intentionally creating comics for instructional purposes and even allowing students to produce their own comics

Text, Image, Story: Using Photo Comics for Instruction, Promotion, and Participation in the Academic Library

In response to the growing call for authentic learning and content creation in the information literacy setting, librarians at Emporia State University have created assignments and activities that utilize an iOS app called Comic Life to create photo comics. Students in a for-credit course created photo comics as information literacy narratives, while First Year Seminar students worked to build library guides. These activities encourage honest, meaningful reflection by students and allow them to demonstrate metaliteracy skills in an engaging and creative manner and can allow for both individual and group-created content. Students at Emporia State University have expressed high levels of satisfaction and engagement when participating in these activities

Freshman framework: Collaboratively developing a set of required instructional modules for freshman research scholars

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Unspoiled broth: A memorandum of understanding for chefs cooking up OER

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That face when your class is fake news: Critical librarianship in the for-credit classroom

Librarians at Oklahoma State University have developed a three-credit course titled, 'They Wouldn't Put it on the Internet if It's Not True: Information Literacy in a Post-truth Society.' This course, first offered during the fall 2017 semester as an elective Honors Seminar, covers traditional information literacy concepts, such as search skills, citations, source evaluation, etc., but also seeks to provide a critical lens through which students can examine information structures. Intentionally incorporating issues of race, class, orientation, and privilege encourages students to develop a critical understanding of how awareness of, and access to, and the quality of information have demonstrable impacts on social, economic, and political well-being of individuals, especially those within marginalized populations. Students are provided with the space to grapple with these concepts, as well as opportunities to interact with real-life applications of information literacy beyond the classroom. This presentation will detail the development of the course, highlighting areas where critical pedagogy was incorporated into readings and class activities. It will also include librarian and student reflections on successes and failures, and student reactions to the course and individual topics. Presenters will also share examples of student work. Attendees will gain insight in to practical application of critical librarianship in information literacy instruction.Librar

No such thing as neutral: Rethinking undergraduate instruction and outreach in a time of "post-truth"

Over the years, our campus has been shaken by racially-charged incidents that leave many students hurting and confused. In the current political climate, with issues of race, gender, citizenship, sexuality, and religion constantly debated at news desks and in the halls of government buildings, libraries need to face the fact that they are not, and never have been, neutral spaces. Understanding this, and influenced by the active and growing critical information literacy movement, we chose to take an active role in improving campus culture and supporting challenging conversations by bringing open dialogue into our library classrooms.This shift in focus for our Library Undergraduate Instruction and Outreach team has impacted our work from top to bottom. We began with drafting a new mission and vision that would illustrate our commitment to fostering the growth of successful information literate students who view the world through a critical lens. Once articulated, these statements influenced our development of a credit-bearing course and significant revisions to our one-shot sessions delivered primarily in first year seminars and composition courses. We sought to address issues of inequality and discrimination and how they impact all stages of the process of discovering, producing, and disseminating information. Students are given the opportunity to confront these issues drawn from real life situations, as well as the space and freedom to discover these structural inequalities and grapple with them in a safe classroom space.Following the first year of our implementation of this new charge, our chapter will discuss the process we undertook to move from big ideas (mission and vision), to practical applications in courses and one-shot sessions, to evaluating our success and failures so that we can continue to promote critical dialogue among our students and faculty. Our discussion will be framed within critical librarianship and draw from seminal texts in that area, as well as emphasize practical, useful applications for librarians who teach.Librar

Text, Image, Story: Using Photo Comics for Instruction, Promotion, and Participation in the Academic Library

In response to the growing call for authentic learning and content creation in the information literacy setting, librarians at Emporia State University have created assignments and activities that utilize an iOS app called Comic Life to create photo comics. Students in a for-credit course created photo comics as information literacy narratives, while First Year Seminar students worked to build library guides. These activities encourage honest, meaningful reflection by students and allow them to demonstrate metaliteracy skills in an engaging and creative manner and can allow for both individual and group-created content. Students at Emporia State University have expressed high levels of satisfaction and engagement when participating in these activities

HackYourSyllabus Mini-Grant: A bite-sized OER incentive program

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