What initially looked like several change agents colliding to create a year of turbulence, came to be a year of transformation for our teaching practice. Both external forces, such as ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, and internal forces, such as new strategic directions in eLearning, provided momentum as we redesigned our research guides. The presentation includes a case study of a year-long process of re-envisioning our guides to enhance content based on the Framework’s threshold concepts, incorporate responsive and accessible design, and reflect our pedagogical practices. Throughout the process we collaborated with key campus stakeholders: eLearning strategists, English Composition faculty, and the student population. In addition, our process coincided with the renovation of one of our classrooms into a collaborative teaching and learning environment. The presentation demonstrates how the new space converged with our instruction strategies.
Virtual Poster for Association of College and Research Libraries 2015 Conference. This poster illustrates how to reuse and recycle existing course materials by flipping the classroom into library instruction sessions. This activity merges problem-based classroom active learning techniques with student self-paced pre-work that will increase student engagement, content retention, and collaboration with the teaching faculty.
1st Fridays @ 4, a series of informal themed events hosted by librarians, was designed to engage with students in meaningful conversation and explore the terrain of information resources beyond coursework and research needs. The series marketed with the tag line, fun, food and library finds, included themes of Survivor, Library Edition, Celebrate the Chinese New Year, and The Secret World of Rare Books. The series was highly successful, providing direction for the current year.
Panel presentation at the 2014 UC's Diversity Conference:Join a panel of students and librarians who will showcase their collaborative events focused on exploring cultures through personal experiences and library resources. The most recent event, Across Nations: Diversity Speaks, was a big success thanks to student engagement at all stages of planning and presentation. International and study abroad students planned, publicized and moderated the event. Student contributions ranged from social media publicity to the icebreaker – a culture shock video - to preparing ethnic foods and wearing traditional clothing. Most importantly, the inclusive and open dialog at the event allowed students to share their perceptions of other countries, including misconceptions that were corrected by students from those countries. The event serves as a model for utilizing student expertise and enthusiasm for enhancing cross cultural understanding and global engagement.