The Mindful Instruction Librarian and the “One-Shot”

Meredith Farkas Portland Community College

Association of Christian Librarians Conference | June 13, 2016

Hi! I’m Meredith

Faculty Librarian at Portland Community College and part-time faculty at San Jose State University’s iSchool

Previously

Head of Instructional Services, Portland State University

Head of Instructional Initiatives, Norwich University (VT)

Distance Learning Librarian, Norwich University (VT)

What we’re going to talk about

Limitations of one-shot instruction

Extending the one-shot and infusing information literacy into the curriculum

Meaningful assessment

Reflective practice and peer learning for instructional improvement

The Framework for Information Literacy and its impact on our practice

What does your instruction program look like?

Issues with the one-shot

Time constraints

The need to focus on just a few things in the session

We don’t know where students are

in their learning

Students don’t know what they

don’t know

What is covered is often out of sync

with where students are

Students are coming into a

foreign context

The difficulties in building rapport

The difficulties in building on anything we

do

Alternatives to the one-shot

Flipped instruction

Workshops

Sequenced, scaffolded library instruction across a course or a series of courses

Disciplinary faculty also teach information literacy

Being embedded in a class

Co-teaching

For-credit information literacy courses

What does your instruction program look like and what would you like it to look like?

Embedded in the curriculum or dependent on individual instructors?

Intentional or “by request”?

Mostly one-shots? For-credit? Embedded? Scaffolded?

What does your instruction program’s assessment work look like?

The keys to meaningful embedment of information literacy

Build strong relationships with faculty and departments

Get on committees, join faculty discussion groups/communities of practice/etc.

Get involved in curriculum development/design and review

Don’t just focus on library goals

An example at PCC: Developmental Education and Composition/Lit

Most of our students go through the Reading/Writing course sequence (RD 115, WR 121, WR 122)

Library activities

Participating in department meetings

Participating on Dev. Ed. redesign committees

Participating in RD/WR community of practice

Speaking at teaching and learning symposia

The results of that work

Lots of great collaborations with faculty and opportunities to try new methods of instruction

Close embedment of information literacy in Reading 115 classes.

Working with disciplinary faculty to develop information literacy video tutorials (more on that later)

Course outcomes for new Integrated Reading/Writing 115 class include information literacy

We are always invited into conversations about curriculum and pedagogy now

My experience with flipped instruction: Web-based pre-

assignments that teach and assess

The specifics

Can be created in Google Forms or Qualtrics (even Survey Monkey would work)

Text and video that teach skills; activities that allow students to practice those skills

Students do authentic research on their own research topic

The secret sauce

Pre-assignment is required (for a grade)

Instruction session is developed based on the results of the worksheet

The results

My understanding is increased

My instruction is more tailored

I can cover more ground / less DB demoing

Students are more engaged

Students directly benefit from the assessment

The Challenges

Having enough lead time

Getting faculty on-board

Having time to analyze the results

Tutorial integration

A solution to the problem of teaching the right things at the wrong time

Tutorials

Integrate into classes via faculty outreach

Have students watch in-class at logical points in their learning

Have students watch as homework with an activity that has them practice those skills

Have students watch before library session (perhaps with a library pre-assignment)

At PCC

Grant to build video tutorials to support Reading, Writing, and ESOL classes at the 100 and pre-100 levels

Working collaboratively with faculty to develop learning outcomes, get feedback on storyboards, etc.

Meant to supplement library instruction

Building Toolkits and Training the Trainers

At Portland State university in the Freshman Inquiry (FRINQ) program

Developed learning objects and activities that address most important outcomes for Freshman Inquiry

Created LibGuides toolkit to support faculty and peer-mentors in teaching information literacy beyond our one-or-two-shot

Train-the-trainer

Participated in orientations for peer mentors and faculty in-service

Consulted with faculty and peer-mentors to create custom lesson plans

Step 2 of PCC tutorial grant project

Build a toolkit to package tutorials with activities, lesson plans, etc. for faculty

Work on outreach and communication for faculty

Influencing student information literacy through assignment design

Learning Assessment Council’s College Writing Assessment

Advanced Design Process

Led by Center for Online Learning instructional designers

For programs and departments, not individuals

Focused on backwards design

Library gets four hours 2 hrs. using library resources in classes2 hrs. research assignment design

What skills do your students need to have to successfully complete your current

assignment?

Which of those do you explicitly teach?

After the Advanced Design Workshops

Quarterly library workshops on assignment design for faculty

Hampered by low attendance

Discussions with GenEd Writing Coordinator to create a FRINQ Model Research/Writing Assignment Repository

Discussion

Where do you see opportunities at your institution for doing some of this work and going beyond the one-shot?

What would it take to make it happen?

Assessment and the One-Shot

Assessment fallacies

Assessment must objectively measure student information literacy skills (iSkills, etc.)

Assessment is a measure of how well we did as instructors

We can isolate the librarian’s/library's contribution to student information literacy

Assessment must happen during the one-shot to be useful

Types of assessment

Self-assessment

Satisfaction survey

Reflection

Tests / quizzes

Analyzing student work (papers, portfolios, bibliographies, etc.)

Classroom assessment techniques / performance assessment

Action research

Assessment in the one-shot

Formative assessments / pre-assignments

Self-assessment

Satisfaction survey

Reflection

One-minute papers

Performance assessments

Assessment beyond the one-shot

Self-assessment throughout the course

Reflection at the end of the term

Assessing student work

Action research

Building a culture of instructional assessment

Start small, where the light is good; build short-term wins

Start from a place of curiosity

Don’t make it about individual results or judgment

People need time to learn about assessment, experiment with assessment, analyze results, and learn from assessment

Learn together, share results

Reflective Practice and Peer Learning for Instructional

Improvement

What do you do after you teach a class?

Take the time to reflect!

What went well?

What didn’t?

What made you feel uncomfortable?

What made you feel great?

What would you like to do differently next time?

What do you want to remember for the next time you work with that instructor?

Learning and reflection are amplified in a learning

community

Ways to learn together

Instructional observation

Reflective Peer Coaching

Community of Practice

Which is best and how these are structured depend on your setting/culture.

Instructional observation

Colleagues watch each other teach

Can involve pre-session discussion, debrief, and/or constructive suggestions or not

Reflective Peer Coaching

“Examines intentions prior to teaching and reflections afterwards.” - Dale Vidmar

Pairs meet once before a session to discuss goals

Pairs meet after the session to debrief

Focused on reflection and questioning, not suggesting or advising

Vidmar’s model includes an observer who makes sure that the pair is focused on questioning, not suggesting or advising and makes note of interesting comments

Vidmar, Dale J. “Reflective peer coaching: Crafting collaborative self-assessment in teaching.” Research Strategies 20.3 (2005): 135-148.

Community of Practice

“We need others to complement and develop our own expertise.” - Etienne Wenger

Focused on learning, not work

Purposes

Workshop instructional ideas/problems/sessions

Journal club

Discuss information literacy issues

Etc.

The Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

-Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

“Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to ‘recognize when information is

needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the

needed information.’”

The InfoLit Competency Standards

Defined what an information literate student looked like through outcomes — things they could do

Examples:

“Explores general information sources to increase familiarity with the topic”

“Identifies keywords, synonyms and related terms for the information needed”

“Recognizes prejudice, deception, or manipulation”

“Selects an appropriate documentation style and uses it consistently to cite sources”

Is information literacy just a set of mechanical skills that students can quickly learn?

Does it include dispositions, affect, and habits of mind?

What about curiosity? Help-seeking? Persistence?

-Learning the Ropes: How Freshmen Conduct Course Research Once They Enter College

“It was daunting to conduct online searches for academic literature.

Nearly three-fourths of the sample (74%) said they struggled with

selecting keywords and formulating efficient search queries.”

Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

“ Two added elements illustrate important learning goals related to those concepts: knowledge practices, which are demonstrations of ways in which learners can increase their understanding of these information literacy concepts, and dispositions, which describe ways in which to address the affective, attitudinal, or valuing dimension of learning. ”

Examples of “dispositions” from the Framework

“develop and maintain an open mind when encountering varied and sometimes conflicting perspectives”

“value intellectual curiosity in developing questions and learning new investigative methods”

“value persistence, adaptability, and flexibility and recognize that ambiguity can benefit the research process”

“seek appropriate help when needed”

“exhibit mental flexibility and creativity”

“understand that first attempts at searching do not always produce adequate results”

The Framework is structured around “Threshold Concepts”

“Core ideas and processes that define the ways of thinking and practicing for a discipline, but are so ingrained that they often go unspoken or unrecognized by practitioners.”

Characteristics

Transformative

Troublesome

Irreversible

Integrative

Bounded

Townsend, L., Brunetti, K., & Hofer, A. R. (2011). Threshold concepts and information literacy. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 11(3), 853-869.

Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

Defines six threshold concepts central to information literacy

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

Information Creation as a Process

Information Has Value

Research as Inquiry

Scholarship as Conversation

Searching as Strategic Exploration

The Framework is flexible

“Neither the knowledge practices nor the dispositions that support each concept are intended to prescribe what local institutions should do in using the Framework; each library and its partners on campus will need to deploy these frames to best fit their own situation, including designing learning outcomes. For the same reason, these lists should not be considered exhaustive.”

This is a big shift for some, not so big for others

We can’t do this alone and the Framework sees information literacy

instruction as a partnership

How do we know they are information literate? Student reflection is critical

Threshold Concepts Golden Line Activity

Choose one of the concepts from the Framework

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

Information Creation as a Process

Information Has Value

Research as Inquiry

Scholarship as Conversation

Searching as Strategic Exploration

After a close reading, select at least one phrase that

speaks to you.

How can the framework inform our teaching?

Let’s Assess!

1. Something useful you learned or thought more about today2. Something you wish was covered in more depth or at all

Questions? Comments? Challenges?

Meredith Farkas

meredith.farkas [at] pcc.edu

Blog: meredith.wolfwater.com

Twitter: librarianmer

Slides available at

Selected ReadingsThe entire 7.2 (2013) and especially 9.2 (2015) issues of Communications in Information Literacy.

Brasley, Stephanie Sterling. “Effective librarian and discipline faculty collaboration models for integrating information literacy into the fabric of an academic institution.” New Directions for Teaching and Learning 2008.114 (2008): 71-88.

Bravender, Patricia, McClure, Hazel, and Schaub, Gayle. Teaching Information Literacy Threshold Concepts : Lesson Plans for Librarians. Chicago, Illinois: Association of College and Research Libraries, A Division of the American Library Association, 2015.

Dempsey, Paula R., and Heather Jagman. "“I Felt Like Such a Freshman”: First-Year Students Crossing the Library Threshold." portal: Libraries and the Academy 16.1 (2016): 89-107.

Fister, Barbara. “Fostering information literacy through faculty development.” Library Issues: Briefings for Faculty and Administrators 29.4 (2009).

Head, Alison J. "Learning the ropes: How freshmen conduct course research once they enter college." Project Information Literacy (2013).

Hofer, Amy R., Lori Townsend, and Korey Brunetti. "Troublesome concepts and information literacy: Investigating threshold concepts for IL instruction." portal: Libraries and the Academy 12.4 (2012): 387-405.

Selected Readings (cont’d)Kvenild, Cassandra, and Kaijsa Calkins, Ed. Embedded Librarians: Moving Beyond One-Shot Instruction. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2011.

Oakleaf, Megan. "A roadmap for assessing student learning using the new framework for information literacy for higher education." The Journal of Academic Librarianship 5.40 (2014): 510-514.

Oakleaf, Megan, and Neal Kaske. "Guiding questions for assessing information literacy in higher education." portal: Libraries and the Academy 9.2 (2009): 273-286.

Oakleaf, Megan, Michelle S. Millet, and Leah Kraus. "All together now: getting faculty, administrators, and staff engaged in information literacy assessment." portal: Libraries and the Academy 11.3 (2011): 831-852.

Olivares, Olivia. 2010. The sufficiently embedded librarian: Defining and establishing productive librarian-faculty partnerships in academic libraries. Public Services Quarterly 6 : 140.

Swanson, Troy A., and Jagman, Heather. Not Just Where to Click : Teaching Students How to Think about Information. Chicago, Illinois: Association of College and Research Libraries, a Division of the American Library Association, 2015. Print. ACRL Publications in Librarianship ; No. 68.

Townsend, Lori, Korey Brunetti, and Amy R. Hofer. "Threshold concepts and information literacy." portal: Libraries and the Academy 11.3 (2011): 853-869.

Vidmar, Dale J. "Reflective peer coaching: Crafting collaborative self-assessment in teaching." Research Strategies 20.3 (2005): 135-148.

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