SLO 3: The student applies and values user education principles in the teaching of information literacy.
I have learned so many things during my time in the MLIS program. One of the most important things that I have learned is that teaching is a crucial part of librarianship. This has been something of a challenge for me, as teaching feels so different from what I currently do every day. With the exception of providing job training, I had no real experience in a teaching role.
In Fall 2017, I took LIS 635 (Media Production Services for Library Programs) with Daniel Martin. This course gave me a more in-depth look at teaching concepts than I had previously experienced. We explored educational design models as well as a variety of tools for teaching. The final assignment for LIS 635 was to create a Flipped Lesson, which was comprised of a plan for instruction, a curated content collection and a flipped instructional segment with assessment tool. We could choose any topic for our flipped lesson but a component of the assignment was to identify the audience. I chose to teach a lesson on the basics of essential oils to be taught in a public library environment. I had a wonderful time creating my curated collection and my flipped instruction segment. The greatest struggle for me was in creating a plan for instruction, as this was far outside my comfort zone. I think I got something very important out of choosing my topic, defining the audience and creating a formal lesson plan. Education is not “one-size-fits-all”. Learning needs are exceptionally diverse and a great deal of planning goes into responding to those needs.
During that same semester, I also took LIS 623 (Online Bibliographic Information Retrieval) with Dr. Richard Moniz. I am so glad I took this course. I think it brings so much value no matter your focus in the program. Our first project for the class was to choose two databases and create a brief ninety second tutorial for each with a focus on a specific research topic. We were responsible for demonstrating two basic and two advanced features for each database. I chose the Salem witch trials as my research topic and created tutorials for America History and Life and Cambridge Histories Online. It very quickly became apparently just how difficult it is to convey that much information in the time frame allotted. Even more importantly, it needed to be clear and understandable to someone who was not familiar with those databases. I was initially intimidated by this assignment but it became one of my favorites. I enjoyed examining the databases for the features I most wanted to expose. I made careful plans for my tutorial only to learn it was far too long. As I reexamined my approach repeatedly, I got better at providing the heart of the information. It took me out of the role of merely a user of those databases and let me consider how someone else might see them.
As I look back on both of these experiences, I think my most valuable lesson is the need for careful planning and a consideration of your audience. I was initially frustrated with the ninety second time constraint for the database tutorial assignment. But as I considered my own use of the tutorials in other databases, I realized that I rarely wanted to watch anything longer. In that context brevity was important to the intended audience. The flipped lesson let me explore those concepts of lesson planning and considering the needs of the audience in a more in-depth way. Through these projects I learned how much work goes into reaching our users effectively.