Week 4: Final Project

Description of Teaching Environment:

I am a librarian at Normandale Community College in Minnesota. It's one of the largest (if not the largest) community colleges in the state. The student population is fairly diverse; I teach students from many other countries and cultures as well as a variety of age groups. I love the opportunity to work with so many different kinds of students! 

Next semester, with my colleagues, I plan to propose a one-credit, semester-long information literacy (IL) course to our curriculum committee on campus. This IL course will take place in a learning community -- paired with another discipline course. This will allow students to directly and immediately apply what they learn in the IL class to another class in which they are required to do research. Currently, the librarians teach only one-shot classes (occasionally with a follow-up) so this credit-bearing class would be change in how IL is taught. We still plan to teach one-shot classes but hope to offer this class as another alternative.

Learning Outcomes:
Over the course of this class, I realized that many of my learning outcomes and goals were too vague. I found creating goals and outcomes for a semester long course challenging. I'm re-learning that I need to develop learning outcomes for the entire course and then develop learning outcomes for each class period that feed into the larger goals. This is where I get bogged down -- trying to determine which are which and make sure I don't jump around. So, in order to try to stay focused, I've revised, tweaked, and streamlined my learning outcomes from week 2:

1. Students will understand that research is a process and takes time.
2. Students will demonstrate critical thinking skills in the areas of: source evaluation, developing a search strategy, using a variety of resources (print and online), and 
3. Students will understand and describe the differences between various print and online resources.
4. Students will demonstrate the ability apply different resources to different research scenarios, both in class and in their personal lives.

Assessments:

Because the majority of my teaching experience is with one-shot classes, I find this section particularly challenging. I struggled to know how to assess learning over the course of a semester as opposed to just in a shorter class period. Finding ways to assess these bigger, course learning objectives was trickier than evaluating one thing for one class period. Upon further reflection (and reading others' blogs), I've come up with a few assessments to try:

1. A self reflection journal, asking students to reflect on what they've learned and how they can use it in the paired class. I think it's so important to have students make connections between IL and their other classes.
2. In-class discussions and activities that allow students to work together, teach each other, and receive immediate feedback from their peers and from myself.
3. Quizzes and assignments that ask students to define or demonstrate key concepts -- such as creating a search strategy or identifying and comparing appropriate resources on a given topic.
4. A final project of some kind -- maybe a pathfinder or annotated bibliography -- that allows students to show all the skills they learned: critical thinking, source evaluation, the research process, etc. 

Learning Theories:

While I found all the learning theories interesting and helpful, I found I was most drawn to constructivisim. I like the idea of providing students with activities that facilitate their learning. It's a more work -- to develop activities -- than lecturing, but I really see the value in helping students learn in new ways. I think this is one way that giving students prompts to assess their own learning, would be helpful. In developing a course, I also see constructivism coming into my planning when I am planning my individual lesson plans for each class period. At that point, I see myself designing activities and using technology to help facilitate the learning goals for each class.

I identified the least with behaviorism, but I'm wondering now if that is because I teach mostly one-shot classes. It's hard to influence behavior when you only see students for 50 minutes. I can see myself using behaviorism techniques more in a semester-long class: offering rewards for coming to class on time, turning in homework, etc. Many of the behaviorism incentives are not things I've explored in one-shot classes but would most likely implement in a semester long course.

Tools

This still feels like the fuzziest part to me. I think I need to do some additional exploring of technology, including in PRIMO. I've looked through PRIMO in the past and found many interesting tutorials and materials but didn't find many of them relevant to what I needed at the time. Now that I have a more comprehensive understanding of instructional design (and a whole semesters worth of classes to plan!) I think I can see myself using more of these materials. 

I also anticipate that I would continue using videos. I use videos regularly during my one-shot classes and plan to continue to do so in a semester-long course. I will use a flipped model, assigning students videos, tutorials, etc. that I find in PRIMO or other places and then discuss them in class. This fits with my assessment model and the learning theories I identify with.

In my week 4 post I also mentioned a talk I heard at ACRL where the librarians let the students pick the resource that they felt best taught/explained a given IL concept. I think this would be a great way to incorporate more technology and keep with a flipped model.

Reflection:

I admit, I had trouble keeping up with the work for this class due to the end of the academic year at my job plus preparations for an upcoming trip to Africa to work in a library for the summer (I leave Saturday). But I did find the readings extremely helpful as I'm thinking about my instruction. I really appreciated the step-by-step process for designing a class. I've always tried to start with my learning outcomes when I plan a class but sometimes, when I'm teaching 5-6 individual one-shots in a week, I lose sight of the overall picture. It was really helpful for me to take a step back and re-think where students are coming from and what I want them to learn.

In retrospect, I might have focused on one-shot classes, since that's where I have the most experience and feel more comfortable with thinking about these concepts. But I did enjoy the opportunity to start thinking about my credit-bearing class and how I can design it to best facilitate learning. It was challenging for me but in a good way. :) I think I found that one of the biggest challenges is remembering to focus on the course outcomes and assessments without jumping ahead to outcomes and assessments for an individual class period. I'm still struggling to put all these concepts together for an entire course but I feel much more prepared to teach a semester-long course than I did before.

I think that I also have lots of tools moving forward when I go back to work in August. I've bookmarked readings and blogs that I can refer back to as I continue to develop this credit-bearing class and so that I can revamp my one-shot classes, as well. 

Blogs

Almost every blog I looked at had interesting ideas and thoughts. I really appreciated the opportunity to look at what others are teaching and doing. I confess, there aren't many in blogs that stand out in particular because I got so much out of each one. Two that stand out: http://instdesign2015.blogspot.com/ and https://abbyrovner.wordpress.com/. I also enjoyed reading the blogs by those either teaching in a community college and/or those teaching a credit-bearing class.There are so many great posts and conversations in this class...I wish we had more than a few weeks to access the class. But like I said, I feel like I have so many tools as I move forward!

Week 4: Technology

I found this weeks' readings incredibly helpful. I've often found myself wanting to add technology to a class (last year I experimented with showing videos) and not always remembering to focus on the goals behind the technology. I really liked the steps outlined in the Online Learning Insights Article. Those are the steps I've been trying to follow but have lost sight of. It was great to see a logical ways to assess technology and how to bring it into the classroom. I want to slow down when I'm designing classes so that I am careful to use appropriate technology at the appropriate time.

What technologies (and these can be old, new, or emerging) might be most appropriate for your final project? 

I think, as I look at designing this course, I would like to find ways to bring in technology. At ACRL this past March I heard a paper/talk given by two librarians at Texas Tech who discussed using technology to help students meet the learning objectives. It was very inspiring. When the librarians introduced a new concept (e.g. keywords) they asked students to go out and find something they thought best taught the concept. It could be a video, article, tweet, blog post, etc. It was a really cool version of flipping the classroom because the students essentially had to pick out something that would help teach them the concept. I would like to incorporate something like this in my course. I think it teaches students to evaluate the information (which source is best?) and also use technology they are most comfortable with. Some might want to use YouTube while others might want to use books. 

So, I don't know if that exactly answers what technologies would be most appropriate. :) But I guess I would like to use a variety of technologies, depending on where I am in the course. At this point, I feel most comfortable including videos (there are lots of great library videos out there!) so it would be easy to just fall back on that type of technology. But I would also like to challenge myself to look at other types of technology, especially because the world of technology is so big! To be honest, though, I would need to research what other technologies are out there that I could use. Thank goodness for PRIMO! :) Although I try to keep up with current technology I still have a lot to learn and explore myself!

Does your final project align with any of the trends represented in the Horizon Report you reviewed?

I looked at the Horizon Report for Libraries. I found it very interesting. I didn't think that the trends in the report are necessarily represented in my project -- they seem to be more focused on providing technological services, such as e-readers, mobile responsive platforms, electronic resources, etc. However, I did think that the first challenge fits very well with my project: Embedding libraries (and information literacy) into the curriculum. This exactly why my colleagues and I are designing this course. We believe that our students will be better served -- and learn more! -- if they have the opportunity to learn Information Literacy in other ways, besides the one-shot class or at the Reference Desk.

How does your choice of technology enhance or improve instruction, or motivate learners?

If I do something similar as the librarians at Texas Tech, I think it's a great way to enhance instruction. At least I hope so. I haven't tried it yet. :) But I think it allows students to use technologies they are familiar with in order to make connections to new material. I'm still determining what specific technologies I might like to use beyond the videos I already use.  

Week 3: Learning Theories and Motivation

Learning Theories:
I really enjoyed reading about the different learning theories and thinking about how I'm already applying them (in my current one-shot sessions) and how I might bring them into this semester-long course. Although, I see advantages for all of them, I find myself particularly drawn to Constructivism.

This past semester I tried an activity where I built upon a story the faculty member told me that she shared with the class. I was actually able to use that story and have students find an article on the topic. I asked half the class to use Google and the other half to use our combined search. Only the students using combined search found the article. Those using Google either didn't find anything or found an article but didn't have access. I was so surprised by how well this activity worked that I've been looking for more ways to include that type of learning in my classes. With a semester-long class, I hope I can find many ways to include this type of learning.

I anticipate I might still do a similar activity in a semester long class as the one I tried before. I would use that activity in a class that discusses the difference between the open web and library databases. Additionally, I would really like to design an activity that would help students learn that research is a process. I've mentioned this goal many times because I think it's so important. I work with students all the time who seem to just want the perfect article to appear on the first search. In a semester long course, I might have to create a series of activities to help students understand this concept. I might create different activities for different parts of the process.

For example, one of the first steps is to define the research question or topic. So many students, when asked, say their topic is something like GMOs or abortion. I want students to learn how to narrow down a broad topic (or broaden a too narrow topic). In one shot classes I have a video I often show that illustrates this concept but I know it's not as effective as having the students actually DO something. I also often show them that as they add keywords to a database they get better results. But again, not as good as having students discover that themselves. I'm still trying to formulate an actual activity but I suspect it would be something like having students work in pairs and try researching in a database with a broad topic. Then asking them a series of questions (like a reference interview) that would help them think through how they developing their topic as they search. It's still pretty fuzzy at this point.

Motivation:
Admittedly, I found Small's article a bit overwhelming. There are a lot of great things in there! But I do want to think about these things as I'm designing this longer course. I really identified with the Attribution Theory. I think, at least students I work with, often do not see the importance of effort when it comes to research. They want the the perfect article to just appear quickly without much effort. This might be the luck part of the theory or possibly the ability - that they 'already know how to search'.

The other parts of the article I identified were the Relevance and Confidence parts of the ARCS Model of Motivational Design. I think that helping students see how information literacy is relevant to their lives (academic or personal) is so important. Giving context for what they're doing makes a lot of sense to me. And the confidence part is something I want to focus on -- giving students manageable tasks. In my one shot classes I try really hard to keep the goal simple so students will be able to finish, e.g. find one article and email it to themselves. Now I need to focus on adding that to my semester long class.

Overall, I thought these readings were very helpful! I'm realizing, though, that designing a semester long course is going to take a while! :) Not only do I need to determine goals for the course but then I also need to determine learning goals for each class period and then go through the design process and learning theories for each. The motivational piece will also most likely have to be thought through for each class period plus for the course. Here's hoping thinking about these processes and theories get easier the more you do them and think about them. :)

Week 2, Integrating

Step 5: Integrating Steps 1-4

1. Situational Factors:
Admittedly, I had a hard time keep track of everything in my head, including the situational factors, as I thought about learning goals. This is my first time planning a semester-long, credit-bearing class and I'm finding there are a lot of things to think about! But I have been trying to remember the diverse background my students come from when thinking about all of this, especially assessments. And I think that my desire to teach with empathy (the FIDeLity part) fits well with the diverse backgrounds of students I work with.

2. Learning Goals and Feedback & Assessment
I'm realizing that for the semester-long course, I really need to dig into all my learning goals. In fact, I think I need to make them more specific. And then look at assessments for each one. Yikes! That's a big process! :) I think what I posted for Educative Assessment is fine (just looking at one learning goal) but I need to spend more time with all the learning goals and making them more specific before looking at the assessments and feedback.

3. Learning Goals and Teaching/Learning Activities
Like assessments, I think in order to develop learning activities, I'm going to have to spend more time on my learning goals and objectives. I really like the idea of evaluating activities that do not serve a learning goal. I can see myself falling into that trap. I've always tried to start planning my one shot classes with my learning goals but often get sidetracked just trying to get things planned. I'm realizing how much more I need to slow down in my planning so that my classes are even more aligned with my goals.

4. Teaching/Learning Activities and Feedback & Assessment
I've tried to think through a variety of ways to provide feedback. I like the idea of mixing things up and making sure everything goes together. I think students like knowing where they stand on the material, so whether its through regular discussions or activities, I want to give students feedback that is actually helpful to their learning.



Worksheet for Designing a Course 
(Note: this is so helpful for me! :) I'm a linear thinker so having a chart helped a lot! I can see myself using this tool for my semester long class planning and also for one shots.)

Learning Goals:	Ways of Assessing	Activities	Helpful Resources
Students will learn the definition of Information Literacy (IL)	Fill in the blank	One minute paper/quiz
Students will understand that information comes from multiple sources – they will be able to compare different kinds of information	Discussion in class	Have students compare and discuss the information found in different sources (for example, encyclopedia vs. scholarly article) on the same topic
Students will understand that research is a process and apply that process to future assignments	Simulation	Ask students to simulate or write down the steps they would take to research a given topic
Students will see IL as part of their every day life, not just classroom research -- they will be able to assess their current information need, whether personal or not	Self reflection	Have students keep a journal on how they see IL on a regular basis. They can reflect on the areas they see themselves evaluating and using information outside of school

Week 2, Educative Assessment

Step 3, Worksheet - Procedures for Educative Assessment

1. Forward-Looking Assessment: Formulate one or two ideas for forward-looking assessment. Identify a situation in which students are likely to use what they have learned, and try to replicate that situation with a question, problem, or issue.

In this information literacy course, I hope that students will be able to apply the skills they learn to future classes, research, and/or information needs. One idea to assess this application might be to assign students a potential topic for research and then ask them to write down the process they might follow to research that particular topic. They wouldn't have to actually do the research but rather reflect on the process they might take in the future. Or they might reflect on a research topic for another class they are taking or have taken in the past. This could be a simulation of future research needs and give students a chance to reflect on the steps of the research process in a new scenario.

2. Criteria & Standards: Select on of your main learning goals, and identify at least two criteria that would distinguish exceptional achievement from poor performance. Then write two or three levels of standards for each of these criteria.

One of my learning goals: students will develop critical thinking skills in the areas of source evaluation, information literacy, and the research process..

• One Criteria -- students will demonstrate quality work in this area by being able to compare and contrast scholarly and popular articles and create lists of those comparisons and contrasts
• Standard One -- a simple level of understanding occurs when students only are able to name one or two differences between the two types of articles. Or when they simply match article descriptors/adjectives to a particular article.
• Standard Two -- a higher standard occurs when students don't need to match descriptive words but are able to create a list themselves.

3. Self-Assessment: What opportunities can you create for students to engage in self-assessment of their performance?

Currently, in my one shot classes I often begin class with a think-pair-share activity where I ask students to think about the last time they did research (of any kind) and what went well and what didn't. I could see myself doing similar activities in a semester-long course. I might do something similar every couple weeks, asking students to reflect on what they've learned during the past week or two. Or I might have them reflect on a reading or assignment they did before class. Additionally, I might have students keep some sort of journal or ask them to write and reflect regularly on the research process to see how their views of that process change (or not) over the course of the semester.

4. "FIDeLity" Feedback: What procedures can you develop that will allow you to give students feedback that is:

• Frequent: I think this can happen in class through activities and quizzes or outside of class through regular assignments. Since I'm still developing this class, I'm still figuring out what this might look like.
• Immediate: One way I like to do this during one shot sessions is through discussion. (Although with one shots it can often feel like I'm talking to a brick wall!) I suspect that as I'm designing this credit-bearing, semester-long course, I would also build in plenty of time for discussions. This allows for students to see quickly where they are with their learning. I would also like to look at short quizzes like the one we took for this class so that students could see immediately the results.
• Discriminating (based on clear criteria and standards): A procedure for this feedback would including rubrics with assignments so that students can see what is included in a higher standard of understanding.
• Lovingly delivered: This is feels the "squishiest" of the feedback categories. I am naturally an empathetic person so I have a harder time thinking through this with concrete procedures. If anything I would probably be too nice and not good about sticking to a procedure. 

Week 1 Assignment, Step 2

STEP 2 - LEARNING GOALS

"A year (or more) after this course is over, I want and hope that students will remember that finding information is not a linear process...and that they can always get help from a librarian." :)

Foundational Knowledge

• Definition of Information Literacy (IL).
• Searching for information is a process and takes time.
• Learning to research is not about learning a specific tool, but rather how the information students need to find fits into the wider world of the information cycle.

Application Goals

• Ultimately, students will develop critical thinking skills in the areas of source evaluation, information literacy, and the research process.
• Students will develop research skills: using online resources, using print sources, understanding different types of information found in print and online, creating a research question and plan, etc.

Integration Goals

• As a paired class, in a learning community, students will make connections between information literacy and the paired, other discipline course. They will see how information literacy fits into other classes and disciplines.
• Students will make connections between the various aspects of the research process, understanding that how they begin their research (asking a research question, setting up a plan, etc.) influences the final product.
• Students will make connections to IL and their personal lives. By learning to evaluate information for a course, students will also learn to evaluate information in their personal lives.

Human Dimension Goals

• Students will learn that they are a part of scholarly communication and that by doing research for their classes, they are also a part of creating new information. They will see themselves as part of the information cycle.
• Students will understand that behind every type of information they seek or need, are people creating that information. Students will understand that information comes from people, not just "the internet" or "Google".

Caring Goals

• I hope that students will, at the least, develop some excitement around research. This may not be jumping up and down type of excitement but hopefully they will see how research can be fun. 
• I also think many students see research as a mundane thing they do in class but I hope they learn to see IL as part of  their every day lives.
• I want students to care about where information comes from and to care about using appropriate materials for each different information need.

"Learning-How-to-Learn" Goals

• Successful students will learn that they have the power to find the information they need and that a librarian is there to help them learn (not just find the answer for them).
• They will learn they need to patient when seeking information and that in order to be successful in IL and research, they may need to be willing to seek out multiple resources for their information needs.

Week 1 Assignment, Step 1

STEP 1 - SITUATIONAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER

Specific Context of the Teaching/Learning Situation

The class is comprised of 20-25 students and all are lower-level students. The class meets once a week, in-person, in the library’s learning classroom/computer lab. This class will be paired with another discipline course and the material and skills taught in this course (INFS 1000) will help supplement the material taught in the paired class.

General Context of the Learning Situation

Students will be expected to learn information literacy skills: understand the research process, identify information needs, and evaluate information. These expectations come from the library department. The college also has an expectation that students will learn and demonstrate critical thinking and this aligns well with that learning outcome.

Nature of the Subject
Again, the course will include information literacy skills. The content for the course is taken from the ACRL Standards and Framework. It will be a combination of theoretical and practical skills. Students will understand the importance of information literacy in their academic careers and personal life. They will also practice using information literacy skills in assignments and activities in order to see the day to day relevancy of the material.

Characteristics of the Learners 
Generally students come from a wide variety of backgrounds: traditional age students, returning/non-traditional students, first generation college students, etc. Because they are from a variety of backgrounds, they also have a variety of learning styles. They may have been to the library previously for a one-shot class, in another course. But overall they have had little exposure to the wider ideas encompassed in Information Literacy.

Characteristics of the Teacher
Myself or one of my colleagues would teach this class. We all hold Masters Degrees in Library and Information Science and are familiar with the ideas in the ACRL Standards and Framework. Personally, I teach with a lot of empathy and try to understand where students are coming from, both personally and academically. I enjoy helping take the 'stress' out of research and using the library. I recognize that all students have strengths but that those strengths might all be different. I also believe that information literacy is a lifelong skill and am enthusiastic about teaching students to think critically about finding information.