Pamela McKinney

Are librarians teachers? Investigating academic librarians’ perceptions of their own teaching skills

Librarian roles in the education sector increasingly include teaching responsibilities, therefore librarians need to know more about teaching theory and techniques in order to provide high-quality information literacy (IL) teaching. There has been little published research into how librarians conceive of their teaching, their skills and themselves as teachers. This research, initially conducted for a Masters dissertation in the Information School at the University of Sheffield, investigates the variation in conceptions of their own teaching skills among academic librarians who teach IL in higher education (HE). It was investigated whether participants would describe themselves as teachers, whether they are influenced by teaching theories (and which ones), and whether they are actually teaching or training. Firstly the literature on pedagogy for IL, approaches to teaching IL in HE, and librarians as teachers, was reviewed before the research and its findings are discussed. A phenomenographic approach was used. A purposive sample of six librarians who teach IL in HE institutions in the north of England was chosen, selected to ensure maximum variation between participants and the resulting conceptions. Six interviews were conducted using phenomenographic techniques to encourage participants to talk about their conceptions, and the interviews were then transcribed and analysed. The data gives rise to four categories of description, each of which describes a conception that librarians hold of themselves and their teaching:: teacher-librarian; learning support; librarian who teaches; and trainer. The variation between categories is determined by interviewees’ conceptions of themselves, their teaching, IL, and other teachers. The results suggest that further support and training for librarians and library and information science (LIS) students would be beneficial and more in-depth and larger-scale research is recommended to test these conceptions and understand in greater detail the training experience and needs of librarians who teach. This article is based on a paper presented at LILAC 2015.

Inquiry-based learning and information literacy development: a CETL approach

The Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences (CILASS) is a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) based at the University of Sheffield. CETL funding was awarded by HEFCE to the University in April 2005 for a period of five years, in recognition of existing excellence in inquiry-based learning (IBL) in the Faculties of Arts, Social Sciences and Law. CILASS is committed to supporting further development and innovation in IBL both locally within the University and more widely across higher education (HE) nationally and internationally. In particular, CILASS promotes approaches to IBL that involve students in collaborative discipline-based and inter-disciplinary inquiries, develop their information literacy capabilities, and use information and communications technologies imaginatively to enhance the learning experience.

Information literacy and inquiry-based learning: Evaluation of a five-year programme of curriculum development

Inquiry-based learning describes a range of learner-centred pedagogies increasingly employed in higher education where students learn through engaging in open-ended research and inquiry. It is acknowledged that this type of pedagogical approach requires advanced information literacy capabilities in students, and that there is a need to support the development of information literacy in inquiry-based learning curricula. This paper reports on the evaluation of a selection of curriculum development projects undertaken at a UK university that implemented inquiry-based learning and information literacy development. Data was collected using a ‘Theory of Change’ evaluation methodology and analysed using a qualitative thematic approach. It was found that educators need to make explicit to students the need to develop information literacy to support their inquiries, and that dedicated approaches to facilitation from peers, librarians and academics are helpful when designing inquiry-based learning.

Reflection for learning: understanding the value of reflective writing for information literacy development

Reflective writing has long been acknowledged as an important aspect of personal and professional development. There is increasing evidence of the use of reflective writing assessments and activities in the context of information literacy (IL) education, particular in higher education (HE). Writing reflectively can help students to understand their own IL development and engage in deeper learning. Students on an undergraduate business intelligence module at the University of Sheffield completed a piece of reflective writing about their IL development as part of the assessed work for the module. This writing was mapped against a model of reflection and a model of IL to understand the depth and spread of reflection offered by these students. The results showed that students had chosen to reflect in some but not all areas of IL, and the depth of reflection was variable. However, the aspects of IL where students were reflective illustrated that the learning outcomes of the module had been met. Mapping reflective statements against models of reflection was found to aid in the analysis and assessment of the reflective writing. The analysis undertaken by the researchers supported their own reflective practice as scholars of teaching and learning.

The use of technology in group-work: A situational analysis of students' reflective writing

Group work is a powerful constructivist pedagogy for facilitating students’ personal and professional development, but it can be difficult for students to work together in an academic context. The assessed reflective writings of undergraduate students studying Information Management are used as data in this exploration of the group work situation and what matters to students in terms of ensuring success. Situational Analysis provides the methodological framework and a number of mapping techniques are used to interrogate the data. Students reflect on the importance of communication for group work and identify the convivial tools they use when arranging meetings, working collaboratively and producing outputs. Students valued the instant communication facilitated by smart phones, but despite the immediacy of electronic communication, face-to-face meetings are still highly valued. Silences in the data reveal the lack of engagement with the Virtual Learning Environment as a tool for group collaboration. Implications for educators in supporting group work are identified.