New Directions in Information Literacy: Growing Our Teaching Practices

Instructor: Andrea Baer

Dates: September 7 to October 16, 2015

Credits: 2.25 CEUs

Price: $250

    

In recent years instruction has become an increasingly significant component of almost all library positions related to public services, and yet most new librarians have limited opportunities to gain teaching experience and knowledge of effective pedagogy. The need for more educational opportunities related to library instruction is evident in the undeniable changes occurring now in library instruction and in librarians’ understandings of the concept “information literacy.” (This evolution is particularly apparent, for example, in the ACRL’s new framework for information literacy and the conversations surrounding it.)

This 6-week course is intended for librarians and graduate students who are either new to library instruction or who wish to strengthen their understandings of teaching information literacy as a higher-order thinking process. Participants will explore the instructional roles of librarians and library services; the concept of information literacy, its evolution within libraries, and its relevance to librarianship; varying instructional approaches to information literacy; and instructional design principles and learning theories that can inform effective library instructional services. Participants will also apply their growing knowledge to developing their own teaching practices. Weekly discussions and assignments will focus on authentic tasks instruction librarians do in their work, such as communicating the meaning of information literacy and library instruction within a specific educational context, developing learning outcomes for an instruction session, developing a learning activity or lesson plan, and articulating one’s teaching philosophy through a teaching statement.

Course learning outcomes:

- Become familiar with varying conceptions of information literacy.

- Recognize various instructional roles librarians play in varying information environments and contexts.

- Develop a general understanding of instructional design principles (e.g. learning outcomes, backward design, instructional scaffolding, and assessment).

- Develop a working knowledge of teaching methods and learning theories which can inform your own instruction of information literacy.

- Apply basic knowledge of instructional design to creating learning activities that target specific learning outcomes and apply scaffold the learning process.

- Reflect on your emerging or current teaching style and philosophy and its influence on your teaching practice.

Andrea Baer is the Undergraduate Education Librarian at Indiana University-Bloomington. She holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Washington and a Masters in Information Sciences from the University of Tennessee. Andrea’s work in libraries and education is deeply informed by her teaching background in writing and literature and by her interests in critical pedagogy and critical inquiry.

This is an online class that is taught asynchronously, meaning that participants do the work on their own time as their schedules allow. The class does not meet together at any particular times, although the instructor may set up optional sychronous chat sessions. Instruction includes readings and assignments in one-week segments. Class participation is in an online forum environment.

You can register in this course through the first week of instruction. The "Register" button on the website goes to our credit card payment gateway, which may be used with personal or institutional credit cards. (Be sure to use the appropriate billing address). If your institution wants to pay using a purchase order, please contact us by email to make arrangements: [log in to unmask] .

Library Juice Academy

P.O. Box 188784

Sacramento, CA 95818

Tel. 218-260-6115

Fax 916-415-5446

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