Not currently scheduled
Duration: 6 weeks
Credits: 2.25 CEUs
Price: US $285
In Brief: As information literacy education has become more focused not only on active learning, but also on teaching conceptual knowledge and metacognition (awareness of one’s own mental processes), the library profession has recognized a need for more opportunities to explore effective and engaging approaches to information literacy instruction. This 6-week course is intended for librarians and graduate students who wish to reflect intentionally on their teaching practice and to strengthen their understandings of information literacy and key pedagogical principles. Participants will apply their growing knowledge to developing an instruction plan for a scenario of their choice.
In recent years instruction has become an increasingly important component of almost all public services library positions. Yet most new librarians have limited opportunities to gain teaching experience and knowledge of effective pedagogy until they are standing in front of a classroom. As information literacy education has become more focused not only on active learning, but also on teaching conceptual knowledge and metacognition (awareness of one’s own mental processes), our profession has recognized a need for more opportunities to explore effective and engaging approaches to information literacy instruction.
This 6-week course is intended for librarians and graduate students who wish to reflect intentionally on their teaching practice and to strengthen their understandings of information literacy and key pedagogical principles. Participants will explore topics including:
- 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 apply their growing knowledge to developing an instruction plan for a scenario of their choice. 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 assessable learning outcomes for an instruction session,
- developing a learning activity or lesson plan, and
- developing language and strategies for communicating and partnering with other educators.
Learning Outcomes:
- Become familiar with varying conceptions of information literacy.
- Recognize various instructional roles that librarians play in varying information environments and contexts.
- Develop a general understanding of instructional design principles (e.g. backward design, “big ideas,” learning outcomes, instructional scaffolding).
- Reflect on selected teaching methods and learning theories that may inform or inspire your teaching practice.
- Apply basic knowledge of instructional design to creating learning activities that target specific learning outcomes and that apply scaffold the learning process.
- Reflect on your emerging or current teaching style and philosophy and its influence on your teaching practice.
Registration Information
Participants may register up through the first week of a course. Please email abaer at inquiringteachers dot com with the registrant name(s), email address(es), and the course in which they wish to enroll.
Within one business day you will receive a registration confirmation and payment information. Payments can be made with personal or institutional credit cards or PayPal. If your institution prefers to receive a billing statement or to make purchase order, please indicate this in your email message.
About Inquiring Teachers Courses
In a small online community participants learn about pedagogical theories and practices relevant to information literacy education, while also developing an instruction plan for their unique teaching contexts. Throughout these courses participants provide one another with feedback and receive individualized feedback from the instructor.
This professional development is unique in its emphasis on reflection and community and in its integration of learning research, accessible theory, and everyday teaching practice. To foster this environment, classes are small (no more than 15 people) and all participants are given ongoing personalized and detailed feedback. All courses are facilitated by educator and instruction librarian Andrea Baer, Ph.D.
(All Inquiring Teachers courses count as electives for the Certificate in Library Instruction from Library Juice Academy.)
Privacy Information
Courses are taught through the digital platform MoodleCloud. When registrants first log in to MoodleCloud, they are required to accept the site’s Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy in order to use the site. When a registrant is enrolled in a course, their name and email are added to the course’s MoodleCloud site. Inquiring Teachers does not share any additional user information with MoodleCloud.
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