Teaching Skills: Peer Support Course - Day 1

During the introduction on day 1, we emphasized the peer support element of the course. We felt it was important that participants learnt from each other.  Alongside this we asked that everyone contributed in order to get the most out of the program.

very confident----------------little confidence

Before starting we wanted to gauge participants experience in delivering teaching sessions and more importantly their confidence in teaching. as we wanted to measure their confidence after the course and 3-6 months later to see if there was a longitudinal improvement. We measured both experience and confidence using "string theory"; literally a long piece of string placed along the floor, one end being very experienced/confident and the other end being little experience/confidence.  We then asked participants to position themselves along the line and to write their name on a post it note, which we then collected up in order.

Our first session used a story technique developed by the English Faculty Library to identify who are students were, what their skills were and what we should teach them. The skills were then linked to ANCIL Information Literacy strands. There wasn't time to cover Information Literacy in depth but links were given to the main theories, such as ANCIL, SCONUL 7 Pillars, InformAll, etc, for participants to look at in their own time.

We then discussed the importance of learning styles in relation to the students learning and the way in which we choose to deliver our teaching sessions, as our own preferred learning style may have a bearing on our teaching.  We found out our own learning styles by using an activity example from Gravells, thinking about how you learned to use a new mobile phone.  This was a very quick and dirty method of demonstrating Honey & Mumford's learning styles: activist, reflector, theorist and pragmatist and I felt it worked really well without taking up too much time. We also looked at what exercises went best with each style and that it was best to use a mixture whilst delivering our sessions, to ensure we included all the students.

The rest of the first day's content looked at lesson planning, smart objectives, teaching methods and session evaluation.  The importance of having a session plan was discussed in order to give structure and confidence by ensuring that all the elements of a session were thought about in advance. Catherine also mentioned that creating one standard plan and re-using it saved time overall.  Key elements to this were the the learning aims and objectives.  Aims should state the purpose of the session and the learning need being met.  Objectives show the students the knowledge they should be able to take away at the end of the session.  These should be:

SMART objectives

are they clearly defined?

how will you know they've been met?

can they be met by your participants?

do they relate to the aim and needs of the participant?

can they be achieved in the time available?






The merits of different types of teaching method, such as lectures, demonstrations, discussions and assorted practical activities were discussed among the participants as an interactive activity. Participants were asked to think of advantages and disadvantages of  using each one from both the teacher and learner perspective.

Assessment methods were also talked about, as its important to know how you will assess the learners knowledge.  This is sometimes something which is perhaps left out when designing library sessions due to time practicalities, so choosing something suitable is vital.  Practical activities, quizzes, discussions, question & answer and group work can all be done during the session with time given for feedback and explanations of the answers.  Online assessment, peer assessment and learner presentations take longer as preparation time is needed by either the teacher or learner.  However once set up, this type of assessment can give more useful feedback on how the learner has processed the information given.

We finally introduced the idea of reflective practice by asking the participants to reflect on the sessions they'd seen and the different speakers. We deliberately used a variety a speakers throughout the course, so participants were able to see different delivery styles and methods. We wanted participants to see that each person has their own unique presentation style and that it was possible to get ideas for teaching from watching other presentations and presenters.

The participants evaluation of the first day was very positive which we were pleased about, especially the fact that they had liked the variety of speakers.  The Story technique was also very popular, one participant said "it was inspiring and interesting".  The planning team felt this was a great interactive session which was different to the usual lecture style of delivery and we are hoping to use it again this summer if we re-run the course.

The things to improve we took away to work on for day 2 were; an activity audit of what was already being done within Cambridge, the use of too many post it notes and the positioning of the projector which meant we had to stand in front of the screen.  However these are all things which the participants in turn will need to think about when delivering their own sessions.  Handouts and whether to give them before or after a session seemed to be split into the yes and no camp.  I don't think there is any right or wrong answers, it just depends on the individuals taking your course on that particular day.


References
Gravells, 2013, The award in education and training, Sage.

Honey & Mumford, 2006, Learning Styles questionnaire: 40 item version, Peter Honey Publishing.

Teaching Skills: Peer Support Course - Introduction

The idea for the Teaching Skills: Peer Support course came about after I attended LILAC 2012.  I remember listening to one presentation about the teaching identity and how their library staff had a support group, where they read and discussed articles on teaching to help their development as teachers.  I realised that whilst we do have a support group for librarians within Cambridge through our Brown Bag lunches, where articles on a variety of topics are discussed, we didn't specifically have anything for teaching.  As more and more librarians are now being asked to teach information literacy sessions to students, teaching is quickly becoming associated with a librarians role, especially for subject librarians and departmental staff who demonstrate electronic resources to students.  Even inductions and library tours need a certain degree of confidence and teaching or public speaking ability in order to impart information on your library to students and visitors, etc.  However it's fair to say that although some librarians undertake brief teaching skills course organised by libraries, CILIP and CPD groups, teaching is not taught in depth at library school.  More and more librarians are undertaking a postgraduate diploma or MA course in Teaching and Learning, have a PGCE or B.Ed degree or undertake a teaching qualification at regional colleges.  There are also a number of librarians who do not have teaching qualifications. Therefore Librarians can find themselves adrift when faced with delivering inductions and teaching sessions on a variety of subjects, such as, information skills, search techniques or referencing software.

Being the Chair of the Librarians in Training Group at Cambridge also gave me an insight into what training our librarians requested.  Top of the list was always teaching skills, how to teach and presentation skills.  I thought that with all the expertise and experience in Cambridge we could put on a teaching skills course in-house.  The planning team was formed of both college and departmental librarians (Ryan Cronin, St Johns College; Isla Kuhn, Medical Library; Catherine Reid, Lucy Cavendish College (now Clare College) and myself, Kirstie Preest, Murray Edwards College), with some assistance from 3 guest speakers, also from within Cambridge libraries.

The course itself took a lot of organising and planning but this didn't seem too onerous with four team members.  The team members all had something different to contribute in light of their experience; academic, NHS, & schools and in the different skills we had, for example, advertising, writing, presenting, etc.  We envisaged the course as a pilot project upon which we could build further after the first year, so were keen to ensure that the course was fully evaluated by ourselves and the participants.  We also demonstrated this aspect in practice by evaluating each day ourselves and by asking participants to do the same. This enabled us to change the course as we went along, taking into account any feedback received.  We felt it was important to demonstrate the fluidity, flexibility and a requirement "to think on your feet" which is sometimes required during a teaching session, when things don't always go to plan.

Activity Audit of Information Literacy Sessions

Another example of this flexibility is that we had not planned on discovering what teaching already existed in Cambridge libraries, rather just concentrate on the teaching skills itself.  However our first day's feedback showed that participants wanted this information to see if any overlap occurred.  So armed with this knowledge Isla and I changed the format of day two and included a "teaching activity audit".  Not only did this allow us to show that changing your session with limited time was feasible, it also allowed us to gain some useful data on what teaching already existed.  The image shown, details some of the data collected.

The main aims of the program were to:

• Build confidence and skills for librarians involved in teaching
• Cover the whole process of a teaching session from planning through to evaluation and reflection
• Establish teaching peer support within Cambridge for librarians 

For a reflection on each day of the course please see the other blog posts in the series. 

So slide over here, and give me a moment....

In principle Slideshare is a good thing, allowing people to share their powerpoint presentations, and especially brilliant for those who hate powerpoint and don't want to create their own.  However this is where I feel the first downfall of Slideshare comes. For example, if  you want to re-use a presenation that you've found, (obviously referencing the creator, as the work isn't yours), yes ok you have the slides, but this is only good if you know the subject matter of the presentation. Slideshare in my view just gives an overview of the presentation but doesn't enable you to see the content, if your unfamiliar with the topic, ie. no lecture notes.

The ones I found most useful are those which have an audio track with the presentation, aka screencasts, although these were few and far between in my extensive searching.  Screencasts are good as they allow you to see both the presentation and hear the commentary that went with it.

I actually found it difficult to find presentations that could be recycled, as a presentation does tend to be unique to a particular person.  I have however included a couple that I like.  The second one also contains a link to a you-tube video in German with English subtitles!:

Information Literacy and the future of learning

View more presentations from SLA.

Time For A Library Shift

View more presentations from Tony Hirst.

Where I think Slideshare can be useful, is enabling people to view presentations that they missed, say at a training event, or a conference, especially if you have the handouts and lecture notes to hand.

In a library context, it could be useful to store presentations, that we are all expected to give, for example, inductions.  The students will be able to have a consistent approach, with all Cambridge librarians saying the same thing, however don't we already have Camtools for this.


As for using Slideshare for uploading your own presentations for other to use or view. The main problem to my mind is, whether sharing presentations that you created whilst working at a particular organisation is against the copyright of the organisation.  This is becuase most things you create at work are not owned by you but the organisation.

In conclusion, unlike the INXS lyrics, I'm not convinced I need you tonight!

The first writings of Seshat Scribe

The creation of a blog and blogging for Cam23 things seems a very daunting prospect when you have no idea of what you’re doing and it’s a totally new technology. However the aim of participating in Cam23 things is to learn about Web 2.0 technologies and how they can best be used in a library environment.

Normally I have to say that I’m the first person to trial the use of new technologies, especially when it comes to user education and information literacy. In 2002, I created an online library information skills course via WebCT for geography and anthropology students, which involved evaluating existing training materials and adapting them for use online. In another job I used smart board technology in user education sessions to point out relevant icons on websites, explain the use of Boolean operators and how brackets work when searching, and to get feedback during training.



I have also trialled Optivote (Personal Response Voting Systems) to gain an understanding of student knowledge before and after library and information skills sessions. I also used Camtasia to produce information skills videos for distance learning students, for example, “how to use journals” and created quizzes via our own in house VLE to test student knowledge.

I have always felt it’s extremely important for Librarians to continually evaluate their services and the way in which we provide them, especially if that can help and encourage students in their learning. New technologies can help us engage more with our students and be a part of their learning, whilst allowing them to learn at their own pace.

Given this how can Web 2.0 technologies be utilised in the same way?

Strolling around various libraries over the last couple of years has allowed me discover what students actually do while using the computers we provide. Most I have to say seem to be chatting to friends via Facebook Chat, others are logged onto MySpace or Bebo, and some are viewing videos via You Tube. Not many actually seem to be working or using library resources, but sorting out their social lives. Or is that not actually the case?

I am a true believer that people learn in different ways and we should at least be aware of that fact. Is the person using Facebook Chat whilst in a library training session not paying you any attention? Or are they helping another friend in the room who is struggling to understanding what your saying and too shy to ask?

Students no longer seem to use the same methods of studying or communicating that I did; they seem to multi-task with various technologies and have lots of open windows. I have seen students frantically typing up assignments, researching for music and class division articles on Jstor and checking their email, whilst still arranging that night’s party on Facebook at the same time. I have also realised that watching You Tube videos were part of their studies, and in some cases lecturers had used podcasts to keep their classes fresh and interesting. Others had set up Facebook discussion groups for class assignments, again trying to integrate and engage students.

I have always wanted to use some Web 2.0 technologies as I feel they have a valuable role to play in passing on library information. Eventually in April this year, I set up a Facebook page for our library and have to say was surprised to find that within two days of its promotion we had 73 friends, despite having a small student population!



While this use of Web 2.0 has been successful, I’m not quite as convinced by Twitter, even though the training provided by the UL was good. Maybe this is because I use Facebook a lot myself and am more familiar with using it. I seem to be very slow at grasping what Twitter is all about. The wording even confuses me, i.e. “tweet”, what’s it all about? In the same way as Facebook status updates, tweeting seems to involve people telling you what their doing with their day. At the moment I’m finding it hard to see whether students would follow my library tweetings, but then surely its just another method of communication.

If students are changing the ways in which they learn and communicate, then Librarians perhaps need to evaluate and update the way in which we communicate with our students and be more open to providing services using these new technologies. Having said that I don’t believe we should use every single Web 2.0 technology if its not useful and we don’t really see how it can work in our library environment. Selectivity seems the best policy.

So with all that in mind, I shall try to be open to Web 2.0 technologies for the time being and work through the 23 things, whilst evaluating whether they can help improve library services to students.