IL curriculum integration:professional development for librarians

Chris MoselenUniversity of Auckland

A presentation for LILAC 2013

Greetings, Fakalofa lahi atu, Malo e lelei, Ni sa bula, Kia orana, Taloha ni, Talofa lava, Ia orana, Halo olgeta, Mauri ora, Tēnā koutou katoa

University of Auckland

• 41,000 students

• All disciplines

• Ranked 1st in NZ

• Ranked 7th in Australasia (Times HE Rankings)

University of Auckland Libraries & Learning Services

• Distributed sites and collections

• 243 FTE Library staff – 90 professionally qualified, 52 subject librarians

• Merged with Student Learning and English Language Enrichment – 2013

Rationale for IL

• Graduate Profile (2003)

• Information Literacy: Guidelines and Principles (2011)

• Both underpinned by University Strategic Plan 2013-2020

IL initiatives

Literature review• Curriculum integration the gold standard –

ANCIL

• Changing librarian roles – teaching

• Pedagogical knowledge (Bewick & Corrall, 2010)

• Examples of in-house training – mostly teaching – e.g. QUT

• Open University, University of Arizona

Wang curricular integration model (2010, p.159)

IL curriculum integration course co-ordinators

(L-R):Patsy Hulse, Library Manager Engineering; Dr. Li Wang, Manager Learning Support Services;

Chris Moselen, Library Manager Education; Megan Clark, Library Manager Medical & Health Sciences

Background to programme – information gathering

• Interviews with 18 subject librarians, 2 managers and 3 digital/systems

• Understandings of IL• Delivery of IL• Experiences of IL integration – successes/barriers• Relationship with academic staff - collaboration• Knowledge of learning theories• Use of technology/resources• Assessment and evaluation of teaching

Findings

• Good understanding of IL in UoA context

• IL policy seen as “idealistic”

• Knowledge of learning theories and teaching pedagogy requested

• Confusion between course-related and integrated; assessment and evaluation

• Good levels of collaboration with colleagues both inside and outside the library

Pilot programme 2011• 5 modules

• Learning outcomes of programme:

• gain an understanding of information literacy and its importance to the University of Auckland, as well as the responsibilities of all stakeholders in providing information literacy education to students.

• identify approaches for establishing relationships with faculty or departments.

• analyse faculty/school/departmental (referred to as faculty in this document) curricula to identify potential courses for information literacy integration.

• understand and apply the Wang information literacy integration model in a course context.

• familiarise with assessment and evaluation tools used in information literacy teaching and evaluation.

• Programme externally reviewed by Dr Jane Secker (LSE) and Judy Peacock (QUT)

• Inter-relationship with New Presenter Training

Evaluation of pilot - negatives

• Module 5 (Assessment & Evaluation) too “heavy” and took too long to complete

• Not enough lead in time given for readings and assessment task

• Getting assessments signed off by managers too cumbersome and managers are busy

• Timing is an issue – sometimes prep, classes and assessments clash with workload

Evaluation of pilot – suggestions

• Keep the course practise-based – “theory in action”

• Liked reflective journal

• Liked interacting with other librarians and learning in a team

• Instigate peer support

• Make the programme required for all librarians

• Create a bank of online resources and learning tools

• Include more examples from non-professional faculties like Arts and Science

Programme overview:

Module  

Delivery method Time

Module 1.Information literacy introduction – What is information literacy and why is it important to us?

Discussion with manager/team

2-3 hours reading & assignment + 1 hour team discussion

Module 2. Establishing relationships with faculty 

Face-to-face 3-4hrs reading & assignment + 3hr class.

Module 3.Understanding the faculty curriculum 

Face-to-face 3-4hrs reading & assignment + 3hr class.

Module 4. The integration of information literacy into curriculum and designing information literacy curricula

Face-to-face 4-5hrs reading & assignment + 3.5hr class

Module 5. Information literacy assessment and evaluation overview 

Online 6-7hrs reading and assignments online

Module One: IL IntroductionLearning Outcomes:• Understand the meaning of information literacy at the University of

Auckland. • Understand the responsibilities of librarians, academics and other

stakeholders in providing information literacy education to students• Understand the successful ways your team builds relationships with

faculty

• Team based discussion• Identify a training buddy or mentor• Read Bruce (2006), Elmborg (2006), UoA IL documents• Peer feedback on teaching

•Assessment – notes on discussion recorded and submitted to facilitators; peer review of teaching

Module 2: Understanding & working with facultyLearning outcomes:• Understand the work of an academic• Learn some techniques for building relationships within your

faculty.

• First face to face meeting of participants• Academic life – relationship with librarians• Panel of experienced subject librarians discussing

relationship building and successes in IL integration

• Assessment – create action plan for faculty involvement and relationship building

Module 3: Understanding the faculty curriculumLearning outcomes:• Understand the curriculum and different levels of curriculum at

UoA• Identify who is teaching what in specific courses

• Curriculum content – changes, approvals• Practical analysis of curriculum to identify “core”

courses • Assessment - curriculum analysis exercise

using template to identify courses, course co-ordinators, and courses for IL integration (core)

Module 4: IL integration and curriculum designLearning outcomes:• Understand and apply the Wang IL integration model in

curricular integration of IL• Be able to design IL integration activities

• Approaches to IL education• Wang model• Collaboration - speed dating• Integrating IL into assignments – Bloom and

learning outcomes• Assessment – 1. Map the intended curriculum (University

graduate Profile, professional requirements if there are any, IL standards), against the potential courses identified from Module 3 and develop one IL learning outcome for one course in each year by applying Bloom’s taxonomy.

2. Choose an existing assignment from your subject courses or choose one from the exercise sheet and modify it by integrating information literacy into it.

Model application in EducationUsing information

to learn Year 1 – Support & scaffolding Year 2 – Developing

independenceYear 3 – Independent learning

NB Categories below developed from items in blue:

Bloom’s Taxonomy– knowledge, comprehensionSOLO – Unistructural, multistructural

Bloom’s Taxonomy - application, analysisSOLO - Relational

Bloom’s Taxonomy– synthesis, evaluationSOLO – Extended abstract

Recognise need for information/decideGraduate Profile II (e)UoA IL Policy - Skills (a)ANZIIL IL Standards (1)

E.g.: Be familiar with the

appropriate learning management system – Cecil/Moodle

Generate ideas using thinking tools such as brainstorming

Understand the assignment questions and requirements

E.g.: Examine assignment topics and

develop keywords for searching

E.g.: Recognise when further

information is needed and be able to find it from relevant sources

Locate/find/sort informationGraduate Profile II (e)UoA IL Policy - Skills (b)ANZIIL Standards (2)

E.g.: Be familiar with the Education

Library – know how to get course readings, find books, check out and return books, lending policies, where to get study help, special collections

Interpret items on a reading list – understand differences between journals, articles, book chapters, books

Find the full-text of an article both electronically and in print

E.g.: Develop a keyword concept

map for searching the Catalogue and Databases

Mental map of Catalogue, Databases and Internet (Google) – understand limitations of Internet

Be aware of the major NZ educational journals

Source material from outside the Epsom and University libraries by using intercampus delivery and interloan

E.g.: Familiarity with searching

Google Scholar and the Education set of databases for finding articles

Use the advanced search features of the Catalogue such as saving searches and using facets

Carry out advanced Internet/database searching effectively – use social bookmarking to store and retrieve information

RSS and alerting feeds

Module 5: IL assessment and evaluationLearning outcomes:• Understand assessment and how to apply assessment tools

to assess student learning• Understand evaluation and how to apply evaluation tools to

evaluate IL sessions or programme

• Constructive alignment – Hattie and IFLA Guidelines for IL Assessment

• Types of assessment• Learning outcomes – develop and apply• Assessment tools/activities• Evaluation of IL teaching• Reflective practice – peer feedback on

teaching• IL programme evaluation

Module 5: IL assessment and evaluation

• Assessment - 8 activities which need to be recorded in online learning journal. E.g. • Reflective comments on readings/videos• Practical exercises such as revision of

library’s evaluation form• Differences between evidence-based

evaluation and perception-based evaluation (Abdullah, 2010)

• Development of LOs for a specific class• Assessment of LOs

Outcomes

• 12 librarians through course, plus 6 this year

• Re-engagement with IL

• Evidence of increased confidence in engaging with academic staff

• New IL integration projects have emerged – Psychology 108, Speech science, Nursing

• Introducing librarians to a broader understanding of the nature of T & L in the institution

Other issues

• “Required” nature of course not appreciated by all librarians

• Significant time required to run the course

• Programme goals can be linked to development and performance and to re-validation by NZ professional library body

What’s next?:

• Re-orientation of course towards academic literacies - a complete re-write

• Involvement of Student Learning and English Language Enhancement advisors

• Utilisation and modelling of teaching strategies such as those in the AVID programme

• Ongoing evaluation

Thank you for your attention

Questions?