Aaron Brower, Professor of Social Work and Vice-Provost for Teaching and Learning, visited the LILI Forum last week. Aaron reminded us that his research interests have long been the transition to college and how we might “pre-format” college life to create niches for new students. He discussed some educational research about effective learning environments, including the NSSE elements of effective engagement and the “learning pyramid,” which tells us that people learn best when they are active participants (doing rather than just listening).
In his year-and-a-half as Vice Provost, Aaron has been working closely with Lori Berquam on how we can best characterize the educational mission of the university; how is it unique and special? This echoes John Wiley’s frequent, broader question, “ What’s so special about UW Madison?” and the Wisconsin Idea. They developed the Wisconsin Experience draft document based on this question. The Wisconsin Experience includes both curricular and co-curricular learning experiences – librarians are in a somewhat unique position since we support a variety of learning experiences for courses and individual students.
For the library, a key element of the Wisconsin Experience is substantial research experiences that generate knowledge and analytical skills. Information literacy is listed among the Essential Learning Outcomes for UW Madison Students and is an essential part of turning research opportunities into effective learning experiences. We reviewed a list of experiences including sustained study abroad, FIGs, Delta, internships, the BRIDGE program, Wisconsin Experience capstone experiences, Biology adaptation of the Leadership Certificate, CALS adoption of the First Year Experience goals, Greater use of peer mentors, TA-ships as professional development, hybrid courses and classroom of the future…
We ended by talking about how the library can participate in and promote the Wisconsin Experience. If you have particular ideas, let me know. I will be following up by emailing Aaron a few ideas, but the good news is that we’re participating in many of these and are involved in many key campus conversations.
