Since arriving at UW, I’ve been co-teaching LIS 826, a fieldwork course in library instruction / information literacy. The course actually meets quite a few times during the semester, and in class activities include teaching with peer feedback, guided activities such as designing an instruction session, a workshop on using Captivate to create online instruction, and discussions of shared readings. Students also teach a MadCat workshop, assist with library sessions for Communication A courses, and do a variety of instruction and projects in the context of field placements in individual libraries. It’s really gratifying to see the students get a wealth of practical experience, reflect, and develop as teachers over the course of the semester.
Over the years that the course has been offered, librarians have gotten very good at having students explore new directions and technologies. This semester, some examples have been a project to revise our catalog workshop (Jen Loebsack and Veronica Alzalde at Wendt), a YouTube video on boolean operators (Lexy Spry at Chemistry), and a flash-based online library tour (Electra Enslow at College). Other students are engaged in designing and teaching instruction sessions with the support of their supervisors and being TAs for an online course. I appreciate all that these students do, as well as all the work the librarians put in to provide them with meaningful learning experiences.
Some of these are still in development, but the YouTube video is up! Chemistry Librarian Emily Wixson says, “I asked Lexy to explore the possibilities of using YouTube videos as a means of teaching basic library concepts to high school students. I know that many campus librarians are involved in outreach activities with high school students. You may find this useful in those activities. Feel free to send me your comments and questions.”
Booloean Operators
