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5856 results in Facet Publishing

Page 210 of 293

  • 84 - Problem-based learning (PBL)

  • from Activities
  • Helen Blanchett, Chris Powis, Jo Webb
  • Book:
    A Guide to Teaching Information Literacy
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp 217-219

  • Summary

    Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centred pedagogic approach in which learners work collaboratively to solve problems and reflect on their experiences. It was pioneered and used extensively at McMaster University in Canada. It has also been widely applied in the UK within medical education.

    PBL draws on social-cultural and constructivist theories of learning. Instead of presenting learners with information and asking them to understand and memorize it, PBL means the learners find out for themselves. Learners often find this approach more interesting and interactive and there is evidence that it leads to deeper learning, allowing learners to construct their own understanding.

    Key characteristics of PBL include:

  • • The teacher is a facilitator, rather than the focus of learning. His or her role is to help the learners devise effective questions and strategies to resolve the problem.

  • • The problems may be messy, real-life issues. The focus is on providing challenging and open-ended problems.

  • • There is a strong focus on collaborative working, with learners being encouraged to take responsibility for their group and for setting and meeting their learning outcomes.

    • Advocates of PBL argue that it is a more realistic and authentic approach to learning in real life, by virtue of being open-ended, collaborative and outcome-focused. Learners are encouraged to research, discuss and explore issues during the PBL process, using a variety of learning strategies and approaches.

    If you are thinking about delivering a presentation or giving a handout – i.e. transmitting information to learners – think about how you can revise it so that the learners find this information out for themselves. What questions could you ask so that the learners can find out for themselves? Can these questions be incorporated into a scenario? For example, ask the learners to explore a database and then write a short user guide to it. This will almost certainly lead to a greater understanding of the resource than simply asking them to use it.

    ✓ BEST FOR

  • • making learning interactive, relevant and interesting

  • • group learning

  • • learning by doing.

    • + MORE

  • • Enquiry-based learning (EBL, ‘inquiry’ or IBL in American English) is a related activity, which can be seen to encompass PBL but also a broader range of activities. EBL differs in that learners can define the problem themselves.

  • 90 - Social bookmarking

  • from Activities
  • Helen Blanchett, Chris Powis, Jo Webb
  • Book:
    A Guide to Teaching Information Literacy
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp 230-231

  • Summary

    Social bookmarking sites enable users to record their favourite websites and any other pages they wish to keep as a reference. The references are stored on the social bookmarking site and can be accessed by the user, unlike browser bookmarks (or favourites), which are tied to a computer. As well as storing and organizing the bookmarks for the user's own reference, they can also be shared – hence the ‘social’ aspect. There are many social bookmarking sites, such as delicious (www.delicious.com), Digg (http://digg.com) and Diigo (www.diigo.com).

    There are several ways that these sites can be used to enhance information skills teaching. One simple example is to store a list of references within the social bookmarking site and make this public to your learners. Most sites allow you to annotate the resources, so you can explain why the sites are useful. This can be used as an additional resource for your teaching, but also used within hands-on sessions. If your learners have an account for the site you are using, they will be able to add their own comments on the resources.

    ✓ BEST FOR

  • • creating resource lists for use within teaching sessions or as an additional reference

  • • sharing resources between learners.

    • + MORE

  • • Teach your learners about RSS feeds and how they can subscribe. For example, use a tool such as iGoogle (www.google.com/ig). As part of this session, get your learners to subscribe to your social bookmarks using the in-built RSS feeds. They will then be automatically alerted when you add new resources.

  • • Set a task, either individual or group, where learners have to create their own resource list, justifying the choice of resources using the comments feature. These resources can then be shared with peers.

  • • Lists of social bookmarks can be exported in different formats, which can be useful as a reference. Diigo, for example, has the facility to export to Internet Explorer, CSV (which can be read in Excel) and delicious – this means a delicious user can upload the bookmarks to their own account.

  • • Consider using a more academic social bookmarking site, such as Connotea (www.connotea.org), CiteULike (www.citeulike.org) or Mendeley (www.mendeley.com).

  • • Explore the differences in functionality and usability between social bookmarking software and commercial reference management packages.

  • Introduction

  • Helen Blanchett, Chris Powis, Jo Webb
  • Book:
    A Guide to Teaching Information Literacy
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp vii-viii

  • Summary

    About this book

    Why yet another book on information literacy? The answer is quite straightforward: because we wanted to provide a different kind of resource, that we hope will be of practical benefit to practitioners developing learning, teaching and training in the library and information world.

    There is a huge amount about information literacy published every year, ranging from theoretical overviews of the nature of information literacy to case studies of the applications of different pedagogical approaches. Articles, book chapters and books cover a variety of critical, discursive, reflective, research-focused, qualitative and quantitative approaches.

    We wanted to do something a little different. Rather than prepare lots of case studies of how it went well (there are plenty of other places to get that kind of information), we decided to compile a series of hints and tips, together with some best practice guidelines. Using this book should help to extend your teaching repertoire, suggesting novel approaches to some regular teaching conundrums and be a useful resource for definitions and background information.

    Most of the tips are especially relevant for those of you running a structured teaching or training event. This might be in formal education (in schools, colleges and universities), in public and community settings, in health services or in corporate settings. Increasingly this kind of work – essentially moving beyond doing presentations to leading interactive learning events – is key for nearly all of us.

    As experienced practitioners, we hope that the book will provide practical advice, underpinned by our experience and theory. We have deliberately tried not to make this too academic a text, as we think there are other, more useful works to support the development of your knowledge and understanding in this area. So, although we do include references to useful additional sources these are by no means intended to be exhaustive. We do want this book to help build your confidence as a teacher. It should provide you with a starting point for experimenting with different teaching methods and strategies.

    But remember, you need to develop your own ideas and teaching styles and we hope that this book will provide a source of guidance and inspiration as your experience grows.

  • R

  • Heather Dawson
  • Book:
    Know it All, Find it Fast for Academic Libraries
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp 299-308

  • Summary

    REFERENCE MANAGEMENT TOOLS

    Typical questions

  • • Are there any online tools for managing the citations for my dissertation?

  • • Are there any programmes which will format my references into APA style?

    • Points to consider

  • • Reference management tools provide a place where students/researchers can effectively organize, store and format bibliographic references to books, journals, papers and websites etc. They can save researchers time and effort because in many cases lists of references can be directly exported from commercial journal indexes and databases. The best services also automatically format citations into specific styles (such as APA and MLA) which can be output as a bibliography at the end of a dissertation or article.

  • • In addition to established commercial products, an increasing number of free reference management tools are being made available on the web. Note that some have storage limits and offer fewer facilities for automatic formatting in bibliographic styles, so check capabilities carefully.

  • • This section introduces a selection of well known commercial and free examples. When deciding which to use, students should first check if local library/IT services provide support for any specific services. Major library services also produce comparison guides. A good example is Yale University, guides.library.yale.edu/tutorials. However, do bear in mind that some of the advice given may be geared towards local IT networks, so check versions, compatibility and date last updated before relying on it!

  • • Finally, remember that students who enquire about reference management tools may also benefit from the general advice about Citing and Referencing given in this book.

    • Where to look

    Connotea

    www.connotea.org

    Free web-based service created by Nature Publishing and used heavily by scientists. Users can save, tag and share citations. References can be imported from any website.

    EndNote (subscription required)

    www.endnote.com

    Well known commercial product. The website offers factsheets, tutorials and a users’ forum.

    EndNote Web

    www.endnote.com/enwebinfo.asp

    Free web-based version of EndNote. Has more limited functionality, but a good capability for sharing references with others. Online tutorials are available.

    Menderley

    www.mendeley.com

    Free service aimed at researchers which is both a reference management tool and a social network because, in addition to storing, downloading and formatting citations, it enables users to view and exchange information on popular papers. Data can be imported into Mendeley from a variety of other reference management tools, such as EndNote and Zotero.

  • 10 - Assessment

  • from Planning
  • Helen Blanchett, Chris Powis, Jo Webb
  • Book:
    A Guide to Teaching Information Literacy
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp 31-35

  • Summary

    There are many different forms of assessment, ranging from the formal examination to simple observation. Some of the most effective ways to assess information literacy are discussed as separate tips in this book. It is important to remember that assessment is an essential part of the learning experience as it is the most effective way of ensuring that your learners actually learn what you have been teaching them. Assessed tasks or activities are often the most effective way that learners start to internalize and understand the information with which they have been provided, or to put it another way, assessment turns information into personal knowledge.

    Assessment is not always about exams and tests. Instead, think of it as a catch-all description for the process of letting the learners try out and demonstrate what they have learnt.

    When planning assessment ask yourself three questions:

  • • What do I want to measure?

  • • Is this the best way to assess?

  • • Is what I am testing important or significant?

    • When planning your teaching, you need to think about how to check that the learning outcomes have been achieved. This can be done in a variety of ways, but you need to link your aims, objectives and learning outcomes to the assessment to make it most effective.

    There are different kinds of assessment:

  • • Summative assessment takes place at the conclusion of the learning experience.

  • • Formative assessment takes place during the learning experience and can be something as simple as asking your learners to do a task and giving them feedback while they are working on it.

  • • Diagnostic assessment takes place prior to your sessions and can be used to assess existing knowledge and ability to inform your teaching and to benchmark learning.

    • Remember that all assessment tasks and activities should have the following five qualities:

    1 Validity

    Assessment should test the learning outcomes. It is also good practice to select tasks relevant and appropriate to the process. So, for example, setting a bibliography task would be a good activity for students needing to demonstrate literature searching, reviewing, and referencing skills, but perhaps not a suitable activity for family historians who would rather demonstrate their searching skills by drawing up a genealogy. This can be quite difficult to achieve as after all, it can be easier to test recall (‘Do you know how many books you can borrow?’) via a quiz than understanding.

  • 83 - Presentations by learners

  • from Activities
  • Helen Blanchett, Chris Powis, Jo Webb
  • Book:
    A Guide to Teaching Information Literacy
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp 215-216

  • Summary

    Presentations by learners can be a very effective form of assessment for a variety of reasons. First of all, the format and requirements are usually easily understood by learners, so less tutor input is required to explain what learners need to do. Secondly, presentations are often straightforward to assess, either by peer, tutor, self, external lecturers or any combination of those groups. Finally, presentations may not require a lot of additional technology or equipment so can be set up and delivered with little fuss or minimal administrative work.

    So, pragmatically, presentations can be easy to arrange and use. More importantly, pedagogically they can be very effective in assessing whether a range of learning outcomes have been met, including content knowledge and transferable skills. Presentations can be used flexibly, set as the final product of a task (group or individual) or at an interim point (for example, reporting on progress so far before a final report, portfolio, etc.)

    When asking learners to present the results of their work you should:

  • • Allow sufficient time: factor in time taken to set up their presentation (even if this is to tack up a sheet of flip-chart paper or put a memory stick into a computer). Also allow some time for questions – from you and/or their peers in the audience.

  • • If the idea of using a presentation has been introduced within your session, give the learners the time to elect a spokesperson or to plan what they are going to say. Also provide enough warning about deadlines – give your learners both a ten- and a five-minute warning. There will be some groups in any session that have not written anything until prompted.

  • • Give clear instructions on what you expect from the presentation – how detailed it should be, what format, etc.

  • • Always respond to the presentations and give praise when it is due. Try to have a question ready to ask of each presentation.

  • • If the presentation is the result of several weeks’ work and not simply at the end of a single workshop, then offer some input on good presentation skills.

  • • Be aware of the learners’ nerves and take this into account when providing feedback.

    • ✓Best for

  • • group work

  • • staff development.

  • 80 - Podcasts

  • from Activities
  • Helen Blanchett, Chris Powis, Jo Webb
  • Book:
    A Guide to Teaching Information Literacy
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp 209-210

  • Summary

    Podcasts are often confused with sound bites. The former are part of a series and the latter are one-off recordings. Both are downloadable sound files that can be listened to immediately or saved for later consumption. They are particularly useful for self-guided inductions to your service or as a series of skills tutorials that build into a course. Typically, they are loaded onto a web page or put within a VLE.

    Ideally, podcasts should be short in order to control file length and manage boredom on the listener's part. Plan your podcast by defining its structure and give timings for each item. Decide how you will move from one item to the next. Plan any extra resources you may need, such as adding background music.

    Test the voice used on people before committing to the series – it is often better to use more than one voice (in a double act) to maintain interest. The presenters should always introduce themselves and say what the podcast is about. Write a short storyboard for your podcast, but not a word-for-word script – otherwise it may sound stilted, artificial and forced. Instead, run through the things that you want the presenter to say and ask him or her to speak as if to one person rather than an audience. Often, ‘amateur’ voices from within the workplace are used and, although these can often work very well, speaking on a broadcast is a skill and not everyone can do it. Be ruthless when choosing your presenters.

    Some topics lend themselves well to this format. For example: the selfguided tour asking learners to stop at pre-arranged points, short introductions to services like interlibrary loans or a series on referencing (how to reference a book and a journal, etc.).

    ✓ BEST FOR

  • • distance learners

  • • inductions.

    • + MORE

  • • Include some pictures – a video or stills of relevant views – and create a vodcast (video podcast) for a library tour.

  • • Use a more personal approach by interviewing library staff, lecturers/teachers and learners, asking them to outline their strategies for success in finding and using information.

  • • An interview with an author or a magazine-style podcast with book reviews may be more appropriate in other library settings to promote reading.

  • 26 - Interruptions

  • from Delivery
  • Helen Blanchett, Chris Powis, Jo Webb
  • Book:
    A Guide to Teaching Information Literacy
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp 76-77

  • Summary

    Interruptions can and will occur during your teaching career. How you handle them is really down to your personality and the situation but you must address them. The worst thing that you can do is to ignore them. Do not let them overwhelm you (or your memories of running learning and teaching events), but do try to manage them.

    Common sources of interruption:

  • • Dominant personalities. Try to avoid eye contact that might provoke a question or comment, ask others for their comments, or suggest that you meet at the end of the session to talk through the issues being raised. See the tip on dominant participants for an extended discussion of this issue.

  • • Mobile phones and other electronic interruptions. Set clear expectations about these at the start of the session (remember that some people may need to be contactable during sessions for work, childcare or other personal reasons). If an interruption, such as a phone call, does happen then it is better not to ignore it – the learners’ attention will have already moved to the distraction. Isolate the event by asking the person to leave the group if they do take the call. Do not humiliate a learner if he or she has simply forgotten to turn off a phone but wait patiently while they deal with it. If you are working with learners who are very likely to be contacted – for example, a workshop with healthcare professionals who may be on call – explain at the beginning of the class where they can take a call without causing disruption.

  • • External noise. If the noise is so bad that you cannot be heard properly or is so distracting that it is clearly affecting the learning environment then do not be afraid to stop the session. If you can ask the noise-makers to stop with some chance of success then you should do so, but if it is unavoidable then stop the session and try to rearrange. Struggling through will probably achieve little – you must be in control of the environment as much as possible.

  • • Latecomers. Ignore them. Making an issue of the lateness at the time will only exacerbate the interruption. Do try to have a word with the latecomers at some point though, stressing how disruptive lateness is. There is an extended discussion on this topic in the tip on Latecomers.

  • 99 - WebQuests

  • from Activities
  • Helen Blanchett, Chris Powis, Jo Webb
  • Book:
    A Guide to Teaching Information Literacy
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp 251-252

  • Summary

    A WebQuest is a structured web-based activity. It is defined on the WebQuest home page as ‘an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all of the information the learners work with comes from the web’ (http:// webquest.org.). Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University developed WebQuests in 1995. There are tools available to create WebQuests, but the simple structure can be created on any web page or using a program such as Word or PowerPoint which can contain web links. They are ideal for use in information skills teaching as they focus on finding and using information, aiming to foster higher-order thinking, based around problem solving, analysis and synthesis.

    WebQuests have a standard structure that is used as a framework for guiding the learner. Depending on the level of the learner and your learning outcomes, you can give as much or as little guidance to the learner as you desire. WebQuests can be used for a variety of purposes (see http:// webquest.sdsu.edu/taskonomy.html). This page provides a useful guide to different types of WebQuest and explains how information is used in each task. For example, is it simple information reproduction or is synthesis or judgement involved?

    The structure normally involves an Introduction, Task, Process, Resources, Evaluation and Conclusion:

  • • Introduction: an overview of what is expected in the WebQuest.

  • • Task: a specific question or problem for your learners to address.

  • • Process: guidance on how learners should approach the task. This contains as much or as little information as you feel is appropriate for your learners.

  • • Resources: a selection of resources to be used in the WebQuest. These are normally web resources, but can be paper based. You may guide your learners directly to the resources they need to use, or perhaps to a directory site where the learners have to locate a resource for themselves. This can then test search and evaluation skills.

  • • Evaluation: what is required in terms of output from the WebQuest, which may include marking criteria. The output could be a report, presentation or something more creative.

  • • Conclusion: a summary which may include encouraging reflection on the task.

    • Examples may be found in Further Reading (below).

    ✓ BEST FOR

  • • providing a structure for your learning tasks

  • • encouraging higher level thinking

  • • guided tasks involving web resources.

  • 5 - Pre-session audit

  • from Planning
  • Helen Blanchett, Chris Powis, Jo Webb
  • Book:
    A Guide to Teaching Information Literacy
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp 16-18

  • Summary

    Knowing your learners is a key part of the planning process but one that we do not always have the luxury of having. Information literacy teaching is often a one-off event delivered to learners of whom we have no prior knowledge and who we may not see again. This means that we might need to make guesses at prior knowledge, experience and motivations of learners when preparing sessions. However, there are things that we can do to help:

  • • Ask the other stakeholders – these could be teachers, lecturers, societies or individuals involved in arranging the learning and teaching event. Concentrate on finding out what the learners know already and what they need. The latter is easier to find out than the former, as those booking your teaching may not know about the learners’ prior experience of information skills. Try to ask more than one individual and triangulate – for example, in a school, college or university you might want to talk to teacher/lecturers about what the learners need and also IT or media technicians about their experience or observation of the group.

  • • Ask the learners. This can be by prior arrangement – sending out presession questionnaires could be useful but be careful with your questions as people will often under- or overestimate their expertise or knowledge. Alternatively these questions could be asked on a session booking form (if used). Try to ask specific questions rather than asking learners to rank themselves. Ask for qualitative answers rather than tick box or ranking scales.

  • • If pre-session questions to the learners or their sponsors are not possible or appropriate, then make a point of asking the learners as they join your teaching session. Position yourself near to the doorway or chat as you wait for latecomers. Do not interrogate but ask friendly, targeted questions as people arrive. This means that you will need to be flexible with your planning – there is no point ploughing on with something if they have told you that they already know it or it is apparent that it is irrelevant.

  • • Ask directly what your learners want from the event and then incorporate this into a revised set of learning outcomes.

  • 45 - Room layout

  • from Delivery
  • Helen Blanchett, Chris Powis, Jo Webb
  • Book:
    A Guide to Teaching Information Literacy
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    23 October 2011, pp 124-126

  • Summary

    Planning your room layout will have a very positive effect on any learning and teaching event, and change the impact of anything you do. Here are some suggestions:

  • • The ballroom/cabaret style uses round tables and chairs placed throughout the room. This is not always comfortable if you have your back to the stage, but is good for group interaction (as long as the tables are not too big and the facilitator is easy to see and hear).

  • • Blended classrooms use flexible layouts and have access to IT. You can move furniture to create a mixture of working environments. You may need to think about programs to control computers if the space is diverse, as learners could become distracted.

  • • The boardroom style is where the whole class sits around a table (e.g. a long rectangle or U-shaped layout). This is good for discussion and interaction with the teacher/facilitator.

  • • A circle or semicircle layout is also useful for discussion and interaction.

  • • Empty space is handy for creative improvisation, but you may need to think very carefully how you will use it.

  • • If using an IT lab with computers and desks in rows, you may need to consider how important group work or non-IT work might be. Computers can create a barrier between you and your learners so it may be more difficult to build a rapport with them while presenting in this room layout.

  • • A lecture-style layout where all the chairs face the front is useful for listening to the teacher and watching demonstrations, but not very good for group work. The teacher controls this environment, and has eye contact with everyone.

  • • Sitting in a lounge-style on easy chairs can be useful for discussions or tutorials, but it is not always easy to write or make things in this layout.

  • • The World Café (www.theworldcafe.com) layout is like a ballroom but with paper tablecloths you use to write your ideas on. This layout is good for mind mapping. Participants usually move between tables.

    • You should think about access to technology: check that everyone can see the main screen easily. Try out seats around the room and check for acoustics and sightlines – especially whether pillars or other equipment are in the way.

Page 210 of 293