Adopting Learning

Adopting Learning-Centered Ideas to Library Skills Instruction

Mission Statement
The mission of the Hartfield Library’s library skills instruction program is to help students learn research skills necessary to succeed in their academic careers and lifelong learning pursuits. The intent is also to develop critical thinking skills and offer training that can be applied across the college’s curriculum. With student success in mind, it is essential that this program be flexible, regularly evaluated, and continually improved.

Changing Formats
Migrating the Pathfinders to a web format made them accessible to library users, in the words of O’Banion, “…anyway, anytime, anywhere.” This is especially useful for the many students enrolled in classes offered in off-campus locations.

The web nature of the Pathfinder text allows students to digest the information at different rates and in an individualized order—in short it encouraged each student to use his or her favored learning style. As the Valencia Community College noted, “Using technology for instruction engages students in active learning and critical thinking,” and gives “the learner more control of his/her instruction.”

Presentations and Assignments
Classroom presentations continue to introduce the Pathfinders. At the end of a presentation, each student was assigned a specific subject to use to complete the graded portion of the Pathfinder. Students were given two weeks to complete this assignment. The online nature of these assignments encouraged students to work together and yet still submit separate answers. This facilitates collaborative learning among the students.

Each student was assigned a specific subject to follow in the graded portion of the Pathfinder. Students were given two weeks to complete this assignment. The online nature of the assignments encouraged students to work together and yet still submit separate answers. This facilitates collaborative learning among the students.

The graded Pathfinder component consisted of a series of multiple-choice questions based on pre-selected resources that students were instructed to find and use.

Maintaining graded assignments is a positive pedagogical step, for as Carol Tenopir’s research indicates, self-directed and monitored “tutorials” are not as effective in teaching learning skills as an integrated system of presentations, “hands on” assignments, and feedback.

Assessment and Evaluation
Surveys were revised to better assess student satisfaction with the presentations and assignments; extra credit was given for submitted surveys to encourage increased student participation. Linking the student surveys to library planning follows Barbara Stripling’s recommendation that “learners must be involved in the assessment of their own learning.” Student success was measured by looking at both survey results and assignment scores. These data comprise student outcomes that are then used to plan for improvements in the Pathfinders, presentations, and assignments.