Catalog Description
Examines the history and context of LIS training programs. Pedagogy, teaching skills, and methods of evaluation are addressed. Students may tailor learning projects to their own interests.
Guiding Questions
What kind of learner are you? How do you think learning happens? How are these two questions connected?
What kind of teacher do you wish to be? What do you want to transmit to others?
What practices are useful among information structures and tools of all kinds?
Purpose
User education takes many different forms across a diverse array of information environments: academic and public libraries, school library media centers, archives and special collections, computer help desks, and all types of medical and special libraries. However, the underlying purpose of user education is empowering users to find and use appropriate resources and tools to discover, understand, and meet information needs and problems.
Information professionals need expertise, skill and confidence to develop meaningful education and training experiences for users. This course provides an opportunity for students to explore, develop and evaluate ways to make differences in the intellectual lives of users.
Objectives & Expectations
Objectives for the class are that you will cultivate an understanding of these ideas:
- Library users as highly variable human beings engaged in problem-solving
- Libraries as variable situations designed for giving educative help and service
- Librarians as the educators who design and create these situations
I expect that students will meet the objectives by these activities during the class:
I expect you to develop your own philosophy of user education practice
I expect you to examine some of the best practices of user education in a variety of information settings
I expect you to develop your teaching skills by planning, designing and delivering an example of instruction
I expect you to examine methods of assessing and evaluating instruction
I expect you to consider new and non-traditional opportunities for user education