Learning Styles, Learning Outcomes, and Learning to Teach

At the end of July I had the incredible opportunity to attend the ACRL Immersion 2011 program in Seattle; the track dedicated to helping librarians become better teachers.  It would be impossible to blog about everything I learned in that five-day period, but it was amazing.  I won't say I agreed with everything I learned, or that I'll put every idea into practice.  But it did tell me a lot about myself and how I interact with students in the classroom, and give me some good ideas on tweaking my pedagogy in order to be more effective as I teach library instruction sessions.

So, what three most important things did I take away?

1) Just like there are different personality styles, there are also learning styles.  (This wasn't really *new* information for me, but it got unpacked in a way that helped a lot.)  Most folks are familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (ISFJ here!).  The Kolb Learning Styles Inventory is similar, giving you clues as to how you best learn.  (I'm an Assimilator - is that a surprise to anyone?)  Of course none of these types are set in stone, but they do help understand how you - and your students - learn.  It's also no surprise that you tend to teach to your preferences.  So what do I do?  I lecture!!!  But now I know I can tweak my class, and create more hands-on type stuff for my students.  It might not be what I'd want to do, but hopefully it will be beneficial to them.

2) We also spent a good bit of time on learning outcomes - how to write them, how to design them, and how to build a class around them.  "Focus, focus, focus!" is the mantra - decide what you want your students to learn, and then tailor the outcomes to those goals.  I struggled with this, and it's likely I will continue to struggle.  As one of the instructors said "designing outcomes are an art, not a science - you'll always find ways to tweak and improve what you teach!"  But it did help me to realize that I can't teach everything in one 50-minute class.  I need to focus on the two or three critical skills I want students to learn while I'm there (in conjunction with the course instructor's goals, of course).  Then if the faculty member wants me to do more, I can either add that info into a LibGuide, or schedule another time to visit their class again.

3) Really, though. the most important thing I will take away from the experience is all the connections I made to other librarians doing the same thing I do.  I met several librarians from Georgia, and I hope we can meet again at other state events.  I also made connections with folks from as far away as Ontario, San Fransisco, and Vermont - each of whom offered something really interesting to my experiences in Seattle.

Here's my cohort, just after we finished out teaching presentations.

Kate, Melissa, me, Amy, Emma
Katie, Julie, Erica, Amanda, Karen (our instructor), and Kelly

A great group of ladies, and I'm delighted to call them friends and colleagues!