Week 4

Final Project and Learning Reflections

Environment:

I will be creating an instructional session on using databases for a 1-unit, 16-week, online credit course at a two-year community college. The purpose of the course is to help students become effective academic researchers who think critically about information sources and research strategies. The students currently in my class are with various backgrounds as one would typically find in community college classrooms. For most of them, this is their first online class. A couple of the students have tried the course in face-to-face format, but didn’t finish successfully. The online course is deployed using Moodlerooms Learning Management System.

Learning Outcomes:

 As a result of the instructional session on using databases, at least 75% of the students will be able to find at least two relevant scholarly articles to support or challenge a given research question.

Assessments:

Learning Goals for Course	Teaching/Learning Activities	Ways of Assessing Learning
Be able to access the library’s article databases	Video demo	Assign students to find a particular database by providing the subject category this database is listed under
Be able to identify scholarly journal articles	1. Scholarly vs. Popular LibGuide 2. Ask students to compare two sets of articles: ·      One scholarly + one popular ·      Both from scholarly journals but one is a book review	Complete a chart comparing scholarly and popular articles
Be able to find scholarly articles from databases	·      Online tutorials ·      Reflection on search techniques used in finding the articles	Share search results
Be able to find relevant scholarly articles from databases	·      Peer assessment on relevance ·      Self reflection on relevance	Include two scholarly articles to an annotated bibliography project

Learning Theories 

Instructional Tools:

Learning Objectives	Teaching Activities	Tools to Use	Similar Tools to Consider
Students will be able to: 1.     Access databases from library’s web page 2.     Find relevant articles based on a research topic from databases	Database access basics	1. Screen-o-matic (screencast) 2. Print handout (PDF)	Guide on the side
	Database searching techniques	Existing online tutorial: “Database Searching Basics”
	Spotlight on two databases	Existing online tutorials: ·       Academic Search Premier ·       JSTOR
3.     Locate scholarly articles from databases 4.     Find relevant articles from databases based on a research topic	Scholarly vs. Popular	1. YouTube video 2. Scholarly vs. Popular LibGuide that includes: ·       Comparison chart for students to complete ·       Anatomy of a scholarly journal by NCSU Library

Learning Reflections:

I have enjoyed this class very much, and really wish I had taken it before I began teaching the online credit course this fall. Right before #ideala started, I was in a state that I wanted to restart my online course. Every week I tried to put together materials by the deadline based on what was available. Because I was so time-pressed, I was like Jessica the instruction librarian mentioned in week 1’s lecture who relied heavily on her own strengths instead of making instruction learner-centered.

I find #ideala the most useful that it showed me how to systematically design a learner-centered instructional session with helpful readings and learning activities. Through the four weeks, I was able to develop a Using Databases “lesson plan” that I want to roll out in the next two weeks in my online course.

I also find it a valuable experience interacting with other librarians sharing ideas on library instruction. Unfortunately I haven’t got a chance to read most of the blog posts other than a couple that focused on online instruction. I really like Kris Markman’s blog, http://www.krismarkman.com/blog, and I find it very helpful. Thanks to Rebecca Maniates who put together the blog lists of all coursemates, I will definitely find time to read them all.

Thank you Erica and Nicole for a great course!