As information professionals, we wear many hats. We are organizers of information when we catalog materials, we are writers when we write blogs and papers, we are researchers when conduct reference work, and we are even teachers when teach our users how to use library services and tools. Teaching information users is a "core role" of the information profession (Cunningham & Rosenblatt, 2018). I witnessed first-hand how this is evident when I first began working in a library. From the first week of my work experience, I was already teaching library users things such as how to use the computer/copier, how to use the databases, and how to conduct general research. During my time in the MLIS program, I began actually designing and creating learning experiences in the form of instructional screencasts, teaching demos, and through my experience as a peer mentor. I have come to learn that as an information professional, knowing and understanding learning theories to base the design of learning experiences off of is an important and necessary skill for my career.
While gaining experience as a peer mentor, I came into contact with a few contemporary learning theories that we had to discuss through our discussion board forum. Malcolm Knowles' Andragogy theory deals with teaching adults and adult learning (Booth, 2011). Specifically, the theory of Andragogy says that: adults need to know why they need to learn something, adults need to learn experientially, adults approach learning as problem-solving, and adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value (Booth, 2011; Instructional Design.org, n.d.a). The application of Andragogy can best be seen in continuing education courses where adults are learning to increase their knowledge in the workplace, get continuing education credits, or gain soft skills (Instructional Design.org, n.d.a). For me, I can see how Andragogy is applied in grad school with many adults returning to grad school to pursue a new career, develop in their established career, or gain new skills.
The next theory I came to be familiar with is Bruner's Constructivist theory. This theory says that learning is an active process in which learners 'construct' new ideas or concepts based upon current or past knowledge (Booth, 2011; Instructional Design.org, n.d.b). Under this theory, the learner selects, evaluates, transforms, and makes decisions of information based on the cognitive structure of past experiences (Booth, 2011; InstructionalDesign.org, n.d.b). Applications of this theory have focused on language learning with children and other childhood development research (Instructional Design, n.d.b). For me, I can see the application of this theory applied when constructing new concepts and ideas based on my past experiences with school and work experience. Learning new concepts in the classroom helps me further shape those concepts via the relation between work experience and prior knowledge. When teaching with this theory in mind, it's important to allow leaners to be concerned with past experiences while encouraging exploration of the topic (Instructional Design, n.d.b).
The last learning theory that I became familiar with during my time as a peer mentor was the Cognitivism theory of learning. This theory suggests that learning is an internal mental process, much like a computer processor (Booth, 2011; Open.edu, 2020). Key principles of this theory say that when a learner's schemata changes, learning takes place (Open.edu, 2020). In order to change a learner's schemata, retention and recall is important to consider as well as designing subject matter to be as organized and sequenced as possible (Open.edu, 2020). I can see how this theory would be commonly practiced in logic and reasoning subject matter courses such as mathematics and law. Understanding learning as an internal process, a construction of past experiences, or age learning can lead to the successful development of instructional design for any type of learner.
Instructional design is hard. I say that for mainly two reasons; first, there's a lot of work that goes into designing a course, lecture, webinar, or even a screencast. And second, as an instructor, you don't really know how learners are going to respond or learn from your instruction. Luckily, there's models of instruction design that can be referenced when designing courses or webinars. There's the traditional model of instructional design which includes the following sequenced steps:
Define the audience - who is the learner? what do they need to know? what are their info needs?
Define the instructional issue - what is being taught? how long will it take? does the issue need precision?
Define specific and measurable learning outcomes
Define the evidence needed to assess learners - what will be used to formally or informally asses what learners have learned?
Design the learning experience - choose the amounts and formats of content and activities to learn and practice with (Cunningham & Rosenblatt, 2018).
The traditional instructional design method provides a way even the most novice of teachers can use to design a single learning experience. In contrast to this method, there are additional methods highly regarded and used today. Another design method frequently used is the Backward Design model of instructional design. This model says that learning experiences should be designed with the final assessment in mind (Instructional Design.org, n.d.c). This design includes the following steps:
Identify desired results - what will students have learned or take with them from the instruction? (i.e., learning outcomes)
Determine acceptable evidence of learning - what do the learners have to do to show they have achieved the objectives of the instruction? (i.e., tests, projects, presentations, papers, etc.)
Design learning experiences/instruction - what do learners have to do during the course to be able to do well on the final assessment(s)? (i.e., activities, discussions, quizzes, etc.) (Instructional Design.org, n.d.c).
The backward design model isn't without criticisms that suggest that this model promotes "teaching the test", rather than learning (Instructional Design, n.d.c). However, proponents of the backward design model say that that is the precise role of an instructor; to prepare students for the final assessment(s) and give them knowledge that they will leave the course with. An instructor has a variety of learning models and theories to choose from when designing learning experiences.
This first piece of evidence demonstrates my ability to design collaborative and individual learning experiences based on learning principles and theories. Serving as peer mentor at the iSchool was a rewarding experience, as you will read in the blog post that I have chosen to represent this artifact. While serving as a peer mentor I had the opportunity to create a collaborative learning experience in the form of a peer mentor meet-up session for new iSchool students, create an individual learning experience in the form of an instructional screencast on using e-textbook resources, and serve as teaching assistant for a section of Info-203 (the introductory class for all new iSchool students). I had the opportunity to set-up a Canvas course site, interact with students in the discussion forums, and grade assignments. This experience helped me gain the confidence to know that I am capable of creating learning experiences and capable of teaching.
This next piece of evidence demonstrates my ability to articulate some contemporary learning theories and the understanding to apply such theories in an information environment. Part of our course participation during my peer mentor experience was that of contributing to learning theory discussion posts. We had to select three learning theories and for each we had to locate an online source that helped us understand the theory. I choose to focus on the learning theories of Andragogy, Cognitivism, and Constructivism for my discussion posts. With each discussion post, I introduce a found online resource and relate the theory to the work and experience as a peer mentor. Composing these posts helped me understand these learning theories and think more about the way we apply such theories in an information environment.
This last piece of evidence further demonstrates my ability to create learning experiences based on learning principles and theories. For this project, we were tasked with having to create a teaching demonstration tied to a real academic librarian job posting. I located a reference law librarian job posting from Loyola Law School and decided to create a teaching demonstration as if I was presenting live to a group of law school students. Completing this project helped me get more comfortable with teaching on-screen and demonstrating my teaching skills. Artifact "3a" is the teaching demonstration recording on YouTube and artifact "3b" is the supplemental reflections portion in which I go more in detail about the specific job posting I chose, some learning principles that helped design this teaching experience, and the tools I used.
As information professionals, we are creators of learning experiences whether we know it or not. We create learning experiences when we design programs, create resource guides, build displays, or just teach our users how to do something on the computer. We are teaching our users everyday. In my early days of college, I considered going down the teacher route and becoming a high school or college teacher. Now on the verge of becoming a librarian, I am becoming a teacher, just not in the traditional sense. What I will take with me from this program is that I have the ability to create learning experiences, both by myself and with others. I am also capable of designing and teaching a course if I choose and I now possess more confidence to do so in the future.
Booth, C. (2011). Reflecting teaching, effective learning: Instructional literacy for librarian educators. American Library Association.
Cunningham, A. D. & Rosenblatt, S. (2018). Teaching users: Information and technology instruction. In Hirsh, S. (Ed.), Information services today: An introduction. (pp. 195-210). Rowman & Littlefield.
Instructional Design.org (n.d.a). Andragogy: Malcolm knowles. http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/andragogy/
Instructional Design.org (n.d.b). Constructivist theory: Jerome Bruner. http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/constructivist/
Instructional Design.org (n.d.c). Backward design. https://www.instructionaldesign.org/models/backward_design/
Open.edu (2020). Cognitivism. https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/page/view.php?id=147079
Photo credit: Kings Canyon National Park, CA by: Cameron Van Aken