Library Learning

How Students Learn: Implications for Advising and Reference
Thursday, April 9, 3:00-4:30 (LIS 131)

Research in the fields of education, neurobiology and psychology informs
our understanding of how students learn. Yet there is a gap between what
we know about learning and what we do about it when we're teaching. Our
discussion will focus on practical implications of the research on
students' learning, especially on teaching techniques for one-on-one
advising. We’ll view a videoclip of students discussing their course
assignments, and consider your own examples of real students’ reference
desk questions to jump-start our conversation.

Assignments and Exams that Promote Curiosity and Learning
Monday, April 13, 3:00-4:30 (LIS 131)

Assignments and exams are a necessary part of education that we have come to take for granted, largely because they provide the basis for a student's grade. But assignments and exams provide a more important opportunity: to promote students' curiosity and self-reflective learning. This session will examine the characteristics and appropriate sequencing of intellectually stimulating assignments/exams. Participants will view sample assignments and exams (including some of your own we hope) for analysis and discussion.

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has honored University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign librarians, Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe and Beth S. Woodard, with a Special Presidential Recognition Award. Hinchliffe and Woodard are faculty members of ACRL's Institute for Information Literacy Immersion Program. The award was presented at the ACRL 14th National Conference in Seattle on March 13, 2009.

The Immersion Program, celebrating it's 10th anniversary, provides instruction librarians the opportunity to work intensively for four-and-a-half days on all aspects of information literacy. It currently consists of teacher, program, intentional teacher, and assessment tracks. The tracks offer a wide range of intellectual tools and practical techniques to help build or enhance instruction programs. Instruction librarians come away with the intellectual tools and practical techniques to help their institutions build or enhance their instruction programs.

See http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2009/january2009/acrlinfolitinnovators.cfm for more information.