Service Learning Librarian

International Association for Research on Service-learning and Community Engagement http://www.researchslce.org/

Join Jennifer Nutefall and I at ACRL for a round table discussion: Strengthening information literacy through service learning partnerships. This round table discussion takes place Friday, April 1 from 12:15 - 1:15 in the Exhibit Hall in the Pennsylvania Convention Center. I believe we're at Round Table #13. Details: Participants will explore Service Learning (SL) pedagogy in order to discover practical ways to contribute to SL collaborations at their institutions.

You'll see some new additions to the recommended reading page, including High-Impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter by George D. Kuh (published by the Association of American Colleges & Universities). The first part of the publication summarizes each of the named high-impact practices.  They include:  First-Year Seminars and Experiences, Common Intellectual Experiences, Learning Communities, Writing-Intensive Courses, Collaborative Assignments and Projects, Undergraduate Research, Diversity/Global Learning, ... Continue reading

I'm pleased to announce that I received an award today at the Wright State University Learning Community luncheon.  My partners, Craig This (a first-year seminar instructor at WSU) and Becky Garvin (Interim Director for Project READ, our community partner) and I were awarded "Outstanding Collaboration" for the service-learning project we planned for Craig's first-year seminar. Craig This is in the middle, back row; I am in the front row, second from the left, and Becky Garvin is in the front row next to me.  Other award winners are in the photo, as well.

Days like yesterday don't happen often - but they make all the struggles of teaching worthwhile.   Our students completely blew us away yesterday! A tradition of this course is that we invite our community partner staff members and the Director of the Office of Service Learning to the last day of class for a group reflection, and for the students to hand over their research portfolios to our partner. The students' reflections were the most meaningful and thoughtful we've experienced in the five times we have taught the course.  Even Cathy Sayer, the Director of Service ... Continue reading

Next week, March 8, our students will turn in their completed research portfolios to Project READ.  So this week (week 9), the groups were working fast and furious to continue compiling their portfolios and write appropriate recommendations based on their research.  This is the part where the students apply critical thinking skills by synthesizing the research they found. Students also took a very brief 5-question review "quiz."  The quiz covered the big concepts we covered, like evaluating information and the invisible web. In addition to the portfolios due next week, we ... Continue reading

Last week in class, our students spent time working in groups to revise their citations and annotations for the annotated bibliography and also begin to compile some recommendations based on their research.  We met with each team separately to check on their progress and make some suggestions about how to improve their citations and annotations and how to start writing recommendations.  Since our goal is for the students to experience all stages of information literacy, the recommendations they will write will be a way for them to synthesize the information they have found. We ... Continue reading

I will give a presentation next Monday, March 7 at the Librarians Association of The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill  (LAUNC-CH) Annual Conference, Service Learning:  Keeping the library engaged in the curriculum and the community.  The presentation description is: Librarians are uniquely positioned to support faculty members as they create service learning courses to engage students with curriculum and forge vital community partnerships. Using projects implemented at Wright State University as a starting point, the presenter and participants will explore the ... Continue reading

Don't miss the ACRL Instruction Section virtual discussion "Service-Learning and the Academic Librarian."  This email just came across the ili-listserv yesterday: The IS current topics discussion, “Service-Learning and the Academic Librarian” will be held online Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 1 PM ET (12 PM CT, 11 AM MT, 10 AM PT) via the Elluminate platform. Convened by Gabe Gossett of Western Washington University, this virtual discussion will be an opportunity for participants to learn how service learning is becoming an important issue for academic librarians. For those already ... Continue reading

Since our service learning experience (the book sorting activity) was cancelled yesterday, we created an alternate service project for our students.   And with only 3 weeks left in the quarter, we consulted with Dr. Sarah Twill to craft an acceptable alternative.  She offered the following project that she has used in her own classes.  This is worth 14 points, as was the original project (book sorting).