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 Reflective Teaching: A Bridge to Learning

Library Orientation Series: #35

Edited by Deb Biggs Thomas, Rosina Tammany, Randal Baier, Eric Owen, and Heidi Mercado

The 31st National LOEX Conference initiated a wake-up call for instruction librarians to make time for self-assessment of our teaching, "...to take a step back for a moment and reflect on the essentials of instruction: teaching and learning."

Teaching is not and should not become a static enterprise; rather we bring aspects of ourselves into the process. When we take the time to understand and reflect on how we teach, we can foster more effective learning for our students.

The conference explored such topics as support for improved teaching, professional growth as teachers, collaborative learning, teaching to different learning styles, the passionate teacher and other thematic areas.

The keynote speakers, Betsy Baker and Elizabeth Burge, set the tone for the conference, each reflecting in her own techniques for self-assessment.

Betsy Baker, a library consultant and educator, who has been an academic librarian for over twenty years at the University of Illinois and Northwestern University, urged taking that seemingly non-existent time for reflection. With reflection we can begin to ask ourselves about the true meaning and purpose of our work. This, Baker states, "informs our answers to questions of what we need to do and how we should do it."

Liz Burge is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada where she works in adult and distance education research. Burge, a former librarian, used a metaphor to help "examine some assumptions about our own and our clients' learning" as well as assumptions having to do with instruction librarians professional worth and practice vis-a-vis our students.

The selected papers that follow the keynote addresses showcase individual presenters' strategies, programs, and ways to incorporate self-improvement and assessment in teaching. Discovering and then implementing ways to "nurture" our teaching selves ultimately will result in our students becoming effective learners and instruction librarians more fulfilled professionals.

Ordering Information

  • Library Orientation Series, No. 35
  • ISBN 0-87650-370-9
  • 8 1/2x11, 184p, paper, 2004, $45.00

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Detailed Table of Contents

  • Preface
    by Deb Biggs Thomas
  • Articles

  • The Muse in the Mirror: Reflection in Professional Practice
    by Betsy Baker (Library consultant and educator formerly with Northwestern University)


  • Bridging Action and Reflection: Strategies and Questions for Teaching Librarians
    by Elizabeth J. Burge, Ed.D (Faculty of Education, University of New Brunswick, Canada)
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    Breakout Sessions

    Breakout Session No: 1

  • The Digital Difference: What Opportunities for Innovation, Student Interaction and Reflection Does a Web-based Course Offer?
    by Jeanette McVeigh (University of the Sciences in Philadelphia)


  • Library Instruction for All: Exploring Ways to Accommodate All Learning Styles in and Out of the Classroom
    by Vivienne Piroli (Simmons College)


  • Patterns of Self-Assessment for Teaching and Learning
    by Janice M. Krueger (University of the Pacific)


  • Teaching As an Act of Courage: Taking Our Teaching to the Next Level
    by BethAnn Zambella (Wellesley College) and Susan Barnes Whyte (Linfield College)
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    Breakout Session No: 2

  • The Library-Research Paper and the Instruction Librarian: a History, a Context, and a Speculation
    by Donna J. Gunter (University of North Carolina, Charlotte)


  • Stone Soup: A Recipe for Collaboration and Support
    by Jim Kinnie, Mary C. MacDonald, and Amanda Izenstark (University of Rhode Island)


  • Toss the Bag of Tricks: Fostering Motivation in Library Instruction
    by Michelle Twait (Gustavus Adolphus College)


  • Workshop on Educating Reflective User Instruction Librarians
    by Jana Varlejs and Eileen Stec (Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey)
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    Breakout Session No: 3

  • Crossing the Bridge When You Get to It: How to Use Public Speaking Skills to Improvise and Improve Your Teaching
    by Sarah Statz (Madison Public Library)


  • Get "Real": Parker Palmer, Bloomberg, Camtasia and Me
    by Sally Weston (University of Michigan, Business School)


  • Know Thy Users, For They Are Not You
    by Jerilyn Veldof and Melissa Kalpin (University of Minnesota)
  • Appendix A


  • The Nerd, the Messiah, and the Classroom: Personality Types and Reflective Teaching
    by Jeanine Akers (University of Memphis) and Wendy Crist (Arkansas State University)


  • Reflective Practice Through Scholarship: Initiatives for Scholarly Teaching and Scholarship on Teaching
    by Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe and Robert Burger (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
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    Breakout Session No: 4

  • Creating Student-Centered Learning: A Constructivist Approach to Information Literacy Instruction.
    by Pam Baker and Kathlene Hanson (California State University, Monterey Bay)
  • Appendix 1
  • Appendix 2


  • Enhanced Staff Development Programs: Strengthening the Personal Through Collegial Reflection
    by Trisha Mileham and Ruth Connell (Valparaiso University)


  • Fanning the Flames: Strategies for Combating Burnout and Reinvigorating Instruction
    by Lisa Barnett, Melissa Browne and Katherine Harris (Ball State University)
  • Instruction Data Sheet.


  • Teaching as a Live Encounter: Sharing Our Authentic Self Invites Student Learning
    by Elizabeth O. Hutchins (St. Olaf College)


  • Words, Music, and Movement: Media's Effect on Learning
    by Angela Megaw (Gainesville College)
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    Breakout Session No: 5

  • Making the Teaching Library an Institutional Priority: Academic Readiness, Retention and Information Literacy
    by Miriam Laskin and Lucinda R. Zoe (Hostos Community College)


  • Be a (Role) Model! Or Just Teach Like One: Connecting Evaluation, Assessment and Reflective Practice in the Information Competency Classroom
    by Kyzyl Fenno-Smith (California State University, Hayward)


  • Make It More than "Just" 50 Minutes: Improving Instruction Through Peer Mentoring
    by Pam Kessinger (Portland Community College)
  • Appendix 1
  • Appendix 2
  • Appendix 3


  • Vital Connections: Portrait of the Poet as a Librarian
    by Priscilla Atkins (Hope College)


  • You Mean You Teach? I Thought You Were a Librarian! Using Teaching Portfolios to Think About and Improve Instruction in Academic Libraries
    by Sandra Hochstein (Douglas College, British Columbia, Canada)
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    Breakout Session No: 6

  • Light the Fire: Using Experience and Emotion to Ignite Student Learning
    by Celita DeArmond (San Antonio College) and Angela Dunnington (Southeastern Louisiana University)


  • Looking Back: Doing End-of-Term Assessments
    by Bruce Pencek, Susan Ariew and Penny Burge (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
  • Appendix A
  • Appendix B


  • Teacher's Mind, Beginner's Mind: Welcoming the Possibilities
    by Martha C. Smith (Elmira College)


  • The Vision Thing: Making Information Literacy an Administrative Priority
    by Randall Schroeder, Jill Gremmels (Wartburg College) and James L. Pence (Pacific Lutheran University)
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    Roster of Attendees

    Presenters Addresses

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