Active LearningIn, Through, and Beyond

the University Library and ClassroomStephanie Solomon,

Mark Wenger, and Kevin Flickner

Welcome! To begin, please sit in groups composed of

individuals from diverse institutional affiliations

(colored cards can help us sit in varied groups)

Take a moment and introduce yourselves to those around you. Here is who we are:

Mark WengerAssociate Professor of English at Columbia International University (Columbia, SC).

I have taught freshman composition for over 15 years, beginning in 1993.

I began using Library Skills Exams in 2004/2005.

Kevin Flickner

• Reference Assistant, CIU Library staff

for 9 years

• Just began MLIS studies at University of South Carolina

Stephanie Solomon

Library Director, CIU• Previously: Public Services

Librarian • Reference and Electronic

Resource Librarian at CIU

• Reference Services Librarian, Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SC

Columbia International University

Columbia International University’s G. Allen Fleece Library – serving a community of

approximately 500 residential students in a student body of about 1200 on the north side of Columbia SC.

Columbia International University• Private, 4 year Christian

University– Undergraduate degrees, Master’s

programs, Ed.D. and D.Min.

• 560 undergraduates• 544 graduate students• Approx. 85 students in English

1110 each fall• English major began in 2006• About 25 students per class,

usually three sections• Approximately 600 students

have received this training since 2005.

G. Allen Fleece Library at the center of CIU’s campus.

English 1110 – Written Composition

• Practice academic writing and develop your capacity to understand and communicate the written word, particularly through the use of modern information resources.

• After a period of evaluation and development of your skills in writing and essential college level information literacy, you will [draft] four essays involving the use of academic information resources [and] complete an annotated working bibliography as part of a full research project on a current social issue.

Taking Learning To TaskJane Vella

• “Learners arrive with the capacity to do the work involved in learning.”

• “Learners learn when they are actively engaged – cognitively, emotionally, and physically – with the content.”

• “New content can be presented through learning tasks.”

• “Learning tasks promote accountability.”

Station 1: Locate and distinguish between subject specific and general databases.

1) Scroll over the “online resources” link on the left hand side of the library’s webpage and select databases.

2) Scroll down the page until you see the Gale Cengage Learning databases, underneath it will be a listing of the databases beginning with the description: “Search up to 14 databases simultaneously.”

3) Click on the link; a new window will open up.

4) Examine the list of database and compare the descriptions underneath Academic Onefile, General OneFile, and Literature Resources from Gale.

5) Discuss the differences and decide as a group which is (or are) the general database(s) and which is (or are) the subject specific database(s).

6) Write them down in the appropriate column.

7) Go back to the library database page. The window should still be visible.

8)Examine and compare the descriptions underneath Academic Search Premiere, Oxford Reference Online, and Scribner’s Writer’s Series. Again, decide as a group into which column each database belongs.

Examine Scribner’s Writers Series, General OneFile and Academic OneFile. Determine which two would best help you write your literary analysis paper. Why?

Subject Specific Database General Database

Station 2: Finding articles in an electronic database

1) Select Academic Search Premiere from the library’s collection of databases.

Follow the instructions on the screenshot to find criticism on the poem “Tintern Abbey.” Who is the author?

Examine the abstracts and discuss what makes these articles literary criticism. Write them down; we will discuss your ideas.

2) Select Oxford Reference Online.

Do a search for the author of “Tintern Abbey.” Click on a few of the entries and read them. Tell us something about him. (One or two lines will be sufficient.)

Discuss what makes Oxford Reference Online different from the other databases we have examined so far. Write your thoughts down; we will discuss them.

3) Click on Literature Resource Center.

Do a “person” search for a poet of your choice. There are six tabs that contain information. Examine the information represented by each tab. List the ones that would be most useful for your poetry analysis and state why.

Scroll down & use Ctrl key to select both doc types.

Task 3: Finding articles in a print reference source.

1) Locate the Dictionary of Literary Biography and Poetry Criticism in the Reference section of the library.

2) Identify the cumulative index in each set.

3) Select a poet and locate the volume which contains his or her entry. Do this in both the DLB and PC.

Briefly scan the articles about the poet in both sources. Note the difference and the similarities in the articles.

Examine the volumes you have found. Discuss in your group and note your impressions about the way the DLB is organized and the way PC is organized.

Personal Inventory Page

Discussion Session

• Use the Personal Inventory Page to discover how you might incorporate this into your own contexts.

• Remember to take into account ethical and privacy concerns.

Using the P.I.P.

• Consider the following comment, “If it’s not about skateboarding, I really don’t care.”

• Use the P.I.P. questions to get past the immediate need of this particular researcher.

• Include in your discussion how you would do this without violating any ethical or privacy issues.

The “Library Skills” training takes place both in the classroom…

… and in the library.

A total of 3 training sessions

Session 1 = general introduction to staff and an overview of available resources.

Session 2 = Reference Resources, especially Subject-specific Reference (both print and electronic).