TEACHING OURSELVES
developing a learning
community for library
instructors
Lynn Jones | Lisa Ngo | UC Berkeley
LOEX 2010
Berkeley is a large decentralized campus, with more than
20 library service points.
A great deal of library
instruction goes on at
Berkeley.
• 600+ sessions
• 15,000+ students
photo by ben.chaney. creative commons licensed.
Instruction is done by subject specialists and
by instruction librarians.
Who teaches in the Library?
400
350
300
250
200
Number of Sessions
150
100
50
0
Subject
Specialists
Full Time
Instructors
Who teaches in the Library?
Berkeley’s
Instructor Development Program
has been active since Spring 2009.
The planning document is at
http://tinyurl.com/IDTFreport

Themes and topics were given to us.

Designing events was up to us.
A community of practice is a group
of people who share their experiences
to improve their skills.
“Community of Practice”
http://www.ewenger.com/
Topic categories

Educational theory

Faculty consultation and Assignment design

Designing effective instructional materials

Instructional techniques and Teaching tips

Instructional and classroom technologies

Evaluation and assessment
Event types

Lectures / presentations by experts

Lightning talks

Journal / reading club

Workshops

Reflective practices

Open observation
We’ve met in a variety of venues.
Informal
Even our classrooms.
Web “events”

Videos to watch and blog on

Blogging on readings or events

Recorded lecture

LOEX encore presentations
Things we haven’t tried yet

Recording ourselves teaching

Teaching buddies

Teaching portfolio

Acting / voice / improv lessons
Assessment
photo by comedy_nose. creative commons licensed.
Event attendance
Web
Presentations
Workshops
Lightning Talks
Journal Clubs
0
5
10
15
20
25
Survey responses
10
8
6
4
2
0
Useful?
Number of respondents
Survey responses




“... I have built a more solid group of peers that I
consider go-to sources for advice ...”
“I have a new focus on engaging my students as a
higher priority than covering content...”
“I have been thinking about ways... in which I can
advocate for more incorporation of active learning
techniques into our unit's curricula ...”
“... I am more conscious of instructional design when
creating lesson plans...”

The timing of events matters.

Everyone is very busy.

Our own prep time is limited.
The program is a work in progress.
Our Community