using constructivist approaches to teach health librarians: a case study

Are constructivist approaches used to teach health librarians effective?

a case-study on teaching a course on health librarianship

Greg RowellHead, UBC Woodward Library & Hospital Branch LibrariesAdjunct instructor, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), UBC

Dean GiustiniUBC Biomedical Branch LibrarianAdjunct instructor, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), UBC

Rowell, Giustini2009 CHLA/ABSC Annual Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba - June 1st, 2009

Outline of talk

• Course• Setting and participants• Course content• Goals & objectives

• What happened in LIBR534• Student reflections • Instructor reflections

Rowell – GiustiniCHLA/ABSC Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba

June 1st, 2009

Setting• A health information sources & services course

(LIBR534) taught by two health librarians in fall ‘08

Participants• Cohort of 28 MLIS students; • 2 instructors & practitioners; • 8 guest speakers

Rowell – GiustiniCHLA/ABSC Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba

June 1st, 2009

Setting & participants

Course content• Blended delivery• MediaWiki-based - UBC Health Library wiki• http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca

Content management

Discussions• Finding yourself in health librarianship• Assignments, group work, ‘peer review’, social media

Rowell – GiustiniCHLA/ABSC Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba

June 1st, 2009

Course content – LIBR534

Our objective and approach

• Adopt new method of teaching health librarianship

• Problem-based - where students ‘teach’ each other

• Encourage critical thinking & ‘team-based’ skills

• Constructivist approach – what is constructivism?

Rowell – GiustiniCHLA/ABSC Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba

June 1st, 2009

Constructivism is a learning theory

“…where students take responsibility for their own learning rather than relying on the teacher” (Giustini, 2009)

Constructivism: • encourages student enquiry & cooperation• acknowledges role of experience in learning • nurtures learners’ natural curiosity

Rowell – GiustiniCHLA/ABSC Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba

June 1st, 2009

Range of constructivist ideas

• Student perceptions of:• course content • in-class exercises & case-based discussions• assignments & assessment• guest lecturers• pedagogical style(s) • Instructors – us!

Rowell – GiustiniCHLA/ABSC Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba

June 1st, 2009

What happened in LIBR534

http://www.gchicco.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/tokyo-metro-map.png

Locating yourself in health libraries

• Student perceptions of:• course content • in-class exercises & case-based discussions• assignments & assessment• guest lecturers• pedagogical style(s) • Instructors – us!

Rowell – GiustiniCHLA/ABSC Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba

June 1st, 2009

What happened in LIBR534

• Our reflections on:• course content – was it too ambitious?• student participation in ‘case discussions’• quality of student assignments & peer evaluation• pedagogical styles – was it a good fit?

• Our course & partnership - a success!• We will offer course again in January 2010• More research needed re: constructivist methods

Rowell – GiustiniCHLA/ABSC Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba

June 1st, 2009

Reflections – what we would change

Greg RowellHead, UBC Woodward Library & Hospital Branch LibrariesAdjunct instructor, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), UBCgreg.rowell@ubc.ca

Dean GiustiniUBC Biomedical Branch LibrarianAdjunct instructor, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), UBCdean.giustini@ubc.ca

Rowell – GiustiniCHLA/ABSC Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba

June 1st, 2009

Thanks for listening