further mutations of the health librarian: implementing an academic skills strategy at leeds
DESCRIPTION
Mark Clowes, University of LeedsTRANSCRIPT
Further mutations of the health librarian: implementing an Academic Skills Strategy at Leeds
Mark ClowesLibrary Learning Services
Genesis of Skills@Library
• In 2008, the former Skills Centre was brought under the directorship of the Library and re-branded as Skills@Library
• Initially functioned as a separate unit offering generic academic skills support (workshops and drop-in 1:1 sessions) to taught students
• Library Faculty Teams, meanwhile, offered bespoke inductions and information literacy teaching within their departments
• The Academic Skills Strategy (2010) sought to change this…
The Academic Skills Strategy (2010)
1. Subject librarians to teach
academic skills embedded
within departments
2. Skills team to offer
generic support and develop a
pool of reusable materials to be
tailored for departmental use
Academic Skills – our definition
• “…those generic and transferable skills which underpin the learning development of undergraduate and taught postgraduate students in HE, enabling them to be confident, independent critical thinkers and reflective learners” (Leeds University Library 2010)
ACADEMIC SKILLS
• finding and evaluating information• critical thinking • reading and note-taking • referencing and academic
integrity • digital literacy • preparing for examinations • academic writing • presentation skills
Which Academic Skills do we support?
ACADEMIC SKILLS
• finding and evaluating information• critical thinking • reading and note-taking • referencing and academic
integrity • digital literacy • preparing for examinations • academic writing • presentation skills
INFORMATION LITERACY
• Gather• Evaluate• Evaluate
• Present• Present
Which Academic Skills do we support?
Secker, J & Bell, M. (2012) Information Literacy Venn v.2. http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com/
Implementing the Academic Skills Strategy in the Faculty of Medicine & Health
HEALTHCARE
- “Thanks but we’ve got that covered” > Director of Student Education
- BUT students were heavy users of the opt-in programme and drop-in sessions
- Introducing study skills in MA inductions
- Return to Practice course- Presentation skills
- Midwifery- Essay writing (by student request)
MEDICINE
“If they can’t do that they shouldn’t be here”
DENTISTRY- School already employ
a pastoral officer (previously part of Skills) who teaches and provides 1:1 support
- Limited appetite for Library to deliver more
- Still teaching IL incl. marking literature searches
PSYCHOLOGY
• Professional Skills module developed in collaboration between subject librarian and academic
• Literature searching; critical thinking; essay writing
• Some sessions co-taught with lecturer• 100 students per session – split between 2
rooms• Increased enquiries as a result of visibility of
librarian• Sometimes these required subject knowledge
beyond that of the librarian (how do you give feedback on poster presentations/essays without understanding the content?)
• Evaluated well but…• Scrapped to make way for an academic module
And now for something completely different
MSc MOLECULAR NANOSCIENCE
WEEK 1
1. Critical thinking (2 hrs)
2. Information searching (2.5 hrs)
3. Avoiding plagiarism (2 hrs)*
4. EndNote & information searching hands-on (3 hrs)
5. Reading strategies (2 hrs)
6. Writing skills (2 hrs)
7. Revising, editing, proofreading (2 hrs)*
*led by academic staff using S@L materials
Issues encountered (across the Library)
• Mismatch between Skills@Library vision and some academic perceptions of the service (developmental vs. remedial)
• Role shift for some librarians – from “expert” to partner in learning
• Concerns about scalability of teaching and supporting an expanded range of academic skills at the same time as other duties (collections; research support)
A change in senior management brought about a rethink…
LEEDS UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
HEALTH FACULTY TEAM
1997-2014
R. I. P.
New Library Structure (from 1st July 2014)
• Learning Services team consisting of two groupings:–STEM (Science / Technology / Engineering / Medicine)–Arts / Social Sciences
publicly advertised as Skills@Library
• SCORES team (Scholarly COmmunications and RESearch)(bibliometrics / PhD training / data mgmt / Open Access)
• New posts (web & marketing) working with Portal team
Factors driving change
• Simpler federated search (e.g. Summon) disintermediating service for users.
• Shift towards research in Russell Group universities• Financial challenges meaning recruitment of new staff
impossible
New Learning Services offer:
• Online-only inductions• Limited face-to-face in-curriculum teaching at level 1 and 2• Most embedded undergraduate teaching concentrated at
dissertation (level 3), complemented by:• Generic opt-in extracurricular workshop programme of
academic skills (see http://library.leeds.ac.uk/skills)
Some flexibility about the above and some honouring of existing commitments in 2014/15
Skills@Library / Learning Services future projects
• 14/15 Semester 2 elective module “The Digital Student”• 15/16 developing compulsory module• Teaching academics to deliver content (including IL)• Recruiting student ambassadors to deliver inductions and
explore peer-assisted learning• From 14/15, all UoL lectures will be recorded, creating an
archive of content which can be used in developing blended learning resources, flipped classroom activities, or MOOCs
Challenges ahead
• How do we avoid making same mistakes – learn to say “no”• Generic vs bespoke• What is the most cost-effective blend of online and F2F?• Providing quality teaching and academic advice across a
much broader range of subjects• Demarcation / sharing territory with other services• How can we have credibility defining a recipe for academic
success when we don’t assess work and there be little consensus among those who do?
