Practical Pedagogy For Library Instructors: 17 Innovative Strategies to Improve Student Learning

by Douglas Cook (Editor), Ryan L. Sittler (Editor)

"Practical Pedagogy for Library Instructors: 17 Innovative Strategies to Improve Student Learning" (Doug L. Cook and Ryan L. Sittler, eds) gathers seventeen case-studies using unique instructional methodologies framed by sound pedagogical theory. As the mission of academic libraries has moved away from maintaining collections toward educating users in research methodologies, a need for new approaches to teaching are required. Many librarians come from disciplines other than education and therefore need to upgrade their skills in the area of instruction. This practical casebook is of great advantage to librarians who have had little formal training in education. Cases included cover the broad spectrum of education from behavioral to cognitive to constructivist. Each chapter is grounded in the educational and library literature and explores the potential of using pedagogical approaches which closely match instructional aims.

Genres: Nonfiction, Library Science, Librarianship

184 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2008

Reviews

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that every library instructor needs to have. I borrowed the copy my library acquired, and I know I have to buy a copy for myself. This is an excellent collection of library instruction lesson plans and activities written by actual practitioners. As the editors write in their introduction, the book is mean to be practical, especially for librarians who lack any pedagogical training. For those of us with pedagogy background (I have a teaching degree and experience), this book will confirm and validate practice as well as provide a wealth of new ideas. The chapters follow a basic pattern: an introduction, goals of the lesson, strategies, the actual lesson, and then a reflection on what worked and did not work. Unlike other items in library literature, the authors here will discuss what works and what does not work. Overall, highly recommended for instruction and information literacy librarians.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offered examples of how to improve information literacy instruction. I took a ton of notes as I read the book, as there were a lot of great ideas. Definitely a must-read for any teaching librarians.

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book last spring after coming across it while researching a paper for a class. I'm writing this review now though because, now that I am actually doing library instruction, I keep coming back to it when creating lesson plans. Nice reference tool.

[Douglas Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am the co-author. If you are a librarian you will LOVE this book [smile:]