J A S O N E Z E L LT O W S O N U N I V E R S I T Y

TEACHING AS VIRTUAL REPERTORY: TUNING EMBEDDED INSTRUCTION TO THE ONLINE COURSE

• Just over 20,000 students• Comprehensive university • Historically a teacher

training institution• Several graduate programs • A few 100% online programs• Course Management System

Blackboard• Library Liaison Model

TOWSON UNIVERSITYALBERT S. COOK LIBRARY

ONLINE EMBEDDING: THE PROCESS

• Assignment• Planning• Service

Development• Feedback

ASSIGNMENT: EMBEDDING THE DISTANCE OR SUBJECT LIBRARIAN?

• Distance and Subject librarians share support responsibilities (modules, office hours, assessment, etc.)

• Best when …• 1) first-time embedding in a course of 3rd- or 4th-level service• 2) Subject Librarian has a heavy workload

Partnership

• Distance Librarian serves only as back-up and advisor• Best for…

• 1) advanced courses in the discipline• 2) those who have done embedding before

Subject Librarian-Embedded

• Subject Librarian serves as back-up and advisor• Best for …

• 1) introductory or interdisciplinary courses• 2) semesters when Subject Librarian has a heavy workload

Distance Librarian-Embedded

EMBEDDING QUESTION TYPES

Question Types

Access (40%)

Citation (10%)

Searching (43%)

Other (7%)

ASSIGNMENT: FOUR MODELS OF EMBEDDING

ASSIGNMENT: MATCHING MODEL TO COURSE

Baseline: Availability• First-time online embedding• Courses with minimal research components• Courses in which students were taught needed skills recently• Courses which are already hyper-structured and rigorous

Level Two: Tailored Bibliography• Courses in departments where librarian has active collection development presence• Advanced or capstone courses in a discipline

Level Three: Phasing• Research writing courses • Disciplinary methods courses• Courses taught with instructors who have a history of library collaboration

Level Four: Assessment & Feedback• Critical courses in shift to a culture of assessment• Courses taught by instructors experienced with co-teaching

PLANNING: TIPS

When meeting with the primary instructor …• Gauge the teacher’s receptivity to

various pedagogical strategies (media, discussion, activities, etc.)

• Think of likely pedagogical conventions of discipline

• Consider class constraints (i.e., rigid certification requirements in nursing)

• Analyze the syllabus; look for staged research assignments

• Start slowly with first-time embedding• Frame instruction as blending with

instructor’s pedagogy• Clearly divide responsibilities and settle

on communication lines

Ask instructors to …• Add your contact info to

syllabi• Reflect info lit in learning

objectives• Put assignments on the

course schedule• Reflect any assessment

on the grade weighting• Announce upcoming info

lit assignments

A WORD ON SYLLABI

PLANNING:SAMPLE LIBRARIAN SUPPORT PLAN

Assignment Service Date of Availability (with announcement)

Searching (Database Demo) Video Lecture September 12 (announcement)

Annotated Bibliography Instruction (module) Overview (video) Example (text with commentary) Source Evaluation (screencast) Assessment /Discussion Board

(Evaluate 3 sample annotated bibliographies for format and source quality)

September 26 (announcement)October 3 (assignment due)Assessment Responsibility: Completion grade given by primary instructor. Global Response provided by librarian

  Support 2 hours of chat office hours

September 30-October 2

  Feedback (Global Response on AB discussion board)

October 8 (announcement)

Final Research Paper Links to Citation Help Guides November 21 (announcement)

  Support 2 hours of chat office hours

December 9-12

Librarian Support PlanCourse: __________Service Level: _____ Support Model: _____________________

SERVICE:BASELINE TIPS

• Provide multiple forms of contact

• Use photo and personable language

• Make availability and turn-around time clear

• Push discussion boards as FAQs

• Realize discussion boards work best with cohorts or established students

• Think of questions as one-on-one teaching opportunities

• Realize virtual office hours are popular but underused.

SERVICE:EXAMPLE OF BASELINE AVAILABILITY

SERVICE:TAILORED BIBLIOGRAPHY TIPS

• Actively push new relevant resources to the class (RSS feeds, Twitter, etc.)• Keep a list of most

requested or recommended resources• Review with

instructor before and after course

SERVICE:EXAMPLE OF TAILORED BIBLIOGRAPHY

SERVICE:PHASING TIPS

• Frame each module with clear learning objectives

• Also frame each module with statement about the value of unit for • Assignment• Lifelong Learning

• Offer in-time support (i.e. virtual office hours) and re-learning opportunities (consultation referrals)

• Monitor other class discussions to offer help where it seems needed

Coordinate the availability of each unit or resource with the assignment and an email announcement.

SERVICE:EXAMPLE OF PHASING

SERVICE:ASSESSMENT & FEEDBACK TIPS

• Settle who is responsible for design, delivery, collection, grading, and feedback

• Consider global feedback• Offer consultations with

students who don’t perform optimally

• Develop learning assessment options over time

• Pitch as a way to save instructor time and support learning assessment

SERVICE:EXAMPLE OF ASSESSMENT & FEEDBACK

SERVICE:EXAMPLE OF ASSESSMENT & FEEDBACK II

Category Statistic

Number of Questions Asked 18 (13 discussion board; 5 email) + 9 follow-up questions

Kinds of Questions SafeAssign: 1Access: 8Search Assistance: 2Citation: 7

Number of Questions Referred to Subject Librarian

0 (But conferred a couple of times)

Number of Referrals to Professor 1 (discussion board; not counted in numbers above)

• Give instructor overview of activity at end of semester

• Discuss trends in any assessment

• Use to both to discuss improved embedding for next course

FEEDBACK

EDUC 605-231

VARIATIONS TOWARDS A PROGRAM

• Map research writing, disciplinary methods, and advanced / capstone courses for program

• Anticipate Subject or Distance Librarian embedding

• Build a bank of tagged modules, exercises, and assessments to be used for different teaching situations

J E Z E L L @ T O W S O N . E D U

QUESTIONS?