Libraries as problem based learning environments across reader services [compatibility mode]

PAARL Parallel Session-Workshops on Library and Web 2011,
Holy Angel University, Pampanga, 19-20 August 2010
Ms. Anna Rita L. Alomo
Head Librarian - General Reference and Information Section
University of Santo Tomas
Miguel de Benavides Library

Outline
y Understandings and Interpretations of Problem-based
Learning
y Frameworks of Librarian Involvement in PBL Program
y Route to Authentic Learning
y Conclusion

Understandings and Interpretations of
Problem-based Learning
Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational technique
used to supplement or replace traditional lecture-based courses.
9It provides the theoretical framework for a learner-centered
active instructional experience that relies on collaboration,
critical thinking, and hands-on interaction with resources.
9An approach to learning through which students have been
enabled to understand their own situations and frameworks so
that they are able to perceive how they learn, and how they see
themselves as future professionals.

Information Resources
y Printed and electronic books (e-books)
y Printed and electronic journals (e-journals)
y Printed and electronic reference tools (e-dictionaries, e-abstracts
and indexes, multimedia encyclopedias, etc.)

Framework of Librarian
Involvement in PBL Program
1. Assistance at the Reference Desk
2. Instruction at the Reference Desk
3. Course-Related Instruction
4. Resource Management and Utilization
5. Consultation with Faculty and Students
6. Group Facilitation

1. Assistance at the Reference Desk
I t - Interaction with students at the reference desk, helping them
select appropriate resources for their learning objectives.
directory
dictionary
atlas
newspaper

2. Instruction at the Reference Desk
- Closer to the goals of the curriculum than directing students to
resources
- Teach students how to use specific resources
How the online catalog can be
used to identify what journal
titles the library owns?
How to use
ScienceDirect to identify
review articles?

3. Course-Related Instruction
- Librarians would identify curricular integration
- Recognizes the importance of information-seeking skills
A. Interactive Information Seeking
B. Steps in Information Seeking
- A concept map presents the relationships among a set of
connected concepts and ideas. It is a tangible way to display how
your mind "sees" a particular topic. By constructing a concept
map, you reflect on what you know and what you don't know. In a
Concept Map, the concepts, usually represented by single words
enclosed in a rectangle (box), are connected to other concept
boxes by arrows.

Libraries as problem based learning environments across reader services [compatibility mode]

PBL and Concept Maps-An Analogy:
In problem-based learning, each student group is like a party
of explorers entering new territory. As a group they decide what
neighboring areas they should reconnoiter, the individual members
scout these areas and return to describe things they discovered that are
relevant to the party’s interests. It is important in this process that the
scouts know what they are looking for (have well-defined learning
issues). In this effort, each member learns different things that get
integrated and used to make decisions. Not all of the information will
be transmitted to the others. When the expedition is over and the
party needs to summarize their explorations, they draw a map that
captures the important features of the territory. This would
correspond to a PBL group constructing a concept map. The
instructor or tutor serves as a native guide in this analogy.

4. Resource Management and Utilization
- Collection management must be synchronized closely with the
curriculum
- Gathering and analyzing information about the resources used
by students
A. Information resources and tools
B. Evaluating information resources

5. Consultation with Faculty and Students
- Components:
1. Consulting during planning and development of the PBL
curricula.
2. Consulting with students and faculty during PBL
regarding information sources, use, and information-seeking
strategies.

6. Group Facilitation
- Indicates the greatest level of curricular integration is librarians
serving as small-group facilitators (tutors)
- Librarians can function well as facilitators because of the
interpersonal and communication skills developed for
reference interviewing and assisting library users

Route for Authentic Learning
y What is authentic learning?
y What makes authentic learning effective?
y Why is authentic learning important?

What Is Authentic Learning?
- Authentic learning typically focuses on real-world, complex
problems and their solutions, using role-playing exercises,
problem-based activities, case studies, and participation in virtual
communities of practice.
- A learning environment is similar to some ‘real world’ application
or discipline: for example, managing a city, building a house, flying
an airplane, setting a budget, and or solving a crime.
- Authentic learning intentionally brings into play multiple
disciplines, multiple perspectives, ways of working, habits of mind,
and community.

10 Elements of Authentic
Learning
1. Real-world relevance
2. Ill-defined problem
3. Sustained investigation

4. Multiple sources and perspectives
5. Collaboration
6. Reflection (metacognition)
7. Interdisciplinary perspective

8. Integrated assessment
9. Polished products
10. Multiple interpretations and
outcomes

Authentic Learning Practices
Simulation-
Based Learning
Inquiry-Based
Learning (Open
Learning
I i i i )
Student Created
Initiative)
Peer Based
Student-Working with
Media
Peer-Evaluation
g
Remote
Instruments
Working with
Research Data
Reflecting and
Documenting
Achievements

What Makes Authentic Learning
Effective?
- Authentic learning aligns with research
into the way the human mind turns
information into useful, transferable
knowledge.

Three principles illustrate the alignment between
learning research and authentic learning:
Learners look for
connections
Long-lived attachments
come with practice
New contexts need to
be explored

Eight critical factors that researchers say must
be aligned to ensure a successful learning
environment :
goals
content
instructional design
learner tasks
instructor roles
student roles
technological affordances
assessment

Why Is Authentic Learning
y g
Important?
- Authentic learning exercises expose
the messiness of real-life decision
making, where there may not be a
right or a wrong answer per se,
although one solution may be better
or worse than others depending on
the particular context.
- The goal is to give learners the
confidence that comes with being
recognized as “legitimate peripheral
participants” in a community of
practice.

Conclusion
Authentic
PBL User
Program i
Learning
Reader
Services

Conclusion
The value problem based-learning has been underestimated in
terms of the ways in which it can:
"equip students for the world of work
"improve students’ learning by helping them to learn with
complexity and through ambiguity, and
"enable students to see learning as a lifelong cyclical process
through which to develop increasing understandings of
themselves and the situations in which they learn effectively.

Libraries as problem based learning environments across reader services [compatibility mode]

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