Connecting With Faculty Through Teaching and Learning Centers

Most campuses have centers focused college teaching and faculty development. Collaborating with these centers is a good way for librarians to reach faculty and to integrate information literacy into courses and curriculum. Some academic libraries are heavily involved in the work of college pedagogical practice improvement toward better student learning outcomes, such as Purdue University, where librarians are members of the management team for IMPACT (Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation), a program to help Purdue faculty and instructors to improve their teaching for better learning outcomes (McMurtrie, 2018). Since the program began in 2011, the library has been a critical partner; in addition to members on the management team, there are several librarians involved with the program.

There are other ways to engage with teaching improvement work on our campuses. On a much smaller scale, at Ohio State, we have an hour in the course redesign institute held by our University Center for the Advancement of Teaching during which we introduce the frames from the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, and share highlights from the many ways librarians can support faculty teaching and student learning.

Another way to engage with teaching and learning centers is through a shared interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). The products of this evidence-based study of teaching and learning is often scattered and can be difficult to find. Beyond reading the literature, doing research on teaching practices is a tangible way for faculty to combine their research and teaching roles. To learn more about SoTL, I encourage you to check out the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning guide created by the ACRL Student Learning & Information Literacy Committee.

This article also appears in The Credo Second-Year Transition Guide: Extending Retention and Student Success Efforts Beyond the FYE. Use this free guide to further develop your library's programming around instruction, faculty collaboration, and student engagement! 

Resources: 

McMurtrie, Beth. October 21, 2018. “How Purdue professors are building more active and engaged classrooms.” Chronicle of Higher Education, https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Purdue-Professors-Are/244824.