Introduction and background
As a Graphic Design subject librarian at Chelsea, I deliver teaching sessions with an information literacy remit. The focus of this case study is delivering a seminar to 1st year undergraduate students (BAGDC1). The hour-long session supports a unit brief for 50 students and focuses on research methods, library resources demonstrations and how to apply research to their assessment.
Evaluation of challenges
Impacting factors
- Time constraints
- A large cohort size
I am asked to cover numerous topics in a relatively short amount of time to a large group. The resulting session plan is transmissive, based around a powerpoint presentation, with limited ways of integrating collaboration and facilitating co-teaching between students.
Engagement
As a result of the teaching being didactic, students are placed in a passive role with limited opportunities to engage and contribute effectively (Mulryan-Kyne, C., 2010, p. 177.) Asking questions to the group is met with silence and because the group is so large, it is difficult to make connections with the students as individuals and assess whether students were disengaged, uncomfortable sharing in a large class, or overwhelmed by the amount of information disseminated.
Moving forward
Reflecting on this session has encouraged me to consider aspects I could implement to improve the efficacy of planning and teaching for future research seminars and place the students in a more active role.
Supporting learning resources
To avoid information overload for the students, some session content can be provided in an alternative format. For example, the library resources demonstration can be recorded and made accessible through the library subject guide. This information can be signposted during the seminar for students to engage with in their own time, allowing for more time to be spent on specific research methods.
Facilitating interaction
I am keen to offer alternative ways of encouraging contributions from students. For example, using interactive tools such as a word cloud generator could be used in real time during the session and can be used for students to answer questions without having to verbally share with the class. Encouraging students to submit their ideas using an interactive tool would mitigate an unwillingness to verbally share in front of other classmates, supporting a range of students who may not contribute due to learning preferences and different levels of English language confidence (Maringe, F. and Sing, N., 2014, p. 771; Snowball, J.D., 2014, p 829).
Another method of promoting interaction would be facilitating pair or group work in timed segments of the session. Setting small research tasks throughout the seminar for students to complete in pairs would combat a transmissive style of teaching, whilst allowing for students to collaborate with each other in support of their assessment brief and would also provide the students with autonomy over their own learning (Mulryan-Kyne, C., 2010, p.181).
To conclude, the content and planning of the session can be reconstituted to facilitate more effective learning through co-teaching and interaction without having a detrimental effect on omitting key information points. This can be achieved by placing more autonomy with students by creating a brave and safe space in which they have multiple ways to share opinions and ideas.
References
Maringe, F. and Sing, N. (2014) ‘Teaching large classes in an increasingly internationalised higher education environment: pedagogical, quality and equity issues’ in Higher Education. 67:6. pp. 761 – 782.
Mulryan-Kyne, C. (2010) ‘Teaching large classrooms at college and university level: challenges and opportunities’ in Teaching in Higher Education. 15:2. pp. 175 – 185.
Snowball, J. D. (2014) ‘Using interactive content and online activities to accommodate diversity in a large first year class’ in Higher Education. 67:6. pp. 823 – 838.