Science Librarian and Faculty Collaboration to enhance Information Literacy and critical thinking skills in Undergraduate and Graduate students in the STEM fields

Type of Presentation

Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)

Target Audience

Higher Education

Location

Room 1220 A/B

Proposal

Research is an art and a science that can be taught and learned and how students develop into budding scientists is a function of so many variables working together alongside their desire to work hard with or without supervision and dream big. Students new to the scientific research process find reading scholarly papers challenging and many professors do not have the time to explain the process, concentrating on training them with the skills necessary to conduct experiments in the lab. The embedded librarian model involves placing subject specialist librarians in partnership with individual faculty or research groups or class cohorts as in honors colleges, which will utilize their knowledge and expertise. Science Librarians would be involved in supporting curriculum development, library tours and database demonstrations during class sessions or one shot sessions; workshops and seminars on topics of common interest such as scholarly communications or issues related to information ethics; consultation with students on research assignments, information literacy instructions for or without credit; collaborating on flipped learning sessions etc. Unfortunately this type of faculty-librarian collaboration is not the norm across board in tertiary institutions. This paper reflects on the strategy that has been used for the last three years with biology faculty at Texas Tech University and evaluates the results of the pre and post survey administered to students plus their personal testimonies via email to the librarian. The results show an improvement in student’s ability to identify resources, a better understanding of information ethics and more importantly knowing where to go for help. Therefore collaboration between Science Librarian and STEM Faculty is very encouraged as it would facilitate enhancing not only Information Literacy and critical thinking skills but also inculcating lifelong learning skills in the students. The potential cost benefit analysis for the librarian, faculty, students and the university in scholarly productivity is highly positive.

Short Description

The presentation is about the potential benefits of a faculty -librarian collaboration in the STEM fields to not only the students but also the faculty, librarian and university at large. It involves, curriculum development, library tours and database demonstrations, workshops and seminars scholarly communications, information ethics, consultation with students on research assignments and flipped learning sessions

Keywords

Information Literacy, STEM Literacy, Embedded Librarian, Librarian-faculty collaboration, Flipped learning

Publication Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

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Sep 30th, 4:15 PM Sep 30th, 5:30 PM

Science Librarian and Faculty Collaboration to enhance Information Literacy and critical thinking skills in Undergraduate and Graduate students in the STEM fields

Room 1220 A/B

Research is an art and a science that can be taught and learned and how students develop into budding scientists is a function of so many variables working together alongside their desire to work hard with or without supervision and dream big. Students new to the scientific research process find reading scholarly papers challenging and many professors do not have the time to explain the process, concentrating on training them with the skills necessary to conduct experiments in the lab. The embedded librarian model involves placing subject specialist librarians in partnership with individual faculty or research groups or class cohorts as in honors colleges, which will utilize their knowledge and expertise. Science Librarians would be involved in supporting curriculum development, library tours and database demonstrations during class sessions or one shot sessions; workshops and seminars on topics of common interest such as scholarly communications or issues related to information ethics; consultation with students on research assignments, information literacy instructions for or without credit; collaborating on flipped learning sessions etc. Unfortunately this type of faculty-librarian collaboration is not the norm across board in tertiary institutions. This paper reflects on the strategy that has been used for the last three years with biology faculty at Texas Tech University and evaluates the results of the pre and post survey administered to students plus their personal testimonies via email to the librarian. The results show an improvement in student’s ability to identify resources, a better understanding of information ethics and more importantly knowing where to go for help. Therefore collaboration between Science Librarian and STEM Faculty is very encouraged as it would facilitate enhancing not only Information Literacy and critical thinking skills but also inculcating lifelong learning skills in the students. The potential cost benefit analysis for the librarian, faculty, students and the university in scholarly productivity is highly positive.