Snapshot impressions #2 – second class of the Fall 2012 term

The next class presented somewhat more of a challenge. Not only was the class 45 students-large, the professor wanted her students to learn how to do historical research about the role of nutrition when treating diseases such as cancer or heart disease. My mind went immediately to the cover of a past Archivaria featuring medical archives. The cover shows a poster which claims that the staff are 100% tuberculosis free.

Tuberculosis—that was my hook. This archives does not have information about cancer or heart disease (to my knowledge), but records of the local Sanatorium are housed here. The problem was that the San records were unprocessed. I decided to take the risk and let the students use the records. Why? From my quick survey, there did not appear to be any original order that the students might destroy. I also felt that the students would not remove any records, which seemed to have no monetary value. Besides, the benefits of allowing the students to see the records were too great to pass up.

I divided the students into groups. Each group was given a box of unprocessed archival records and a selection of books received from the Sanatorium’s medical library. After setting the stage and advising on handling, I invited them to go through their box and books. I encouraged each group to discuss the contents while answering a number of pre-determined questions. This was meant to be more of a self-driven exercise, allowing time for the students to share their learned knowledge. Three of the five groups engaged in meaningful discussions.

To read about this exercise, visit my other blog at http://archivallessons.blogspot.ca/2012/10/100-tb-free.html.

Before and after the exercise, I read a few paragraphs from one honours thesis, published in 2007, and written by a History and Biology student. The purpose of these short readings was to demonstrate that historical research can bring together meaningful and (sometimes) untraditional disciplines.

Was the exercise successful? Yes. One student asked to make an appointment to review sources for another class assignment. One student asked about other archival sources in the country. But, perhaps the best gauge of success was in the answers to our exit question. Approximately one-third of the students answered the question in a way that demonstrated an understanding of historical relevance to their research. A few students related past treatment of tuberculosis to current treatments.

Snapshot impressions #1 – first class of the Fall 2012 term

Our first session was really four sessions. Why? The class was large so the archives session needed to be capped at 20 students per session.

So, I did the same session four times over two weeks in order to reach everyone. The discipline’s liaison librarian attended two of the four sessions. Class one was the more experimental as I needed to “feel out” the exercises and their flow. Class two and three went well with a few modifications. By class four, my heart was no longer in it. I was not looking forward to doing the session again. But, that final group of students was so enthused and energetic, they carried the day. The fourth session may have been the most rewarding.

Each time I did very little as an introduction. The activities that got students thinking critically started immediately. I challenged them to think about dining on campus with a visual, conceptual, and verbal experience. In fact, they entered the room to find one of the tables set up like a formal dining table. Then, I moved to guiding them through their own discovery of the history of nutrition as it had been taught on campus since 1925. Finally, the students did a speed-dating exercise with several predetermined sources and specific questions. Although these activities were done with guidance, the students were still free to form their own impressions or judgments on sources, while experiencing the process of research. They approached the exercise with some reluctance and then with enthusiasm. Even the least enthused students perked up at various points of the session and participated fully in the discussion.

I have provided the entire lesson plan at http://archivallessons.blogspot.ca/2012/10/nutritional-archival-sources-now-being.html.

The students showed their new found appreciation of the Archives by returning, often with their entire group, to work on the assignment. This was the highest return rate ever for a single class. What’s more, the students continued to use the research room while bringing in sources from the regular, Library stacks. Often they asked questions or for resources and advice that were well outside of my specialty. In the spirit of collaboration with my Library colleagues, I referred students regularly to the Reference Desk for additional help.

There has been a lot of positive, second-hand feedback too. Both the professor and the department Head have commented to me directly about the feedback they have received from students. Many students did not at first see how the Archives could help them with this assignment, but they have changed their minds. I am told that the students have continued to share their findings with other students in the department.

These sessions were a risk. But, I was determined to expand my sessions beyond the “traditional” courses that use the Archives. Nutrition was one of the “non-traditional” courses selected. Was it the most successful experiment of the year? More sessions are to come.

Active learning—that’s where it’s at

My research assistant, Amber, and I had little time to gather our thoughts and explore how to best approach the faculty before they came to our door. No posters. No emails. I guess the word was already out. Three faculty members teaching four courses asked for sessions this term. Another two profs asked for sessions next term. Our work was already cut out for us.

First up—Nutrition. This was unfamiliar territory to us. The prof was keen. We wanted to make it work. Because the classes were large, we scheduled small sessions, dividing the class into four groups. Each group received the same session. (One student was so excited that she signed up for all four sessions. I love it!) Why did we do this? The in-session assignment required the students to move around the room.

Past or Portal?, reviewed briefly in another post to this blog, gave me the idea of speed dating sources. With our limited reading room space, we needed a cap of 20 students to allow for their physical movement between tables. I could have had each student pass around the sources, but I didn’t want the material to get damaged. So, the students moved around the room.

Strong encouragement from my research assistant, who is an Education student, caused me to refrain from my usual session “formula”. No longer would I see the boredom in students’ eyes while I explained the mandate and how to access collections. That’s all embedded in the session and delivered as a matter of fact during the exercise. We have decided to aim the sessions towards active learning. The sessions offered now challenge the students’ pre-conceived understanding of sources while providing a safe venue for hands-on examinations of the resources.

Nutrition’s four sessions, offered in September, were the first opportunities to test this method. Our immediate impression was that it was a success. Of course, some tweaking was done between the delivery of each session, but the method was sound. We are now planning the other session along the same lines. Some form of speed dating is involved.

Active learning—that’s where it’s at.

lit review: Past or Portal?

I am reviewing the 2012 publication, Past or Portal? Enhancing Undergraduate Learning through Special Collections and Archives, for Archivaria.  This title is so exciting that I want to say a few words about it here too.

The work consists of 47 short, case studies from 93 authors.  Each case study explores a method of introducing resources in the classroom--either through single sessions or an entire course.  I have discovered many ideas within the book and have started using them immediately in my newly developed sessions this term.

What have I decided to adopt?  Let me just mention speed dating and capturing "cool stuff".  Speed dating is a structured process by which selected items are set out for the students to examine one-on-one.  They answer a set of questions regarding the source and then discuss them as a group.  This has worked so well that I am planning to use it in many of my new sessions.  Capturing "cool stuff" is an attempt to create buy-in from the students.  I have created a brief sheet of questions on which students can tell us about any source that they find cool.  This is purely optional for the student.  Their sheets will be put on the Facebook site.  It's more about raising awareness than anything else, but I hope that students will be excited to share their comments.

a new project--a new grant

It's now time to give an update on my activities over the past few weeks.  What a busy time it has been!

I have been awarded a grant from the Nova Scotia Provincial Archival Development Program.  This grant allows me to continue my practical research and development of archival information literacy sessions.  The funding is being used to re-hire the Education student, Amber, from the last project and buy a few helpful tools.  The student will be working on the project in a part-time capacity between September and March.

Under the PADP grant, we will be targeting specific courses and working with selected faculty to develop learning tool sets that will provide a practical, hands-on approach to using primary sources.  We will build on the findings of our research from the Winter 2012 term.  The idea is to create eight sessions and learning packages with assignments that can be offered again and again over the next few years.  This will be very beneificial to me as well and reduce the amount of time that I spend designing and re-designing sessions each year.

For the grant application, we selected eight courses within the disciplines of History, Education, and Nutrition.  Four professors teaching these eight courses indicated their interest in working with us.  Approximately 355 students could be impacted by these new sessions.

Wait until you see what we have been up to since the project started.