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.