Dietetics Adventure=Archives Discovery

In August, I gave a session at a conference for critical dietetics. It was a small but totally engaged group of academics that came to the Archives for a session. Remember the first Nutrition class that came to the Archives in September 2012? (see posting http://classroomarchivist.blogspot.ca/2012/10/snapshot-impressions-1-first-class-of.html) This conference session recreated parts of that lesson plan (posted here http://archivallessons.blogspot.ca/2012/10/nutritional-archival-sources-now-being.html) so that participants could share the students’ experience.

We had a delightful afternoon learning about the history of nutrition at Acadia and the development of the teaching of nutrition/home economics/hygiene in grade schools. I hope that the participants were inspired to find ways to use historical sources in their own classrooms and build relationships with the university archivists.

A wealth of lesson plans save the day

Oh my! Upon looking back, it seems that I have not written about any of my classes since April or reported on my classroom activities since May.

No, I have been in hibernation—quite the opposite. Since June, I have delivered ten lesson plans and spoken at two conferences. Now that mid-November is here, and I anticipate a bit of a lull, perhaps I can tell you about all of these experiences.

The best thing about my teaching this term is that I have greatly benefitted from the research that Amber and I did in 2012/2013. The lesson plans and methods to develop those plans were adaptable to this term, allowing me to switch up components as well as easily build new components. For example, I could return to a lesson plan for one class, modify it slightly according to our observations, and re-offer the lesson; it was essentially and “off the shelf” package. Indeed, that was one of the goals of our research. In other classes, I could take parts of two or more lesson plans and combine them to suit the course to build new objectives. Finally, I used our six methods (discussed here http://classroomarchivist.blogspot.ca/2013/04/i-just-have-to-tell-folks-about-this.html) to develop new lessons when I could not find a plan that was suitable. All in all, the term was less stressful because I had a wealth of lesson plans and methods to develop new lessons. Whew!

Discover Deeper Meanings: Just Add Archives

or, the session at WILU. 

[Much to my shock and dismay, WILU does not stand for Wendy’s Information Literacy Universe!?!]

On 8 May, Amber Klatt and I were fortunate to make a presentation to ten, enthusiastic participants at the Workshop for Instruction in Library Use (WILU) on the campus of the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. We had 45, carefully-planned, jam-packed minutes to unfold our research. Here’s the nutshell version.

Everyone introduced themselves and told us briefly about their favourite teacher; why was that person your favourite? This provided some good insights for us all. After a quick review of the agenda, it was “get to work” time. We divided the participants into smaller groups. Our handout had two sets of questions and the participants were given reproduced archival material that matched one of those sets. This allowed us to reproduce an activity that would normally happen when students come to the Archives. [Curious? Here is the history activity; here is the biology activity.] The activity ended with a larger discussion on the question, “Why would a third year student seek out these resources?” Conscious of the clock, Amber launched into a short lecture on the benefits of our research to students, faculty, us and the Archives. [I picked up at that point, bragging that since 2007, 1400 students have had an Archives class! But, I digress.] I briefly explained the six methods that we used to deliver our classes to students and the factors that unconsciously structured our choices. Finally, it was the participants turn to think about ideas for their own classes. Amber explained an activity whereby everyone would write down a class delivery idea, then share it with someone, and then share both of those ideas with someone else. In this way, participants would come out of the session with four, new ideas to bring home with them.

Amber and I structured the session to provide an experience for the participants—not a lecture. We wanted them to step into the shoes of a student for the activity, then step back into the educator role to examine that activity, and finally leave with some new ideas. Our evaluation slips reflected that we were successful in doing just that. Thanks to everyone who participated for making it such a great session.

Here are some of my parting thoughts that I shared with the group, and will now share with you:

·         Archives are not passive places.

·         Archives are relevant to curriculum at the university level. Our research has proven that!

·         Archives can contribute to literacy instruction in meaningful ways.

·         With the right tools and partnerships, an Archivist can be an active educator. Amber Klatt (now a graduate of the B.Ed. program) added a depth to the classes and questions that I could not have done alone.

Snapshot impressions #10 – fifth class of the Winter 2013 term

Last class of the term for me did not go even a little bit according to plan. And, it was a good plan!

This was a small group of students, so the session could be focused on their assignment needs. They wanted a tour and time to ask questions (check). The prof wanted time to discuss sources at other archives (check). I wanted the students to have time to look at sources relevant to their assignment (check). We had over two hours to do all of that, so this is what I had planned…

Everyone in the class had been to the Archives and Special Collections for a session. This was a chance to take them behind the scenes and show them the closed stacks, answering their questions about the collections and preservation issues. Then, we would reconvene and discuss sources that would help the students with their research papers. While the prof was lecturing on sources at other archives in the country, I would pull material from the Archives. When the prof finished his lecture, the students would have time to review the pulled material. After they had seen the material, we would all have an open discussion about sources and evidence.

In reality, the tour took almost half of the class time instead of 20 minutes (or so). It was done in a completely relaxed manner and the students asked many questions while expressing a deep interest in the collections. They didn’t really want to take the class as time to work on their assignment, they wanted to learn more about behind the scenes. Although I had planned the session with the professor in advance, I had completely misunderstood the expectations of the students.

What did they miss? I had planned a 20-30 minute segment for open discussion about questioning sources. The purpose was to encourage students to think about the kind of questions they are asking and, therefore, the kind of answers they are getting (e.g., presence of bias, skewing your research, etc.). The discussion was going to open with the professor talk about how studying the past has changed dramatically over the recent 100 years and how it will change in the next 100 years. Then we all would have discussed the following:

1.  What is your perspective on how history is being told today?
2. Where do you fit in the process of historical research?
3. If you write about history, are you creating history? What role do you have in creating history?
4. What history do you want to tell? How does that influence your research?

No matter. This was a great class to end the sessions offered during the term. As for the questions, I will find a way to recycle them into another session next year – guaranteed.

Snapshot impressions #9 – fourth class of the Winter 2013 term

This course was introductory, so you know what that means—too many students for one session. Fortunately, two sessions did the trick. [I find that offering the same session more than twice on the same day is too tiring and does cause me some confusion. I can’t recall if I mentioned certain details to one class or another, etc.] Two sessions works well and the students got the best of both worlds by taking the opposite session with a librarian.

The prof came to my second session and participated in discussions about the documents. Personally, I love when that happens. (I may have said this before.) I feel that it is important for the students to see the prof and the archivist together in the session and providing two perspectives on the content.

Because the prof and I had discussed the course content and assignment well in advance, my research assistant and I were prepared for this class. The assignment involved the students choosing a research topic, five of which were well represented by primary documents in the Archives. Oddly enough, that worked out perfectly—the research room has five tables. As the students entered the room, they randomly chose to sit at one of the five tables. Each table featured a single, archival document and a set of questions. All of the students had the same set of questions, aimed to help them probe the evidence on the table. The groups were given lots of time to look at the material and share their ideas before they were asked to speak about the records and discuss the questions with everyone. (Here’s how it was done: http://archivallessons.blogspot.ca/2013/04/extra-extra-come-learn-all-about-it.html) 

As luck would have it, some students sat at a table with the document that was relevant to their assignment. My research assistant and I have discussed if we should label the table’s topics to reduce some of the randomness of selecting a table. We have decided against it. The luck of the draw (or serendipity) is part of the experience of visiting an archives. Yes, some students will not be engaged as a result, but others will enjoy the element of discovery. We did build in a few minutes near the end of the session for the students to roam around and look at the documents on the other tables. I hope to incorporate more “roaming” in my future sessions.

Snapshot impressions #8 – third class of the Winter 2013 term

Once a term, it seems, I have a session that allows me to really bring out my creative side. This session provided a chance to do just that. You may remember my blogging about some of those books I read during the summer that seemed to have little relevance to my research but that had spawned a few ideas for the back burner. Aha—what sources of inspiration they proved to be!

The students in this class had been tasked with a challenging assignment. To help them, Amber and I set out to create a workshop-type session for the students to practice/brainstorm for their assignment. (To see how it was done, check out http://archivallessons.blogspot.ca/2013/03/more-than-just-pretty-face.html). Briefly, we had pre-selected five groups of records that could potentially be made into five, individual displays. The students were asked to review the materials, think about how to use the materials in a display, and prepare to defend their display idea to the class.

I enjoyed observing each group of students exploring their pre-selected materials with the aim to “pitch” their display idea to the class. Every group had only two minutes to convince the other groups to vote for their display idea. After a secret ballot was taken, the votes were tallied immediately and the winner was declared before the session continued with further discussion about important record-keeping issues.

All that said, there were drawbacks with the session too that may or may not be overcome. For example, we divided the room into five groups, each with a different set of pre-selected records. Students sat randomly at tables as they entered the reading room. We did not provide any indication of the topic at each table. This meant that some students were not interested in the records at their table while others found their records fascinating. Amber and I have discussed this “luck of the draw” method and see it as both an opportunity and a challenge for the students. I am not sure if I will change my approach in the future. Another example of a drawback was that only one student was the spokesperson for each group’s pitch. We have limited the timing of each pitch to two minutes. Perhaps there is a way to allow more students in each group to speak or pitch the idea so that we can hear more voices. We want the students to have the opportunity to be heard if they want to speak.

Overall, this session was successful. It was fun to develop and fun to deliver. Perhaps I will make few changes if I have the chance to use it with another class. Generally though, I felt that this was such a successful workshop that I plan to use it as an example when I give a presentation this Spring.

Snapshot impressions #7 – second class of the Winter 2013 term

Nope, I'm not having déjà vu. Almost exactly one year later, this class returned for another session. And, it was just as exciting! This time, I re-used some of the ideas that went well last year and brought in some new and modified ideas. 

As with last year, I used a set of physical exercises to get the class moving. [This exercise is described at: http://archivallessons.blogspot.ca/2012/07/anyone-here-busy.html]. To my delight, the students enjoyed it just as much this year. I also included audio chants, cheers, and music in the session. These audio clips are part of a sports-related web site that is prominently featured during the class. Using audio is certainly worth it and brings in an added dimension to the class.

New this year was a handout, one that acted as a reference sheet for the students and generated a lot of work for me. Let me explain. This is an introductory-level class. The professor wanted the students to understand the difference between primary and secondary sources as well as receive guidance with citation style. I wanted to make this an interactive exercise. So, one side of the handout gave ten examples of sources and provided a properly formatted citation example for each source (i.e., book, home movie, photograph, article, web site, etc.). I had each example in a box and randomly pulled them out while asking the students what type of source I was holding. As the students identified each one, they circled the word “primary” or “secondary” on their sheet, next to the citation. I spoke then briefly about the specific item (i.e., an interesting or funny detail) as it circulated through the class. The other side of the handout asked a few, specific questions about the presentation – key things to remember as we continued along. The handout seemed to give the students a reason to listen to the presentation.

Here’s where I took a risk. The handout also provided a space for each student to write down a question for me. I guaranteed them that I would respond. Am I a little crazy? Perhaps. Why did I do this? It was a large class and I wanted the students to feel that they could ask a question and not feel like it was “dumb”. I wanted every student to have a chance to be heard. I can tell you that there was not a single dumb question in the entire lot. Everyone asked a relevant question, some asked a detailed question, and some asked a reference question. All of the answers required thought, a bit of research, and a little tact. Did I mention that it was a large class? It took me four days to answer them all, but every student received an answer. Will I do this type of activity again? YES. In fact, the revised form is already drafted and ready to print for future classes. When I will use it requires a bit more of my discretion.

This class has returned two years in a row. Improvements and adaptations are being planned for next year. I hope that the professor comes back so that I can implement these new plans.

Snapshot impressions #6 -- first class of the Winter 2013 term

First class of the term. The challenge? to introduce the students to a variety of sources that are relevant to thei assignment AND to play nice with the librarian! Okay, I will admit it; that's not so hard. On one hand, I have lots of sources of the assignment. On the other hand, the team of librarians here are great, being both welcoming and supportive of my teaching style. This session was an opportunity to show the students how the sources in the library and archives work together within the research process. The friendly, neighbourhood librarian and I set to demonstrate just that practice.

The first part of the session addressed the benefits and challenges of secondary sources, ending with the most familiar source -- the book. This allowed me to pick up on the discussion of how a book's content is found. I took the students on a journey, deconstructing a specific book which was related to their assignment for which the archives has most of the original research and copies of the drafted manuscripts. The students were given time to explore the documents and answer a set of questions, comparing the collection to the book and thinking about the publication as a finished "product". [To see the exercise in more detail, look here: http://archivallessons.blogspot.ca/2013/02/deconstruction-zone-getting-to-bottom.html] Seriously, the students became so engaged in these records that they did not want to stop working with them.

After guiding the students through this exercise, we divided the them into two groups (one with primary sources and one with secondary sources) to answer a set of research questions that were directly related to the assignment. It was an opportunity for the students to do some preliminary research during class and be able to ask questions while their professor, librarian, and archivist were on hand.

Overall, the session went well and the students were able to do some work on their assignment. For me, the best part was being able to deconstruct a book and show the students how much research goes into a scholarly publication. It was an excellent and opportune example.

Where did I go?

Yes, it has been a few weeks since I have updated you on the research project. But that does not mean that progress has been slow.  Oh no, not so.

Although I did take a short break in December, the first few days of January was a time to reflect on the Fall term. I took three days to assess the classes offered in the Fall. I even wrote up a report to share with you. And then IT happened...

Between January 2nd and 4th, three profs requested an archives session. By January 8th, I had received three more requests. Six classes -- all asking for sessions to be given within the same two-week time frame! As you can well imagine, my report (and this blog) quickly went by the wayside. Sorry about that.

My research assistant, Amber, and I have been busy planning and delivering sessions ever since. There has been little-to-no time to reflect on the project. Still, this insane pace brought out some creative ideas.

How did it all work out, you ask? I negotiated the sessions to be spread out a bit more widely and one prof decided to withdraw her request (due to a change in the assignment), so I did five sessions in three weeks. Of those sessions, four were completely new. The last session was held only this week. Yes, it WAS a busy January/February.

The good news is that I can now return to reflection and analysis of the entire year. I have planned some special presentations about this research -- and, I can blog about it again!

Snapshot impressions #5--fifth class of the Fall 2012 term

I like to joke about this one, saying that "Civil War is coming to the archives." Although misleading, this statement is true.

The American Civil War class has come to the archives annually for more than three years. This is an exciting classroom experience for me. Why? The professor not only sees the value in the archives, and therefore wants to forge deeper connections between the archives and all of his classes, but he uses the archival sources as an opportunity to tease out details from previous lectures. I am always in awe of his ability to do this. I have learned a great deal about the War from these sessions alone.

In the past, the prof has asked me to find connections between the University, the Province, and the Civil War. It was no small task that first year, but I did find a few connections. After listening to the prof talk during that first archives session, I investigated more leads and more even more connections. He wanted more, though; he wanted personal narratives to make that connection. On that front, I am still searching.

This year, I was asked to find sources that gave political, social, and economic context to the War. Again, I set Amber on the trail of sources. We had more than I realized. Amber and I examined each source for that context and chose the best of possible sources. I wanted one source for each student in the class of 45. This time the speed dating exercise would probe deeper into the source, making a direct connection to the course and allowing time for the prof to lecture based on details discovered by the students.

We did four rounds of dating. The first round was short, asking each student to find one, interesting detail. The second round was also short, asking about the purpose of the book. The next two rounds were more probing with questions asking about connections to other events in the states between 1861 and 1865 and if the source gave voice to the North or the South as well as how the source helped with the students' understanding of why the War happened. As each round was completed, the prof made direct connections to the content of his previous lectures. He also prompted the students, drawing out their responses during the discussions.

My observations, with the benefit of hindsight:

• four rounds was too many, given the time we had to do the session and the depth of the questions. The students responded that they wanted more time to examine their source and think about the questions
• directly linking the lectures to the sources makes the archives relevant to the students' needs
• working closely with the prof to deliver the session is very valuable. I need to find ways to do this with more profs

Snapshot impressions #4--fourth class of the Fall 2012 term

The Pre-Confederation history class comes annually for a session in the archives. Each time, the course is taught by a different professor with a different emphasis. The number of students enrolled gets larger every year. In essence, I reinvent the session on a yearly basis. I need stability for this course. I need to create a session that is broad enough to satisfy the goals of different profs without my starting from scratch year-after-year.

Fortunately, I have two things in my favour this term. My keen research assistant, Amber, wants to find a solution for this "problem". She scoured the holdings for appropriate sources with speed dating in mind. The speed dating method is really made for this class; all other sessions were merely practice runs. We can maximize our time and put multiple resources in the hands of students. Not only is Amber keen for this exercise to work, but the prof is too. He had not taught this class before and could see the value in this session. All that is left are the logistics!

We divided the class of 57 students into two sections. The archives can accommodate 20 people comfortably (40 people squished). We chose a number in between. The prof took half of the class for 45 minutes of instruction in the classroom while I gave the first session to the other half. Then we swapped.

I have explained speed dating in previous posts, so I will not get into specifics again. My observations of this session:

• due to time restraints, the sessions were very quick. I could not accomplish everything that I wanted. Still, the students saw a wide range of relevant materials.
• speed dating was well received by the students and generated lots of discussion.
• the first and second group approached the session very differently, with different results.
• the enthusiasm of the prof is key to the success of the session. The prof asked us to shape three archival questions to be used on his final exam.

Overall, the session met the goal of the prof and the needs of the students. What's more, I  now have a flexible session that I can opt to use next year and the year after and the year after that...

Taking a shallow breath

As I sit here, reflecting on my sessions, it feels as though I am repeating myself in the blog. I guess it appears that way because the same technique is bing used throughout the term's sessions--speed dating. Still, it is a technique that works and it is one that needed perfecting.

Are we there yet? Perhaps.

Amber and I have taken these past few days to relfect on the term and project into next term. More on our progress later. I still have two more sessions to share.

Snapshot impressions #3 -- third class of the Fall 2012 term

Finally, a chance to let loose and really experiment. The third class of the term was a public history seminar with five students. The professor wanted me to talk about challenges and opportunities for archives. She gave me three hours to do so. Let’s have fun and generate some interesting discussion too!

Since I had lots of time, I also wanted to get their feedback on my own (future) research question. So, two weeks in advance of the class, I asked each student to select and read a finding aid created by my institution. I gave them no further instructions. They all came in with difference ideas of what would happen. Because they had advised me of their choices in advance, I had pulled the records for them. When they arrived for class, I gave them a printed copy of their finding aid and asked them to look at it in conjunction with the online version. After a few minutes, I have each student the records that matched their finding aid. When they had looked at all of this information for 30 minutes, I gave each student six questions to answer with a 25 minute deadline. We then came together for a group discussion. I collected some great feedback on our finding aids for my future research project.

Now, let’s turn to the challenges and opportunities that I was asked to address. I wanted to get the students’ ideas instead of leading them to see my points of view. As each student arrived for the session, I gave them a paper with the words “opportunities/challenges” and lots of blank space. I asked them to do a word association and write down their ideas. After a few minutes, I collected all of the slips of paper for my review. While the students worked on the finding aid exercise, I had an hour to prepare for the opportunities and challenges portion of the class. I was already semi-prepared as I had guessed many of their responses would be about funding, digitization, etc., but I wanted the time to get organized for the discussion. When we came together for this exercise, they found that I had written all of their responses on two white boards. I started by asking the students which point they wanted to discuss first. This was their chance to tell me what they wanted to talk about in the class. As we talked, we also discussed some prepared, supportive, and relevant videos (e.g., Tom Nesmith’s questions to Min. Moore in a Winnipeg café), newspaper articles (e.g., the funeral and protest in front of LAC), and digital documents.

In the final part of the class, I asked them a few questions about personal responsibility with respect to public history. Amber and I had prepared six questions and written them on flip charts. In this portion of the class, I brought out the flip charts and placed them all around the room. The questions literally surrounded us with the intent to generate discussion. Each student selected a question to ask the group and start a discussion. The questions had no specific order and we discussed them randomly.

Want to see how I did it? Check out “No expiration date” at this address: http://archivallessons.blogspot.ca/2012/11/no-expiration-date.html

How did it all go? There were mixed results. I found the students were, at first, reluctant to engage in the open format. As the class continued though, the students became more comfortable with leading the discussion. The finding aid section was very productive. When the students were working individually, looking at records, and answering questions about the finding aid, they were very engaged.

All five of the students have returned to ask additional questions and work on their assignments. They have come to me with well-considered questions and a list of potential research sources.

Will I try this format again? Yes—yes, I will.

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.

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.

Another blog that may be of interest...

I have created another blog dedicated to my lesson plans.  Check it out at: http://archivallessons.blogspot.ca/

Over the years, I have created 14 examples--many more than I had realized! These examples have not previously been done as lesson plans, so I am making adaptations as I go. In the upcoming year, I expect to create an additional 8 lessons plans (at the very least).

On June 8th, at the Association of Canadian Archivists' conference in Whitehorse, I shared one of my interactive, guided class examples with delegates.  I called it "The Case of the Controversial Calendar".  It will be available as a podcast on the ACA members website. Thank you to everyone who participated.  Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to share my research endeavours via this blog.  As promised, I will use this blog to disseminate the research and practice of AIL.  Exciting times are ahead!

The title of this blog is inspired by an article of the same title, written by Wendy Robicheau for the March issue of the APLA Bulletin, available here: http://apla.ca/?q=75/3.robicheau