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Those directly involved with LIB100 are very familiar with our recent transition to a 1.5 credit hour course and the template that has been developing over the summer. However, I realize not everyone is so intimately involved, and wanted to let you know about the mammoth project conducted in the instruction unit this summer.

Joy Gambill has created a new template for the LIB100 courses, designed to take advantage of what we have learned in the decade we’ve been offering the class and the extra time we will now have in the classroom. To begin this process, Joy and I interviewed everyone who has taught LIB100 recently and asked about what they covered, what assignments they used, and any other information that might be helpful when thinking through developing a class. Joy took the ball from there and developed an outline for each day, presentations to guide librarians through the content, group activities to take advantage of active learning, and assignments to assess learning. The presentations are comprehensive, sometimes including clicker slides, screenshots for demonstrations, and transitions for class activities.

Perhaps the most fun part of the template is that it takes advantage of some of the most creative and interesting assignments and activities we’ve done. Several are things (or versions of things) that I have heard about for years but never taken the time to figure out how to fit them into my course. It’s really representative of the work that we all have done in developing our classes.

This template is not required for those who teach LIB100–we still maintain that faculty have academic freedom in their teaching. Yet, it is so thorough and integrates the best practices of all our instructors that I plan to use it starting with my class that kicks off this week. The LIB100 instructors have access both through Sakai and through a PDF of the course that contains all the material. However, if anyone else is interested in having access, let me know, and I’ll share the content with you as well.