Aimee deChambeau

This chapter discusses hurdles posed to a medium-sized public university library in the Midwest when they were asked by their Dean to create a faculty workload worksheet, rationale, and ultimately a set of guidelines. Faculty in other departments compute their loads using formulas based on course loads. How many hours they spend in the classroom, and how many hours they spend preparing for that time in the classroom are factored into the course loads expected for a full teaching load, with release granted in course load equivalents for research and/or service. Because librarian work does not typically involve teaching credit-bearing courses, a major challenge to constructing guidelines is equating library work with course loads. Calculating faculty workload for librarians commensurate with other faculty on campus is often complicated. To all of these challenges add the unique issues that face the technical services librarian. Technical services work supports instruction and research but may involve little classroom contact with students, so it has even less resemblance to classroom instruction than other librarian work has. Technical services librarians spend their time in a wide variety of tasks. Exactly how to formulate this time in accordance with the rules for other departmental faculty is a challenge. The specific situation at this university added more complications as there was also a campus-wide mandate to ensure all workload policies are consistent and equitable.

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been gaining in popularity, especially within the context of STEM-based (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) schools. Program assessments for these schools typically focus on student standardized test scores rather than the needs of the teachers. This study utilized anecdote circles, storytelling via moderated group discussions, to investigate teachers’ needs related to developing and implementing authentic, interdisciplinary PBL activities in an urban, public STEM high school. Teacher experiences and viewpoints were explored within three broad themes: assessment; coaching and training; and authentic learning. The analyses provide insights for transitioning a school for effective PBL implementation as well as improving teaching and learning best practices. Recommendations to improve PBL practice based on the study’s results are also included.

Information literacy (IL) is the set of skills that enables a person to find, evaluate, and use information. Although IL is important in the geosciences, it is hard to teach because the information comes in so many forms. Most geoscience courses include work that implicitly addresses some IL issues. However, because of the importance of IL, it is worthwhile to explicitly include it as part of the curriculum. The Association of College and Research Libraries has developed Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education that may be used to assess an individual's level of information literacy. We introduce a method for incorporating IL into the classroom experience by mapping an assignment to the ACRL standards. By using our method, an instructor can easily implement IL in the classroom, providing both immediate and long-term benefits to the student.