Mary Kay Biagini, Information Sciences, approaches her teaching in a way that prepares her students for life after graduation. Specifically, she relies heavily on simulations and group work experiences that promote a hands-on, interactive learning environment.
Biagini, who teaches graduate students in the School Library Certification Program, describes the program as competency based. “A set of competencies has been established for what a school librarian should be able to do,” Biagini explains. “The curriculum is mapped to those competencies. Every assignment and learning experience that the students work on is key to helping them build a particular competency that they will need in their professional lives.”
These competences include planning, delivering, and evaluating a library program for young adults as well as developing proposals for funding to provide service to young adults.
Biagini does not test her students; instead, they prove their competence through group work, experiences, and simulations. Students work in groups to build a periodical collection and occasionally even go on field trips. On one such field trip, the students visited six Pittsburgh-area schools—both city and suburban—and had the opportunity to talk to school librarians and see libraries in elementary, middle, and high schools.
Biagini bases the simulations on real-life experiences her students are likely to encounter. “I try to give my students the kinds of experiences they need to be ready for when they are professionals themselves.”
During a simulation, students are asked to play a role. For example, one simulation may require the student to work through the process of dealing with a parent who is challenging a book in the school library collection. In this case, the student may prepare a justification for keeping a certain title on the shelves of a local school.
In another simulation, the student is assigned a social networking site, like Facebook or MySpace. The student evaluates the pros and cons of the site and determines whether students in public and school libraries should be allowed to use that social networking site.
“The simulations switch the students’ focus from looking to their professors for answers to actually assuming the roles of professionals,” says Biagini. “It helps them understand that there isn’t always a correct answer or a specific way to do something, but they have to find a solution themselves.”
This approach to teaching is very rewarding to Biagini. “I often see students start the program with doubts, but as they go through the courses, they begin to build confidence,” Biagini explains. “Seeing the student develop through the program, graduate, and earn a professional position is what makes teaching so gratifying.”
By Katie Szokoly, Teaching Times Intern
Katie Szokoly is a senior majoring in Nonfiction Writing and is in the Public and Professional Writing Program. She is also a peer tutor at the Writing Center.
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