Practical Pedagogy for Library Instructors: 17 Innovative Strategies to Improve Student Learning (review)

Library instruction has developed from teaching students how to locate materials to teaching information literacy skills. The library literature is full of articles related to learning instruction, styles, and strategies. Even though library instruction is a big part of librarians’ responsibilities, very few library school programs prepare librarians for teaching, nor do many librarians receive adequate teaching training once in the workforce. Some librarians are natural teachers; however, the majority of librarians at the beginning of their careers experience inadequacy and frustration in teaching. To fulfill the need for library instruction education, experienced librarians have written many books on the topic, and this book is a good addition to the library instruction pedagogy resources that are already available.

Douglas Cook is the reference and instruction librarian at Shippensburg University Libraries. Dr. Cook is a prolific author who has written many books on library instruction. Some of his publications include: Observe, Reflect, Act: A Primer on Qualitative Research by Librarians (forthcoming), The Library Instruction Cook-book (Chicago: ACRL, 2009), and Teaching Information Literacy Skills to Social Sciences Students and Practitioners: A Casebook of Applications (Chicago: ACRL, 2006). Cook received his B.A. from Washington Bible College, an M.L.S. from the University of Maryland, and a D.Ed. from Pennsylvania State University.

Ryan L. Sittler is an assistant professor at California University of Pennsylvania. Sittler is also a prolific author and poet. Sittler holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Kutztown University, a master’s degree in library science from Clarion University, and a master’s degree in instructional technology from Bloomsburg University.

Cook and Sittler’s book focuses on two major philosophical orientations: Direct Instruction and Student-Centered Learning. The authors believe that understanding these two styles will help instructors understand how students learn, make better decisions about how to teach, and, as a result, achieve improved learning outcomes.

The first chapter provides a general overview of pedagogical theories and how they relate to student learning. There is a comparison table of “Direct Instruction” versus “Student-Centered Learning” in a variety of aspects: purpose, learning outcome, role of student, role of teacher, instructional strategies, and examples. The table is followed by an explanation of each one of the aspects.

The book includes seven case studies of librarians using the direct instruction approach to teach a large amount of information and/or complex ideas to a group of students; in each of these cases, direct instruction was the best approach to use to deliver the information. The cases present effective ways to teach the research process. For example, one of the cases uses metaphors as a tool to increase student understanding. Another case presents storytelling as an effective tool for increasing student understanding of complex concepts.

The last nine chapters include examples of student-centered learning, where the librarian is less focused on delivering specific knowledge than he or she is on active learning in a group setting. This type of technique allows students to use their own experiences as a basis of learning. The cases are good examples of the use of dialogue and simulation in library instruction. Many of the library’s cases featured in these last chapters use technology as a means to start conversations among students. Other cases concentrate on teaching a specific concept such as Boolean logic or citing sources in a creative way that resulted in engaging students in the learning process. All the cases included in this book follow the same style: an abstract, editor’s notes, introduction, instructional goals, instructional strategy, match of goals and strategies, description of the instruction session, lessons learned, application to other instructional settings, and notes that include a selected bibliography for further reading.

Practical Pedagogy for Library Instructors is practical and easy to read, and the real-life cases provide practical strategies that could work in any library. It is a great...