ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ November 2000 / 909 CONFERENCE CIRCUIT Immersion 2000 Making learning happen by Rosemary McAndrew A gainst a backdrop of Mount Rainier, the participants of ACRL’s Institute for Infor­ mation Literacy Immersion 2000 progr worked and played together this summer. The University of Washington (UW) in Seattle was the setting for this intensive journey that took its participants (from the States, Jamaica, Canada, New Zealand, and | A u s t r a l i a ) th r o u g h an intensive in­ formation lit­ eracy curricu­ lum. For four- and-one-half days, the fac- ulty and staff o f th is n a ­ tio n a l p r o ­ Participants in this year gram housed, fed, challenged, provoked, and nurtured us. As it was explained to us, “An immersion program is not a conference, nor a meeting, nor a workshop . . . it is an active process in which you, as participants, share responsi­ bility with each other and the faculty to make learning happen.” The sessions The Track I curriculum, designed for librar­ am 's ians who are interested in defining themselves as instruction/teaching librarians, began with a plenary session delivered to all participants by Anne Zald, special assistant to the direc­ tor at UW. In her address, “Towards an Un­ derstanding of Information Literacy in Higher Education: History, Definition, and Chal­ lenges,” Zald e x p l a i n e d how informa­ tion literacy ta k e s its s h a p e from cultural and o r g a n i z a - tio n a l c o n ­ texts. As one or th e m any c o m p e t i n g Immersion Program. a g e n d a s in higher educa­ tion, information literacy puts students and learning at the center and emphasizes trans­ ferable competencies to lifelong learning. Asserting the educational importance of li­ braries is the challenge we face as we move from bibliographic instruction to information literacy in our instruction programs. By the end of this plenary address, my role in this challenge began to emerge as I thought about partnerships with other fac- About the author Rosemary McAndrew is reference librarian a t Community College o f Philadelphia, e-mail: mcandrew@ccp.cc.pa.us mailto:mcandrew@ccp.cc.pa 910 / C&RL News ■ Novem ber 2000 "An im m ersion program is not a conference, nor a m eeting, nor a w orkshop . . . it is an active pro­ cess in w hich you, as participants, share responsib ility w ith each other and the faculty to make learning happen." ulty, assessm ent o f learning, and the de­ velopm ent o f m yself as a teacher. It was clear that the m essage o f Immersion 2000 was that we were all to contribute to the information literacy knowledge base. Jo a n Kaplowitz, from the Biom edical Li- brary at UCLA, led us through our session on “The Psychology o f Learning: the Theo­ ries behind the Practice of T eaching.” One o f the Track I p reconference assignments was to com plete a learning style inven­ tory, which in itself is an eye-opening e x ­ ercise. Throughout the learning activities o f this session we w ere asked to think about our understanding o f learning theory and learning styles and how they might impact our approach to instruction. “Presentation Tech nique and Evalua­ tion” addressed the broader issues o f good teaching and sound learning environments. It offered the participants an opportunity to pull back from the day-to-day concerns o f library instruction and to reflect on the nature o f education, teaching, and learn­ ing. Susan Barnes Whyte from Linfield Col­ lege Library in O regon show ed us the “heart o f a teach er” as she helped partici­ pants review instruction situations for pre­ sentation techniques o f voice, body and attitude. The small group presentations, prepared in advance o f Immersion 2000, w ere evaluated by our peers and dem on­ strated how a lectu re can be pow erful w hen the content is m em orable and the delivery dynamic. Many o f the bonds that lasted throughout the program took root d uring this e x e r c is e as tru st and risk changed places. This session asked what we were learning about ourselves as teach­ ers. The next day found participants im­ mersed in assessment. Debra Gilchrist from Pierce College in Lakewood, Washington, reminded us that assessment is much more than a definition: It is about students and learning. Armed with this insight, the rule to always work backwards, with plenty of perm ission to fail, the Track I participants endeavored to relate assessment to instruc­ tion, develop measurable outcom es, and evaluate various assessm ent techniques in our own settings. “Teaching with Technology: Implement­ ing th e P rin c ip le s o f G o o d P r a c t ic e ” brought back Anne Zald with the exper­ tise she acquired as an instructor in UWired and chair of the Information Literacy Com­ mittee at UW. During small group reflec­ tions and discussions, participants forged plans for the use o f new technologies in the classroom and in the electronic envi­ ronment. Reviewing both good and bad classroom practices helped the participants link to lessons learned in the earlier ses­ sions on learning theory and styles. If Rosemary’s report har 2001 programApply fod you thinking what a great experience the Immersion program would be for you or a staff member, now is the time to apply for the 2001 program. The ACRL Institute for Information Literacy Immersion program will be held at the State University o f New York in Plattsburgh, Au­ gust 2-8, 2001. The program includes two tracks. Track 1, “Librarian as Teacher,” focuses on indi­ vidual development for new librarians or instruction librarians who are interested in enhancing, refreshing, or extending their individual instruction skills. Track II, “Librar­ ian as Program Manager,” focuses on de­ veloping, integrating, and managing insti­ tutional and programmatic information lit­ eracy programs; some attention will be given to individual instructional skill development. A description o f the program and appli­ c a tio n m aterials are on the W eb at http://www.ala.org/acrl/nili/initiatives. html. Applications are due to the ACRL of­ fice by December 15, 2000. http://www.ala.org/acrl/nili/initiatives C&RL N ews ■ N ovem ber 2000 / 9 11 Susan Barnes Whyte rejoined Track I folks for a session on “Pedagogy.” Work­ ing in small groups, the B roken Method Exercise forced us to look at specific teach­ ing methods, their deficiencies, and strat­ egies for improvement. As the groups re­ ported b ack , the rich ness o f skills and knowledge of the participants was evident and long lists of problem solving data were disclosed. Karen Williams, Digital Library Initia­ tives team leader at the University o f Ari­ zona, led the “Leadership and M anage­ m ent” session. As she guided us through the definitions, self-assessm ent, tools, and learning aspects o f the topic, one could see the participants picturing themselves in past and future lives. It was so clear that “since leadership represents a possible set o f actions for everyone in the com m u­ nity, anyone can choose to lead.” We wrote vision statements for information literacy and leadership growth plans. Immersion 2000 was the setting for som e impressive risktaking. Fin a l th o u g h ts From our nun-like cells in a beautiful gothic building, we emerged each morning to face the Immersion 2000 challenges. As each day (and night!) unfolded, fears were disclosed, friendships made, conflicts aired, and affin­ ity groups were being formed. The roundtable discussions that were orchestrated by the Immersion faculty, affectionately known as “Birds o f a Feather,” were just one of the af­ finities that formed. Folks exchanged busi­ ness cards and e-mail addresses, building a network of colleagues we knew we could call on in the future. On the fourth night o f the program, the participants joined the faculty for a dinner cruise on Puget Sound. That sunset will be the “thought behind the smile” for a long time to come. Since those fateful days in August, an elec­ tronic list has facilitated com munication among the participants. By now the partici­ pants of Immersion 2000 know that they were involved in a “deep learning,” the one that “makes a difference in people’s lives.” ■