Librarians as Teachers (Stephanie Morgan’s Observations)

The first breakout session the authors attended focused on how librarians identify themselves and how that sense of identity shapes their professional practice. We began by defining “teacher,” first individually and then in small groups, before coming together as a larger group to share and discuss our definitions. A wide range of meanings emerged, including phrases such as “to cause to know how,” “to guide in the studies of,” and “to instruct regularly in.” From there, the conversation shifted to what it means to be an instructor as compared to being a teacher, and how those distinctions feel in practice.

This discussion naturally led to whether we apply the label of “teacher” to ourselves and to our librarian positions. For many participants, this was closely tied to institutional status, whether a librarian is staff or faculty, tenure-track, academic, as well as to formal training in teaching or pedagogy, whether in graduate school or elsewhere. Those who teach credit-bearing courses tended to feel that the label of teacher fit them more comfortably, while those who primarily teach one-shot sessions struggled to see themselves in that role.

We wrapped up the session by discussing why so many librarians struggle to identify as teachers and why those identities matter in the first place. Ultimately, we concluded that how we talk about our work matters. The words we use shape how we think about our roles moving forward and influence how others understand them as well. When we say, “I am a teacher,” we begin to embody the responsibility and the possibilities that come with that role.

In the moment, I found this session interesting, but as someone who does not tend to identify as a teacher, I did not expect to leave the program with a strong or lasting memory of it. However, the idea that how we label ourselves affects our work as well as how others perceive our work has stayed with me. Overall, this was a great session that has benefited how I talk about my work, my professional identity, and how I approach librarianship as a whole.

Learning Outcomes Session (Chuck Knight’s Observations)

The Learning Outcomes Breakout Session provided helpful information as well as tools for developing student outcomes. We learned about three types of outcomes: cognitive, behavioral, and affective. The affective domain was particularly intriguing to participants at my table, with some wondering how an instructor would measure affective outcomes. There are clear and quick ways to check if someone has gained knowledge or can perform a task, but in a one-shot instruction, it is not as straightforward to measure someone’s attitude or feelings toward the topic. During discussion, it was pointed out this is something that can be intuited. My interpretation of this is that one can read the room for affective outcomes, such as student curiosity or receptivity.

Additionally, the session facilitator covered aspects of effective learning outcomes, the classic formula for writing outcomes, and how many outcomes are actually needed. At the same time, it was emphasized that learning outcomes do not have to be perfect. Outcomes are tools for instructors to develop meaningful lessons. We were also provided a Taxonomies of Learning handout that lists various verbs one could use to develop outcomes, such as “define,” “perform,” and “reproduce,” across the three domains.

After instruction on learning outcomes, we did a small group activity in which each person wrote down on a worksheet a summary of their proposed change from the pre-work. Then, the handout was passed around the group to have people write a proposed learning outcome based on the summary. This was followed by discussion about the drafted outcomes.

Overall, I found the session engaging, insightful, and useful for my teaching practice. The class discussion was thought-provoking and practicing writing learning outcomes for other people, though challenging, was effective in helping us build this skill. I have since worked on writing my outcomes using the formula as well as the verbs in the handout.

Classroom Assessment Techniques (John Paul Martinez’s Observations)

The Classroom Assessment Techniques breakout room contained activities and handouts for creating lesson plans. One of my main goals going into Immersion was to tackle planning a new workshop: Coding with Artificial Intelligence for Business Students. The workshop will be aimed at those who have never coded before, utilizing Gemini to assist them in their tasks. In one hour, students will have to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of generative AI for coding; learn AI prompting; and know enough Python to at least read the text and edit with the changes suggested by the AI agent. With multiple objectives, this will be a packed workshop.

Fortunately, the handouts we received and the time spent in the Classroom Assessment Techniques breakout were aimed at breaking down complicated workshops into digestible lesson plans and frameworks.

The framework shared at the program is called AAA and is composed of the following:

• Aims - What is the student supposed to learn?

• Actions - What should the student do to get there?

• Artifacts - What do they create in demonstrating that learning?

I found the AAA Framework to be helpful. After discussing this framework, particularly the artifacts section, I had the idea to have the students create data visualizations in Python. I found that data visualizations using the programming software Pandas can be done quickly and will not only give the students an easily explainable artifact to take home, but introduce them to Python libraries, and help show them the variety of projects that Python can assist with.

The lesson plan handout was helpful in that it came with a sample outline that we could apply to any lesson we wanted to teach. Every learning activity should be followed by a comprehension check, which will be helpful especially for my workshop where I want to cover multiple topics in one hour. Overall, this was a very helpful breakout session as I learned a lot and came away feeling well prepared for my upcoming workshop.