scholarly journals "Trying to figure it out": Academic librarians talk about learning to teach

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (107) ◽  
pp. 18-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eveline Houtman
Keyword(s):  
Continuing Education ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Learning Support ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
Core Function ◽  
School Teaching ◽  
Academic Librarianship

Information literacy instruction is a core function in academic librarianship, yet librarians may feel unprepared for teaching. This qualitative research study explores, through the experiences of eight academic librarians in Ontario, Canada, how librarians learn to teach in the classroom. It uses narrative inquiry to study and share these experiences, an approach that is in the mainstream of teacher research, although little used in the library and information literature. Areas explored include the librarians' expectations of librarianship; what they learned at library school; teaching as learning; support from colleagues; continuing education; teacher identity; talking about teaching.

scholarly journals The motivation of EFL public school teachers: what can self-theories tell us?

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Costa Ribas
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Public School Teachers ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
Affective Factors ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Collection Methods

In this paper, I report on a qualitative research study in progress, carried out with two English teachers, working in elementary education in a public school in Minas Gerais. I sought to investigate the motivation of these teachers, in light of self-theories (MARKUS; NURIUS, 1986; HIGGINS, 1987). Data collection methods include a questionnaire, an interview, classroom notes and video-stimulated recall sessions. Results show the important role played by positive and negative self-beliefs (whether actual or future) in teachers’ motivational flux. I conclude the article by emphasizing the need for encouraging the reflection on self-beliefs and affective factors that could impact on action and the sharing of experience in teacher education and in continuing education programs in order to engender a positive motivational cycle in schools.

scholarly journals Novice Academic Librarians Provide Insight into Choosing Their Careers, Graduate School Education, and First Years on the Job

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
Carol D Howe
Keyword(s):  
Continuing Education ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Graduate Schools ◽  
Academic Librarianship ◽  
The Future ◽  
Insight Into

Objective – To study the ways in which novice academic librarians’ perceptions of librarianship develop from the time they decide to attend library school through their first 6 to 24 months of library work. Design – Grounded theory method utilizing two qualitative research techniques: one-on-one, face-to-face interviews and document analysis. Setting – The libraries of three Texas universities, three Texas four-year colleges, and one Texas community college. Subjects – 12 professional academic librarians who graduated from eight different graduate schools. Participants were 6 to 24 months into their professional careers and had little or no pre-professional experience. Methods – The researchers sought participants through mailings, emails, electronic mailing list postings, and referrals from other participants. They conducted a small pilot study with two novice librarians to refine their research methodology. The researchers interviewed additional participants and analyzed the interview transcripts until categories of interest were identified and saturated. Saturation occurred at 12 participants, not including the pilot participants. Each interview was 30-45 minutes. The researchers recorded the interviews and systematically coded the transcripts using activist imagery. Four of the participants gave the researchers their “statement of purpose” essay that they used when applying for graduate school. These documents were also discussed with participants and analyzed. Main Results – From the data they collected, the researchers identified six categories of interest regarding librarians’ perceptions of librarianship: deciding upon a career, experiencing graduate school, continuing education, defining the work, evaluating the work, and (re)imagining the future. In considering librarianship as a career, the participants had not been entirely sure what it entailed, but they utilized what they did know about libraries and librarianship to generally deem the profession solid, safe, and/or noble. They had further explored librarianship to determine its compatibility with their personal characteristics. Such personal reflection had led participants to graduate school where they gained a real understanding of librarianship. The participants had not generally found graduate school to be academically challenging. They had also valued practical over theoretical instruction. Once in the workplace, the participants noted the value of continuing education to strengthen the skills they had learned in graduate school. Participants benefitted the most from informal mentoring and on-the-job training, i.e. “learning by doing” (p. 192). As novice librarians, the participants had learned to feel their way around their job expectations and note the differences between their responsibilities and those of paraprofessionals in the library. As the novice librarians further defined their work, they had also learned that academic librarianship is the sum of many parts, including collaboration with peers. In evaluating their work, the participants noted that they had come to distinguish “real” academic library work, that which uses their expertise and helps society, from “other” work such as clerical work (pp. 195-196). The sixth and final category was “(re)imagining the future.” Most of the participants predicted having advanced as academic librarians in the next five years but were otherwise unsure about what their futures would hold. Conclusion – The researchers made a number of valuable observations in their work with novice librarians. As the step of deciding upon a career seemed to be a murky quest, they thought it would be helpful to analyze public opinion of librarianship and use that information to offset misperceptions about what librarians do. This might help those considering librarianship to make informed and conscious decisions. The study data also provided insight into graduate school. The fact that the participants did not consider graduate school to be rigorous concerned the researchers. They feared that librarians entering the field might not deem it a serious profession. Because the participants favored practical over theoretical classes, the researchers thought it important for graduate schools to teach theoretical concepts in a way that is more satisfying to students. They felt that other applied fields, such as nursing, might provide examples of how to do so. The researchers also noted that graduate schools could do more to prepare students for life on the job. As new librarians reported favouring “real” work over “other” work, the researchers felt that students should hear it first in graduate school that all the work librarians do is an important and necessary part of academic librarianship. As most participants were uncertain about what their futures as academic librarians might look like, the researchers thought that graduate school professors should address that issue as well. Data from this study also gave insight into how employers might best serve new librarians. The researchers suggest looking to new teacher induction programs to get ideas for orienting new librarians to the profession. Orientation might include a combination of formal and informal techniques such as peer mentors, peer observation, new librarian training, and new librarian handbooks in the first year of employment. Finally, the researchers proposed ideas for future research. They believe it might be helpful to study experienced academic librarians or new public librarians for comparison to this study.

Searching for hope in brain, lung, and pancreatic cancers: A collaborative qualitative research study

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Pearson ◽  
Maureen Rigney ◽  
Anitra Engebretson ◽  
Johanna Villarroel ◽  
Jenette Spezeski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
Pancreatic Cancers

Location-thinking, value-thinking, and graphical forms: combining analytical frameworks to analyze inferences made by students when interpreting the points and trends on a reaction coordinate diagram

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Parobek ◽  
Patrick M. Chaffin ◽  
Marcy H. Towns
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Rate ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Reaction Rates ◽  
Reaction Coordinate ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Analytical Frameworks ◽  
Chemical Representations

Reaction coordinate diagrams (RCDs) are chemical representations widely employed to visualize the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters associated with reactions. Previous research has demonstrated a host of misconceptions students adopt when interpreting the perceived information encoded in RCDs. This qualitative research study explores how general chemistry students interpret points and trends on a RCD and how these interpretations impact their inferences regarding the rate of a chemical reaction. Sixteen students participated in semi-structured interviews in which participants were asked to interpret the points and trends along provided RCDs and to compare relative reaction rates between RCDs. Findings derived from this study demonstrate the diversity of graphical reasoning adopted by students, the impact of students’ interpretations of the x-axis of a RCD on the graphical reasoning employed, and the influence of these ideas on inferences made about reaction rate. Informed by analytical frameworks grounded in the resources framework and the actor-oriented model of transfer, implications for instruction are provided with suggestions for how RCDs may be presented to assist students in recognizing the critical information encoded in these diagrams.

scholarly journals Education and Heritage of Medieval Warfare. A Study on the Transmission of Knowledge by Informal Educators in Defensive Spaces

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 320
Author(s):  
Darío Español-Solana ◽  
Jesús Gerardo Franco-Calvo
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
Transmission Of Knowledge ◽  
Historical Reenactment ◽  
Heritage Education ◽  
Informal Educators ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Informal Settings

Historical reenactment is becoming a top-tier teaching tool in the countries of Southern Europe. In Spain specifically, this discipline is experiencing a boom as a heritage education method, particularly in informal settings. This article is the outcome of a qualitative research study of the results obtained from one hundred and fifteen educators from historical reenactment groups. The study analyses the methods used by the exponents of this discipline to teach war in the Middle Ages, specifically in three Spanish castles dating from the 11th to the 12th centuries. It has made it possible to analyse how the educational discourses are organised in relation to Medieval war within military spaces from this period, and how historical reenactment is a coadjutant in the construction of teaching/learning spaces from a heritage education perspective.

Maternal attitudes toward DNA collection for gene-environment studies: A qualitative research study

2009 ◽  
Vol 149A (11) ◽  
pp. 2378-2386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary M. Jenkins ◽  
Erika Reed-Gross ◽  
Sonja A. Rasmussen ◽  
Wanda D. Barfield ◽  
Christine E. Prue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
Maternal Attitudes ◽  
Gene Environment ◽  
Dna Collection

Reflexivity in research: Promoting rigour, reliability and validity in qualitative research

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 560-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesam Darawsheh
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
Analyse Data

Background The value of qualitative research is increasingly acknowledged in health studies, as well as the demand for employing rigorous strategies. Although the literature recognises that reflexivity is a valuable and rigorous strategy, few studies unravel the practical employment of reflexivity as a strategy for ensuring rigour and quality in qualitative research. Aim To present a practical example of how reflexivity can be employed as a strategy for ensuring rigour by reviewing 13 narratives from the author's reflexive diary on qualitative research. Methods Content analysis and narrative analysis were used to approach and analyse data. Findings Analysis of the posited qualitative research study found five main outcomes of the influence of reflexivity as a strategy to establish criteria of rigour. Conclusions Further research is needed to show how reflexivity can be employed as a strategy in qualitative research to: i) establish criteria of rigour; ii) monitor the researcher's subjectivity in generating credible findings.

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