As the semester wraps up, we hope plenty of students are utilizing the research skills they gained at the library. Library Learning Services (LLS) taught more than 2000 students in 123 sections. Focusing on foundational instruction, the department primarily taught ENGL 015, ESL 015 and CAS 100 classes.

Library instructors focused on various learning outcomes which, among others, included  helping students recognize the variety of resources available to them, determining appropriate information sources and using information resources to gain an understanding of their research topics.

In an effort to assess the effectiveness of the instruction sessions, LLS sent surveys to both the students and instructors. While still gathering feedback, the reviews have been positive with 96 percent of instructors agreeing that the library session helped their students identify a variety of library databases as potential sources of information.

We’ve received some of the following praise from instructors:

“Library instruction at Penn State is top notch.”

“I always enjoy taking my students to the library session!”

“Most of the freshmen are more interested in using google than doing serious research. I feel it was very helpful to expose them to the databases and to show them the ways you need to evaluate sources.”

Library Learning Services greatly appreciated the help of Paula Contreras, John Meier, Jade Atwill and Jose Guerrero for teaching sixteen of the sections. The remainder of the classes were taught by eleven LLS librarians.

Interested in teaching a few first-year sections next semester? Please contact Anne Behler at acb10@psu.edu, LLS’s instruction coordinator. New to teaching? No worries! LLS will work with you to get started.

– submitted by Rebecca Peterson, Library Learning Services