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Librarian Activity to Support Teachers
The recession has caused school districts to reduce expenses. A major strategy being used by school boards is to postpone
textbook purchases for several years or more. In a world of rapidly changing events and information, teaching and learning
with even more obsolete textbooks is ineffective.
ProQuest solutions provide the teaching and learning tools to transition teachers from textbook learning and move to the
future with inquiry-based learning and 21st-century skills using online research tools like eLibrary Curriculum Edition.
Help teachers address their reluctance to assign inquiry-based learning activities by exploring the teacher resources below
and sharing them with your teachers. Unlike traditional databases, ProQuest solutions empower both teachers and
students to develop critical thinking and information literacy skills, and help teachers transition from textbook learning to
inquiry-based learning:
- Access professional models for a
variety of inquiry-based learning activities that support textbooks and also 21st Century standards for all curriculum areas
and levels.
- Manage inquiry-based learning activities to ensure that students get relevant and credible results with appropriate
reading levels, and also directions for the activity—all in one place.
- Strategies to integrate critical thinking into each inquiry-based learning
activity.
- Help students convert their reasoned ideas and conclusions into reports and presentations.
- Evaluate the research
process and the resulting report or presentation.
Support Teachers: Inquiry Learning Activities
Generally, teachers don't assign inquiry-based learning activities at the start of the school year. Their first concern is to get
to know their students and also get them interested and involved in the course.
This fresh activity is designed for librarians to help motivate and support teachers when their students are more involved
and ready for more in-depth learning through an effective inquiry-based learning activity.
Inquiry-based learning is one of the foundations of 21st Century Skills as spelled out in the new AASL and ISTE 21st
Century teaching and learning standards. Librarians and Curriculum Directors have the responsibility to implement and
support the integration of these standards and skills in their schools.
Despite the ease of access, both at home and school, to world-class resources provided by librarians through ProQuest
teaching and learning resources, many teachers are still reluctant to assign effective inquiry-based learning activities. This
teacher reluctance is caused by their lack of experience in creating inquiry-based activities because traditional teaching
pedagogy relies on textbook learning and multiple choice assessments.
When you ask teachers who are reluctant to assign inquiry-based activities, you may get answers that include the
following:
- "It takes too much time away from the classroom and I won't be able to cover the course of study and the textbook."
- "I'm concerned about students accessing Internet information that could get me in personal trouble or involved in a
disciplinary action against the student."
- "I don't want to waste time or have the expertise to evaluate the relevance and credibility of resources that students
select."
- "I don't have any models that I can share with students on the research process and the ways to present research
reports."
- "I don't have time to evaluate all student projects, nor do I have a method that converts to a grade."
- "How do I know that the student reports aren't plagiarized?"
- "How do I know that inquiry-based learning activities are standards-based and help increase student achievement?"
So, librarians have a real challenge in addressing these obstacles to implementing both AASL and ISTE 21st Century standards
for teaching and learning.
The success of librarians and the library is directly linked to addressing these challenges. Scientific research indicates that
lecture and discussion is the least effective way of teaching and learning. The increasing drop-out rate and the number of
college students who take remediation courses attest to that. The same research indicates that inquiry-based learning is
one of the most effective ways if it's done correctly.
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