Motivating Students in Information Literacy Classes

Citation

Sheridan, L. (2005), "Motivating Students in Information Literacy Classes", Library Management, Vol. 26 No. 8/9, pp. 537-537. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120510631882

Motivating Students in Information Literacy Classes is the eighth title in the New Library Series, published by Neal‐Schuman. Expanding on the theme of libraries in the twenty‐first century, this book explores issues related to the effective teaching of information literacy skills. As any practitioner will know, one of the greatest challenges in teaching is motivating students to be receptive to what you have to offer them. While a great deal of literature exists on the theories of teaching and learning, few are related specifically to information literacy classes with post‐secondary students.

 The text is divided into two sections; the first two chapters cover motivational theory, with the remaining seven chapters exploring ways of building motivation into instruction. The final two chapters investigate issues related to assessment and online instruction. Of particular relevance to the practitioner, are the many inserts that give specific examples of activities, class outlines and assessment tasks.

As Jacobson and Xu both work in tertiary institutes in the USA, the examples are based on an American curriculum and are definitely geared towards unit long information literacy courses. Consequently some of the activities described assume a prolonged relationship with the students you are teaching. The authors acknowledge that some of the motivation techniques suggested are more difficult to utilise in a “guest lecture”‐style class. Never the less, the motivational model that Jacobson and Xu base their recommendations on – that of establishing the prerequisites of attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction – can still be applied in most teaching situations.

While the reader may not agree with everything the authors suggest, their ideas do prompt a critical review of current practices. This text is useful for librarians new to the teaching role, who are trying to design and deliver effective instruction, but also for those who have taught for a long time as a reminder to constantly re‐evaluate the effectiveness of what we do.