Case Study 2. Skills and knowledge for knowledge acquisition – learning how to learn

Posted on 12th February 2025 by Grace O'Driscoll

Planning for and supporting student learning through appropriate approaches and environments

Background 

Having secured in-person teaching sessions to support Year 2 Unit 7 as part of the plan to build library and research skills back into the Camberwell BA Fine Art learning journey I have completed a set of recorded tutorials which are now loaded to unit Moodle pages and need to plan to what extent and in what ways the in-person sessions differ from the video materials, as another layer of learning. Students need to be equipped with research-skills enabling and empowering them to independently acquire both thematic and critical contextual knowledge, and equally importantly to feel that these skills and methodologies are personally meaningful and beneficial to their ongoing work, learning that ‘develops new modes of thinking, and defines [students’] relationships to their disciplines’ (Burns Gilchrist, 2016).

Planning

I have worked to make the recorded tutorials more personal and engaging than some past sessions through a focus on image research and more visual slides, and I have split them into shorter bite-sized sections based on tutor feedback. For the in-person recaps / introductions to cohort groups I want to both enable students who have watched the video tutorials to use the skills effectively in their work (revisiting as and when needed) and will encourage students who have not yet watched to begin their research journey. I plan to include strands of feedback received to date, and my own learnings from PGCert sessions: use of image search as a ‘hook’, selection of more impactful examples, inclusion of QR codes as action points and clarity of learning outcomes.

Moving forwards 

I am going to review and edit the slide pack to ensure that anything very basic is shortened or removed, signposting to the video provision for those elements rather than trudging through them repetitively. I am also adding a slide that illustrates the immediate usefulness of the skills for the essay component of unit 7, but also points forward to unit 8 and unit 9 element 2, in addition to research files and practice so that students understand research as an element of their growing skill-base, recognising the ‘cumulative’ nature of knowledge learning (Shuell, 1986).

I will vary the examples from the Moodle-posted packs to try to avoid disengagement due to repetition, having had negative reactions in past sessions to re-used slides, upweighting to more socially meaningful examples, such as using ‘protest art’ and ‘activist art’ as sample searches. I think this will work well in an open setting to encourage open discussion, employing a ‘threshold concept framework … [grounded in the] … big ideas and underlying concepts that make information literacy exciting and worth learning about (Townsend et al., 2011).

Now that the video resources are in place the purpose of the in-person sessions shifts slightly to be more about encouraging use of the materials provided and removing barriers, rather than a race to impart details, so I can allocate more time to answering questions and using student examples to recap on the skills and methodologies shown. I will also talk about ongoing ways to use research skills and the resources, revisiting and dipping in and out of the videos in tandem with progress – embracing the fact that some repetition is part of the layered learning experience.

I hope that by planning these sessions carefully to give more clarity to the immediate functionality of research skills but also to the way these skills need to build up for future units and for life beyond UAL students will be engaged in the sessions in a more meaningful way, shifting the ’emphasis [onto] understanding, not merely on learning how to perform a task’ (Shuell, 1986). Learning how to learn through research, not just how to do research.

Fine-Art-Unit-7-Research-Skills-In-PersonDownload

References

Burns Gilchrist, S. (2016) ‘Rediscovering Renaissance Research: Information Literacy Strategies for Success’, Portal: Libraries & the Academy, Vol.16(1), pp. 33–45.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2016.0005.

Shuell, T. J. (1986) ‘Cognitive Conceptions of Learning’. Review of Educational Research, Vol. 56(4), 411–436. 
doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/1170340.

Townsend, L., Brunetti, K., and Hofer, A.R. (2011) ‘Threshold Concepts and Information Literacy’, Portal: Libraries & the Academy, Vol.11(3), pp. 853–869.
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2011.0030.

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Learning from Examples of Examples

Posted on 12th February 2025 by Grace O'Driscoll

Something I was really struck by on the microteaching day reminded me of some teaching I had observed in a session led by an academic colleague, supporting from a library perspective. In different ways the two experiences highlighted the power of carefully chosen examples when illustrating points or demonstrating skills. This is something I had not really thought much about in the past, and often when demonstrating aspects of the library catalogue I would try to choose somewhat innocuous ‘neutral’ examples from recent student searches – based on my assumption of the technicalities and efficacy of the search as the more important and interesting aspect.

When attending sessions run by a colleague I noted that they gathered materials relevant to areas of their own research as examples, openly discussing their progress and interests in research, and also introducing some more personally resonant materials to talk through aspects of their human connection to these resources. I noticed at the time that this was impactful to both the students and myself and I think I just banked it as an aspect of their own interpersonal style, rather than thinking of it as a pedagogical choice. Much as Barton and Wilcocks (2017) describe objects in a learning environment as encouraging ‘personal meaning making’ I am now wondering if perhaps well-chosen illustrative examples can function similarly, I realise that what I had observed was a conscious teaching approach.

On the micro-teaching day one of the participants in my group, again teaching about a more technical subject matter, chose very socially impactful examples. I was reminded about this question of the value of well-chosen examples in garnering engagement. This now also feels like a way to explore the potential for ‘encoded’ values to be embedded in skills based teaching (Das et al., 2023), something I had now previously considered. By choosing examples that show the ‘use’ of the research-skills and the research tools in a way that demonstrates meaningful ‘transformation …[beyond] …simply what we are aiming for’ (Ahmed, 2019, p.22) both the point and the wider possibilities of the skills and the social relevance of the examples are clearer.

A further benefit may be to create more opportunities to discuss the need to ‘consider the evaluation of information instead of simply showing others where to find it’ (Duncan, 2019).

This has encouraged me to think more strategically about the examples I am choosing to illustrate simple technical skills, and to vary them, steering away from more neutral, pedestrian, and meaningless examples. By creating an additional layer of interest and connection with the skills being demonstrated and discussed, whether by introducing some more personal interest or information from myself, or by tapping into something that is of more social or cultural significance, I hope that my technical, skills-based teaching will be more engaging, memorable and socially aware than when it is framed purely for efficacy and efficiency.

References

Ahmed, S. (2019) What’s the use?.Durham: Duke University Press.

Barton, G, & Wilcocks, J. (2017) Object-based self-enquiry: A multi- and trans- disciplinary pedagogy for transformational learning. Available at : https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/75 accessed on 29/01/2025

Das, M., Ostrowski, A.K., Ben-David, S., Roeder, G.J., Kimura, K., D’Ignazio, C., Breazeal, C. and Verma, A., (2023) ‘Auditing design justice: The impact of social movements on design pedagogy at a technology institution’. Design Studies, Vol. 86, p.101183.
doi : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2023.101183.

Duncan, A. (2019) ‘Crossing the threshold: innovations in information literacy’. Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal, Vol. 4.1, Libraries, Archives and Special Collections special issue. Available at: 
https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/125/206, accessed on 15th March 2025. 

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My Microteaching Experience

Posted on 29th January 2025 by Grace O'Driscoll

In the library, with an Object….

For my microteach session I planned a research-skills based activity starting with a selected object as a jumping off point. Students often start their research with a very narrow interest such as ‘happiness’ or ‘science fiction’ and need help expanding to a researchable topic by incorporating theory, social and cultural perspectives. The UAL library catalogue is not intuitive to use – lots of amazing resources are somewhat buried – but used well it can help to expand research. This experience was a great test-bed for new approaches to research skills teaching.

The stated objective of the session was to build skills and confidence in expanding research themes, and in navigating the UAL catalogue.

The timings of my session were planned as follows

  • Introduction and learning objective:                                       5 minutes
  • Choose a meaningful object:                                                      1 minute
  • Demonstration of library searches and ‘tips’:                        5 minutes
  • Participants Research activity and post to padlet:             5 minutes
  • Reflect on the research experience:                                          3-4 minutes

I used my usual Research Skills slides as the initial basis. Using an object as an example of a research topic is a new approach for me, but I thought it would work based on the idea that ‘objects …. can act as powerful metaphors, enabling abstract ideas to be communicated and understood’ (Barton and Wilcocks, 2017). I planned to ask the group to choose objects that have personal meaning as start points.

I tested the tutorial as I was concerned about the 20 minute length and found that lots of content from the original research-skills pack was confusing the narrative of the session so I simplified it. I included a Padlet but on reflection I needed to learn how to set these up so that all participants can post whether logged in as UAL or not (one of the other micro-teachers did this successfully so it can be done!). However, posting in the chat sufficed.

I decided, based on the object start point, to start the catalogue search demonstration with an image search and follow with a book search, which would be livened up with some tips that usually are not known by many UAL library users: subject-tag reading lists, and the online shelf browse facility. I was surprised how much difference leading with the image search made – and I think I will change to this order for more of my research-skills sessions in future. It makes sense now on reflection that UAL users, designers and artists so ‘visually orientated and visual thinkers’ (Hardie, 2015) engage with image search more readily than book and article searches.

Having covered the introduction and mentioned to participants to think about a meaningful object I explained that my glasses would be my research object and why. Then I moved on to the library catalogue demonstration showing the need for multiple keywords by demonstrating how ‘glasses’ ‘eyeglasses’ and ‘eyewear’ deliver very different levels of results. One of the other microteach sessions used more impactful examples, something I’d like to give more thought to for future.

I asked participants to do their own searches on their chosen objects, staying ‘in the room’ to re-demonstrate as needed. Instead of reflection time as planned I reacted to more functional research-skills questions the participants had, including showing where to find journal articles search. Several of the participants commented that the session will help them with their research for PGCert, with one relating ‘I feel lucky to have been in this group’ and another ‘I’ve never used the library very well’.  For me this was a great result as it showed the learning objective met an immediate need and was genuinely useful, even if it differed from my plan. A participant commented on the flow from image research to documents as mapping ‘how students would do research’ which consolidated that learning for me.

Key learnings from the micro-teach included: selection of impactful examples which I noted a colleague did with very engaging effect, focus on the more meaningful aspects to participants early in sessions – for example image databases, where time allows participants choosing some search terms for hands-on practice with library and image search, and prep for technical needs such as Padlet sign-ins and QR codes. I hope to include these elements in my planning for taught sessions moving forwards.

OBL-Library-Research-PGCertDownload

References

Barton, G, & Wilcocks, J. (2017) Object-based self-enquiry: A multi- and trans- disciplinary pedagogy for transformational learning. Available at : https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/75 accessed on 29/01/2025.

Hardie, K. (2015)  Wow: The power of objects in object-based learning and teaching, Available at : https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/wow-power-objects-object-based-learning-and-teaching, accessed on 29/01/2025.

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Case Study 1. Bridging the Void: embedding research skills from library induction to dissertation

Posted on 25th January 2025 by Grace O'Driscoll

Using evidence-informed approaches to know and respond to students’ diverse needs

Background

Following Covid-19 disruption and significant cohort size growth BA Fine Art cohorts at Camberwell had not included research skills sessions in year 2 or 3 for some years. I have observed consistent and significant disparity between the numbers of 1:1 librarian tutorials requested by Fine Art Y3 students for their dissertation level project compared to Design, who schedule these sessions.

Current provision

The high demand for 1:1 requests indicated to me that a skills-based need is not being met. This also raises an alarm that provision is not equitable as only those aware of 1:1 provision, and confident to request it, get the information needed to research effectively at UAL. It also causes me a workload issue reducing my availability to students who may need the most help.

Fine art has a higher-than-average participation of students managing around neurodiversity and learning differences, with a clear link established between learning differences and creativity (Damiani, 2017) demonstrating the need for accommodation and equity. Additionally, there are high numbers of students studying in second languages, requiring support for developing language skills and confidence (Liu, 2023). However, in my experience many of the students requesting 1:1s are native English speakers looking to maximise already well-developed research skills; these students could have acquired the learning needed in group settings.  

Feedback from tutors has highlighted attainment gaps in some cohorts. Research suggests a correlation between library use and attainment (Stone and Ramsden, 2013). It seems clear that the gap in library skills provision between Welcome Week inductions and the skills required for later units is too large in terms of both time passed and content delivered, potentially contributing to the gap. Students having been overwhelmed in Welcome Week, or learning in a new language environment, may not remember the access pages or tips covered. The library catalogue is very different from platforms that may look and feel similar, such as Google and online retail, so users can quickly become frustrated by poor results forming another barrier when accessing it later in their journey. We are also contending with the trend for students to rely heavily on Google for their research – despite knowledge that it is an inadequate resource (Becker, 2003).

Moving forwards

I have been offering a more sustainable and consistent programme of research skills sessions to span this gap in response to student needs but had not had traction. This term a combination of evidence; available attainment data, dissertation tutors’ feedback, and conversations about other cohorts’ approaches, has shifted the landscape. Having addressed the remaining barriers (session time and physical space) by proposing bite-sized 20–30-minute sessions delivered at weekly year-group meetings all my BA courses have now scheduled research skills sessions for Y2 unit 7 in the Spring term. I will ensure that the searches used to demonstrate the library catalogue are both engaging and inclusive; including image searches, streaming content, and practice-based resources, plus online sources such as ebooks.

I have recorded additional Moodle video tutorials covering more basic and less urgent elements for this unit, in addition to captioned recordings of the in-person content so that students who miss the sessions or who would like to revisit and recap any details have reference access. All videos will have clear sectioning and will be maximum 25 minutes long for bite-size use. Drop-in group sessions will be available to students who need more help in discussion and slide decks will be provided for those who prefer text-based resources. This combined in-person, video and group provision will be a key stepping- stone to bridge the gap between year 1 and year 3 expectations for all students across the cohorts.

References

Becker, N. J. (2003) ‘Google in perspective: understanding and enhancing student search skills’, New Review of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 9(1), pp. 84–99. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13614530410001692059.

Damiani, L. M. (2017) Art, Design and Neurodiversity. Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14236/ewic/EVA2017.40.

Liu, W. (2023) The theory of second language development for international students. Journal for Multicultural Education, Vol. 17(3), pp. 367-378. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-08-2022-0106.

Stone, G., & Ramsden, B. (2013) Library Impact Data Project: Looking for the Link between Library Usage and Student Attainment. College & Research Libraries, Vol. 74(6), pp. 546-559. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crl12-406.

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Striving for constructive criticality (in theory)

Posted on 18th January 2025 by Grace O'Driscoll

In my last post I related one of my objectives in taking the PGCert course as gaining understanding of some foundational ethos’ of education. I’m questioning my relationship with theory in light of this. The first learning outcome for this unit lists ‘theories, policies and pedagogies’, so it’s clear that theory is a necessary bridge I need to cross. I’ve tended to think of the PGCert as a skills-based ambition – learning to better plan and deliver the student sessions I teach in my Academic Support Librarian role. I had anticipated exploring pedagogical theories, new ground for me, I was not expecting so much library-centred content in the course readings. Duncan (2019) details the particular challenges of exploring pedagogy and theory as a hybrid teaching and functional librarian.

For this week’s session I read ‘Decolonising the library: a theoretical exploration’ (Crilly, 2019a). I initially found the article quite frustratingly theoretical – despite clarity in the title. The article discusses critical librarianship, of which decolonisation is a key element. In another text Crilly herself notes critical librarianship as potentially exclusionary in its language and comfort zones of social media and academic writing (2019b, quoting Nicholson and Seale, Hudson and Almeida). I often share this concern that librarianship can be inward looking, over-relying on discourse with not enough focus on action, impact and change , a ‘dissonance’ expressed by Townend et al. ‘between espoused theories and theories in-use’ (2011) – and this feeds into my wariness of theory without an immediate translation to practical implications.

Crilly herself detailing these critiques of critical librarianship gave me pause to re-appraise the author’s more theoretical article. Macfarlane’s (2004) portrayal of unbalanced criticism as a cheap way to achieve status prompted me, on reflection, to re-frame my dismissive reaction to the article as defensive. I tend to be a very practical person; I’ve been previously described as ‘solution oriented’. There are situations when this is advantageous – I get things done, I’m comfortable with change, removing or working around barriers. However, it also means I can jump too fast to the nearest acceptable answer and move quickly on, and that I can find theoretical discourse frustrating and excluding; sharing Appleton’s feeling of being an ‘imposter’ with a ‘corporate’ approach to art librarianship (2019).

I have initiated several highly practical projects at the Camberwell library and across the service that I believe embody the action side of critical librarianship; disaggregating the Dewey scheme for African art and artists (we regularly displayed the book ‘Africa is not a Country’, yet treated it as one in the scheme); helping to write a collections and content positionality note (UAL, 2024); auditing and cataloguing Camberwell’s Special Collections thus usurping ‘the librarian’s custodian power’ (Brett, 2024). On occasion I have questioned why, with UALs long participation in decolonising discourse in the UK some of these projects had not been addressed previously. Crilly, (2019a) reminded me that the only reason I knew to ‘fix’ these operational elements was having encountered theoretical arguments and writings based on decolonisation and critical librarianship.

Brett (2024) proposes that critical librarianship can ‘provide a theoretical approach which can open up conversations and ideas’. This encourages me to widen my engagement with theoretical texts, including critical librarianship, that might give me a better understanding of, or new ideas for, the more operational parts of my role in addition to the teaching practice that I am newer to.

References :

Appleton, L. (2019) ‘Viewpoint: Is critical art librarianship actually a thing?’, Art Libraries Journal, Vol. 44(2), pp. 92–95. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/alj.2019.10.

Brett, R. (2024) ‘Viewpoint: How critical can librarians be?’, Art Libraries Journal, Vol. 49(2), pp. 71–75. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/alj.2019.10.

Crilly, J. (2019a) ‘Decolonising the library: a theoretical exploration’ Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal ‘Libraries, Archives and Special Collections’ special issue Vol. 4 (1). Available at: https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/123, accessed on 18/01/2025.

Crilly, J. (2019b) ‘A reflexive lens: Critical librarianship at UAL’, Art Libraries Journal, Vol. 44(2), pp. 83–91. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/alj.2019.9.

Duncan A (2019) ‘Crossing the threshold: innovations in information literacy’. Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal Vol. 4 No.1, Libraries, Archives and Special Collections’ special issue. Available at:
https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/125/206, accessed on 15/03/2025. 

Macfarlane, B. (2004) Teaching with Integrity: The ethics of higher education practice. London: Routledge Falmer, p.92.

Townsend, L., Brunetti, K., and Hofer, A.R. (2011) ‘Threshold Concepts and Information Literacy’, Portal: Libraries & the Academy, Vol.11(3), pp. 853–869.
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2011.0030.

UAL (2024) ‘Why does my book display a collections note?’, ask: Access and Inclusion. Available at: https://arts.ac.libanswers.com/accessinclusion/faq/256376, (accessed on 18/01/2025).

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From ‘counting stuff’ to Objects and objectives

Posted on 12th January 2025 by Grace O'Driscoll

It hadn’t really occurred to me to fundamentally question my preferred metrics-based approach to both work and information until one of the lecturers on my Librarianship MA course casually dismissed some quantitative research as ‘just counting stuff’. Having spent my previous career counting stuff; reporting on numbers of customers, transactions, items, sales, profits, I was challenged to re-examine my default lens as a limiting worldview. The more time I’ve spent in the Higher Education environment, the more I’ve encountered and understood similar challenges to, and frustrations with, transactionalising and measuring. This was most impactfully articulated by Jheni Arboine listing the ways we metricise our relationship with the student body through data dashboards, in the form of an adapted sea shanty (Arboine, 2024).

Libraries continues to be somewhat (perhaps comfortably for me) reliant on stats and spreadsheets, and I still find it helpful to manage my workload using quantifiable targets and measures. One of my objectives on the PGCert course is to develop greater understanding of some of the more foundational ethos of education, as a more informed foundation for my teaching practice. The article I was assigned to read in week one was really helpful in kick-starting this rethink, in addition to giving me some really practical grounding tips in delivering Object Based Learning (OBL) which is something I am targeted to increase delivery of as the collections librarian at Camberwell.

My assigned article was a case study examining the potential for social justice elements in OBL and also the effectiveness of online OBL (Willcocks & Mahon, 2023). Both of these strands are really useful for me to reconsider. Due to cohort numbers I am reliant on online delivery for some sessions, particularly year one inductions for larger courses. I share the articles’ concerns about loss of attention and engagement, and potentially depth of understanding online. The suggested engagement strategies discussed for OBL could probably be employed in most library teaching sessions as collections are such a key part of our delivery. Open questions employed to evoke responses to the social justice aspect also looked useful and promising – enabling students to look deeper in their research and to contextualise the materials found – whereas in my current time-pressured approach I often sacrifice this kind of quality questioning for quantity of content delivered. The suggested advantages of OBL such as making ‘abstract concepts more concrete for learners’ are exactly the sort of jumps I am seeking to make, replacing endless repetition.

Following on from the reading and discussion in week one I watched an ArtStor webinar I have been meaning to get to. Here the historian Whitney Barlow Robles used the phrase ‘humanistic questions’ in the context of object and image-based teaching (2024). One of my aims in taking time out to reflect on and restructure my teaching approach is to embed my role more effectively into the BA Fine Art courses at Camberwell. I’m hoping to build research skills into the BA student journey more consistently – rather than a needs-based approach which results in a bottleneck of 1:1 tutorials in Y3. I will need more engaging teaching content to deliver this through both closer unit involvement, and the introduction of OBL where possible.

References

Arboine, J. (2024) Launch event for the publication Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks: Interpretations, Art & Pedagogy. Available at : https://decolonisingtheartscurriculum.myblog.arts.ac.uk/frantz-fanon-launch-videos/ (accessed on 11/01/2025).

Barlow Robles, W. (2024) Picture this: Unlocking the cross-disciplinary potential of Artstor on JSTOR. Available at https://youtu.be/UT9esa7nwOs?si=xs2GWg4DoWa9bnSk (accessed on 11/01/2024).

Willcocks, J. and Mahon, K. (2023) ‘The potential of online object-based learning activities to support the teaching of intersectional environmentalism in art and design higher education’, Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, Vol.22(2), pp. 187–207. Available at: https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/23599/ (accessed on 15/03/2025).

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Sometimes it takes three tries…

Posted on 13th December 2024 by Grace O'Driscoll

Welcome to my PGCert reflective blog. Finally! Setting this up has been an insight into the frustrations of students who come to us with their IT based woes, and a reminder of how as a (slightly) older student I need to allow myself some extra time and several tries to complete some tasks – not all tasks but certainly anything that requires multiple access points, passwords, and login details. I graduated with an MA in library science in 2022 and so I’m somewhat used to being a student quite recently. Prior to that I had a long career in retail buying and merchandising including training work that put me in a classroom-like setting. At UAL I mostly teach research skills to BA Fine Art students, often as 1:1 tutorials. I am hoping to increase the uptake of full-cohort research sessions on my courses as part of my objectives in doing this course. Having moved from the commercial world to H.E. I am still learning every day, and so this chance to reflect on that and develop my skills and ethos is something I’m very much looking forward to, even while sometimes struggling with the immediate tasks in hand. This tension between enjoyment of the topic and content, and frustration with the process of production is something I feel really familiar with encountering UAL students tackling their research work so it’s good to experience a similar journey.

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