One thing I didn’t realize when I took a job in academia is how much instruction would be involved. I’m teaching health professionals how to use a health information resource, and soon I’ll be teaching medical students about evidence-based practice and information literacy. So lately, I’ve been taking some time to improve my teaching skills.

An invaluable resource has been “The One-Shot Library Instruction Survival Guide” by Heidi E. Buchanan and Beth A. McDonough. This short book describes how to collaborate with faculty to design useful instructional sessions, how to evaluate student learning, and ways to keep the audience engaged with the content. It covers synchronous and asynchronous courses, large and small classes, time management…it’s amazingly thorough.

I have also started attending the Teaching Topic webinars from the National Training Office of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM). So far, I have only seen the webinar titled “Classroom Assessment on the Fly”, which describes methods for formative assessment. The presenters offer several great ideas for gauging student learning during the course. My favorite method, and one I intend to utilize further, is called Ticket to Ride – as students enter, they write down one burning question they would like to have answered by the end of the session.

There is one other resource I have been considering, and that is my local Toastmasters chapter. Teaching is public speaking, and public speaking has never been my strong suit. I think my instruction would benefit if I felt more confident standing and speaking in front of an entire class. And it’s not only my teaching skills that would improve; I would become a better presenter as well. I plan to attend a meeting sometime in February, as soon as I build up enough courage!