The road less travelled: leadership and engagement of learners in a collaborative learning environment

The road less travelled: leadership and engagement of learners in a collaborative learning environment

[Abstract]: Historically at USQ we have taught information literacy classes in a very traditional instructional format. The training labs have rows of seating facing forward, and large computer monitors in front of participants. The trainer stands at the front with a whiteboard and projection screen. With innovations in teaching styles and developments in learning spaces, we are this year initiating a change to information literacy classes. Traditional training labs and teaching styles have been replaced by collaborative group learning spaces and a guided teaching style.

As part of a refurbishment project, one of our training labs and an office area of the library have been set up to support collaborative learning. Subsequently in Semester 1, 2009 we will begin using the new collaborative learning facilities for all generic information literacy classes, and some faculty classes.

In the past our training has focussed on the transmission of information and we have not fully engaged our students in the learning process. We have used PowerPoint’s and the Library website to conduct classes. Whilst the basic information we want to impart to students will be the same, the way we do this and hopefully the learning outcomes will change significantly with the shift to a collaborative teaching style and environment.

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