Teaching Philosophy
My role as an educator is to design significant learning experiences that encourage students to solve problems, take risks, and consider the needs and perspectives of others, and where evaluation is focused on learning and self-improvement. I am a teacher, but foremost a designer of learning experiences, a sounding board, and an innovator seeking creative ways to engage students in and beyond the classroom. I view the classroom as a collaborative space where we bring our authentic selves to learn from each other, and to push each other to exceed and succeed as educators, professionals, and human beings.
Current Courses
LIBR 553: Information Users and their Environments
Information interaction is concerned with people, information and technology.The emphasis in this course is on people, and how they interact with information and technology in diverse contexts. The course draws heavily upon the academic literature and includes a research project, but the ability to understand the psychology of people, interrogate the research literature in relation to professional application, and conduct solid research in the workplace is pivotal for librarians, archivists, and other information professionals working in a variety of institutions. Therefore, the goals of the course are to:
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Explore and integrate relevant theories, models, and research about information interactions in diverse environments and/or with specific groups of people.
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Promote learning and reflection, and an evidence-based orientation to understanding and evaluating user needs.
- Foster an understanding of the theoretical and applied nature of human information interaction in relation to your future endeavors as information professionals.
LIBR 506: Human Information Interaction (current MLIS core)
The goal of this course is to ground students in the area of human-information interaction. This foundations course is essential for understanding information users and communities. Topics include Overview of human-information interaction; constructs, models, theories, and approaches in human-information interaction; information needs; information sources and channels; strategies for interacting with information (e.g., browsing, searching, encountering); introduction to searching databases and the web; information needs, behaviours and seeking of individuals, groups, organizations and communities; human-information interaction and the design of services, programs and systems. Students will draw upon this course during their program of study and throughout their professional lives to develop, evaluate, and improve upon information systems, organizations, and services.
Teaching Accomplishments
Certificate in University Teaching and Learning. Awarded by the Centre of Learning and Teaching, Dalhousie University, May 2008.