medical librarians and pedagogical skills

1. MEDICAL INFORMATION SPECIALIST AS TEACHERTEACHING SEARCHING SKILLS Leena LodeniusMari Honkanen2.7.2011 (All the picturesarepickedfrom Google picturegallery)

2. Work of informationspecialistshaschanged Informationuserattitudesaregoingtowardsend-userliteraturesearching In medicalfield the doctorshave to apply the mostrecentinformation and knowledge to patientcare. Thisdemandsexcellentliteraturesearchingskills Informationspecialistsarecrucialagents in training and providingend-userassistance Do the libraryprofessionalshaveenoughpedagogicalskills?

3. Informationretrievalskills and pedagogy Teachinglibraryprofessionalsshouldknow at leastsomebasics of learningtheories and pedagogicalmodels Is the teachingstillbased on the ”goodold” behavioristictheory: the focuslearning is on the teacher? Currentview of learning is based on constructivism, the teacher’srole is only to act as a facilitatorwhoencouragesstudents to constructknowledge for themselves (learner-centeredteaching) Thereare a lot of pedagogicalmodels to realizeeffectively the learningprocess Dowelibraryprofessionalsknow the theories and models?

4. The aim of the survey The aim of thissurvey: to find out the amount, quality, and knowledge of trainingsearchskillsmostly in Finnishmedicaleducation Whatkind of teachingmethodsareused? Do the libraryprofessionalshaveanypedagogicalstudies and whatare the attitudestowardsdeveloping the pedagogicalskills? Afteranalysis of the results the ways of deve-lopingsearchskillstraining is discussed .

6. The ninequestions in the survey-questionnaire The amount of search skills training and the timing in medical studies? Credits and searching skills studies? The learning environments? Teaching methods and pedagogical models used? Integrating search skills training in the medical curriculum? Information retrieval training to practicing doctors? Proportion of search skills training in the work-time of information specialists? The knowledge of pedagogy and pedagogical skills? Attitude toward pedagogical education?

7. The amount of searchskillstraining and the timing in medicalstudies? The amount of search skills teaching during medical studies varies from 7 to 10 hours in Finland In Swedish Karolinska Institutet the amount is almost one week The trend toward distance learning courses is constantly increasing Informationretrievalcoursesareusuallyoffered at the beginning of medicalstudies The grantedcreditsvariedfrom 0.7 to 1.5 credits (ECTS) in basicmedicaleducation(onecreditequals 27 hours)

8. Integratingsearchskillstraining in the medicalcurriculum/education Searchskillstrainingshouldbeofferedgradually and repeatedlyduringmedicalstudies. Thiskind of integrating is based on constructivistlearningtheory Somereasons for ”scattered” training:- Motivationtowards the searchskillsstraining is growingwithapproach of master’sthesis- Userinterfaces and searchfiltersarecontinouslychanging Integrating the searchskillsrequiresgoodnetworkingoverprofessionalboundarieswithothermedicalteachers and decision-makers in the organization

9. The pedagogicalskills and knowledge of informationspecialists 15 to 70% of the work-time of the respondentsgoes to education The respondentshadverydifferentbackgrounds in pedagogicalstudies:- onehad 35 grantedcredits in pedagogystudies - onehad 20 credits in universitypedagogy The rest of respondentshad 1–4 dayscoursesconnected to pedagogicalskills Studies in pedagogy and obligatoryteachingpracticeshouldbeincluded in the qualification of information specialist/librarian

10. Searchtraining for practicingdoctors – is thereany? Life-longlearning is necessary for practisingdoctors for givingup-to-datetreatmentthat is based on evidence-basedmedicine Voluntarysearchskillscoursesareoffered to dissertationwriters and researches in Finland Unfortunatelyitseemsthatdoctors in healthcentersarealmostexcluded from the training FinnishMedicalSociety Duodecimhascreated a reliable and compre-hensivehealthportalwithhighqualityinformationsources for thispurpose.

11. The Finnish Health Portal for doctors: www.terveysportti.fi

12. Knowledge of teachingtheories and pedagogicalmodels Some taught only by lecturing to largegroups There seems to be a tendency towards principles of problem-based learning (PBL) and working in small groups There should be a transfer from behaviorism to constructivism; from teacher-focusedteaching to student-focused teaching Students should actively take partin the learning process

13. Attitude of informationspecialiststowardpedagogicaleducation All but one of the respondents considered the pedagogical studies on practical level very important. The importance of pedagogical studies that can be directly applied to the teaching work was underlined A tailored course of teaching only for library professionals should be considered It was suggested that there should be a minimumrequirement of the studies in pedagogy in teaching library professionals’ qualification

14. EAHIL’spossiblerole in developingpedagogicalknowledge Networking with teaching colleagues was considered important. According to constructivism understanding and learning happens when building knowledge together. Professional networking offers a possibility to benchmark and reflect own professional competence A common teaching and presentation material learning center within EAHIL got unanimoussupport Creating common distancelearningcourses in professionalnetworksgotalsosupport

15. STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY INCREASE THE QUALITY OF SEARCH SKILLS TRAINING Courage to apply new creativepedagogicalmethodsincreases Teachermovestowardsstudent-centeredtraining Libraryprofessionalswithexcellentteachingskillsarerepresentativevisitingcards for theirorganizations Presentation and pedagogicalskillsstrengthenconfidence of decision-makersand medicalprofessionals inlibraries, librarians and the necessity of theirexistence

16. Reflection and suggestions (1) Thereshouldbe a minimunrequirement of pedagogicalstudies for everyteachinginformationspecialist for example 10–20 credits A shortteachingpracticeshouldbeobligatory. The feed-backfrom senior colleagues and students is valuable. Closernetworkingwithcolleagues is of greatimportance (master-apprenticelearning and benchmarkingpossibility) Discussiongroups in the social media – a studycircleconnected to pedagogicaltopics (Tiina Heino had a presentation in Estoril on thiskind of studycircle in the Helsinki University)

17. Reflection and suggestions (2) Networking over professional boundaries (mecine specialists, medical teachers,decision-makers) is important. It is easier to integrate search skills training within basic medical studies in pedagogically a more reasonable way. It is necessary to create a collegial networkeven on international level. It enables aneasy way to follow the most recent trends of teaching methods EAHIL could start as soon as possible a circle around the pedagogical themes (discussion, literature, teaching material center)

18. Qualityassurance of activitiesstartsfrom the teacherherself/himself Pedagogical skills can be improved:- by studying pedagogy and reading good pedagogical literature- by learning from the feedbacks from colleagues and students- by using time for continuous reflection on own teaching activities- by assembling a training portfolio- by writing a teaching diary- having an open mind and courage for applying new pedagogical models in own work

19. GOOD TEACHERS HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED: Goodteachersaregoodlearners Theyareenthusiastic and devoted to the subjecttheyteach Theyunderstandlargerentities of the subject to betaught, linkages and hierarchy of the themetheyteach Theydonotonlydisseminateinformationbutencouragestudents to criticalto thinking and solvingproblems They set clearobjectives and usesuitableevaluationmethods Student-centeredteaching!