Year 4 · 04 / 09
Teaching & instruction
Planning with instructors, connecting research with course readings, and reflecting on student learning.
Learning through guided experience
My teaching begins with a conversation about what students are learning, what their assignment asks them to do, and where they may need support. Working closely with course instructors helps me create activities that connect with the course and meet students at their current level.
Experiential learning shapes how I plan those activities. I prepare demonstrations and class-specific worksheets with the intention of giving students time to investigate, try a search, and discuss what they find. The materials also provide a reference for later research. Making enough room for that participation is an ongoing part of developing my teaching.
I want students to experience manageable successes while help is available, then carry a clearer process into their independent work. Edutainment adds curiosity and play where they serve the learning purpose, particularly in my interactive exhibition and VR work.
My approach shares principles with connected learning: linking relevant interests and questions with supportive relationships and opportunities to use what is learned. I see that connection in the bridges between course readings, guided practice, and research beyond the classroom.
About connected learningENGL C1001
Critical Thinking and Writing
Connecting the reading with research
Collaboration with Lisa Weiss
I work closely with Lisa Weiss to develop information literacy lessons for her zero-textbook-cost (ZTC) course. We plan around the module’s readings, the students’ level of understanding, and what they need to do with the information they find. The library instruction is now an important component of the module, sitting alongside the reading text and providing materials students can revisit.
For this module, the lessons connect Gloria Anzaldúa’s Chapter 5 in Borderlands/La Frontera with Carillo and Horning’s “Effectively and Efficiently Reading the Credibility of Online Sources.” This gives the research activities a clear purpose: students investigate questions raised by their reading while learning how to evaluate the sources they encounter.
Read the source credibility chapterIntended learning outcomes
By the end of the library instruction lessons, students will be able to:
- Use rhetorical reading to examine how sources make claims about language and whose perspectives they represent.
- Apply SIFT, including lateral reading, to verify a claim from the web.
- Use one scholarly article to extend or complicate a question raised by Anzaldúa’s Chapter 5 in Borderlands/La Frontera.
How the lessons were crafted
I planned the two lessons around a question from Anzaldúa’s chapter: who gets to decide which language counts as “correct”? Each lesson has its own worksheet, connecting the reading to a different part of the research process.
The first lesson uses ProEnglish’s page on bilingual education as a shared source. The slides and SIFT worksheet guide an investigation of its purpose, a claim about California’s 1998 vote, and the policy context. The second lesson moves from checking a claim to exploring a question through scholarly research. Its worksheet asks students to record search terms, identify an article’s main point, and explain how it adds to or complicates a question from the chapter.
What happened in the classroom
In the first session, I became absorbed in explaining the material and missed the opportunity to have students complete the worksheet alongside my demonstration. The activity was prepared, but I did not make enough room for students to work through it with me.
In the second lesson, I gave students time to search and walked around to check that they could access the database and follow the process. I acknowledged their findings and invited them to share with the class. Two articles on bilingual education, presenting opposing viewpoints and published about forty years apart, sparked a discussion. Their discoveries became part of the lesson.
Lesson slides & worksheets
Expand a material to read and scroll through it here.
Lesson 1 · SIFT & rhetorical reading
Lesson 1 slidesPDF
SIFT source evaluation worksheetPDF
Lesson 2 · Scholarly database research
Lesson 2 slidesPDF
Scholarly source search worksheetPDF
A student’s reflection
What is your take-away from library class sessions?
The database search was very engaging and interesting. With one or more searches using specific search/keywords, it makes it much easier to get source I'm looking for. Considering this in relation to Anzaldua's writing, databases can be used to answer many questions one might have. (e.g. How do schools decide which language is accepted)
Selected excerpt; the student’s exact wording is preserved.
Making time for students to participate
The student’s comments connect the search activity with the course reading and describe how keywords helped them find relevant sources. Alongside the classroom discussion, this gives me useful feedback on the value of letting students search and share their findings.
The contrast between the two sessions reminded me that preparing an activity is only the beginning. I need to protect time for students to participate. In future lessons, I plan to pause after a short demonstration, ask students to try the step, and check their progress before moving on.
BUS 103
Introduction to Business Information Systems
Following a claim back to its evidence
For BUS 103, students were preparing research presentations on companies and sectors that succeeded or struggled during COVID, focusing on the role of technological advances. I chose Zoom and JCPenney as contrasting examples to connect the library lesson directly with their assignment. The 60-minute workshop begins with a simple question: can we trust the first answer we find online? These examples give students a shared starting point for investigating business claims and asking what the evidence actually tells us about technology’s role.
I designed the lesson to move between demonstration and student practice. After showing how to follow a source cited by Gemini, I set aside time for small groups to use SIFT, trace a claim toward its original evidence, and explain their judgment. A second activity asks students to search OneSearch and compare what another source confirms, adds, or leaves unanswered.
This is how I bring experiential learning into information literacy: students have a specific question to investigate and a manageable process to try while support is available. The closing reflection asks them to explain their reasoning, including the difference between verifying a revenue figure and proving what caused that growth.
To continue developing this approach, I want to protect the practice time built into the lesson, pause to check students’ progress, and invite their findings into the discussion. My goal is for students to leave with a process they can use again for their own business topics and everyday information questions.
Lesson slides
Information Literacy Workshop · Zoom & JCPenneyPDF
Student response and my reflection
Students expressed interest in learning more research techniques, and some requested one-on-one sessions to continue working on their questions. In informal feedback, students told me the session helped them locate information and rethink the questions they were asking.
These responses suggest that the lesson gave students a starting point while also helping them recognize where they wanted more guidance. For me, the requests for individual support were an encouraging sign that they wanted to continue exploring the research process.
This reinforces the connection between my teaching and consultation work. A class session introduces a process students can try, while a one-on-one consultation gives us time to apply it to their own questions. Moving forward, I want to preserve that connection and continue making room for practice, questions, and follow-up support.
Based on informal student feedback and requests for follow-up consultations.
BUS 123
Business Statistics
From a business interest to a researchable question
Collaboration with Herlene Grace Beltran
My planning with Herlene Grace Beltran focused on helping students use library resources for business research. That collaboration included a follow-up session to explore the research process in greater depth.
For BUS 123, I designed a lesson to help students turn a business interest into a question they could investigate with data. The lesson introduces PECO: Population, Exposure, Comparison, and Outcome. This gives students a structure for identifying whom they want to study, what they want to examine, and what they can measure.
The slides use examples such as customer loyalty programs and social media advertising to make the process concrete. They also introduce four practical checks: Is the question findable, specific, measurable, and answerable with data? From there, the lesson connects research questions with resources available through the library, including Statista, Gale Business Insights, and EBSCO Business Source Elite.
AI is part of this process as a tool for developing and questioning ideas. The examples show how students can ask AI to suggest search terms, clarify a variable, or identify weaknesses in a proposed question. The emphasis is on students understanding their choices and checking the evidence themselves.
This lesson connects with my experiential approach by giving students a process to apply to their own projects. The later BUS 123 consultations show how that guidance continued: students brought research topics and draft survey questions, and we worked through the decisions they needed to make next.
View the BUS 123 consultation examplesLesson slides & worksheet
The PECO worksheet includes worked examples, a template for developing a research question, and a partner check.