Week 1 - How People Learn, Ch. 1 & 2

On Chapter 1

Most instruction I have observed has been a struggle between the teacher's desire to impart a comprehensive understanding of the topic and the limitation of time with the student. In the grade school setting, teachers were further limited by pre-set curricula and pressure from administrators to teach to the test. Teachers did examine and engage students' prior knowledge, and more metacognitive practices were implemented in higher-level classes than in basic ones. In the library setting, the greatest limitation was time. It seems that most library-based educational opportunities tend to be one-shot sessions. Effective "chunking," however, could lessen that limitation. Some of the library programming I've seen (which, admittedly, hasn't been very much) has had the problem of too much information and too little time, coupled with inexpert instruction. The participants might've remembered a few fun facts, but overall, it wasn't the most productive use of their time. The instructors did engage some prior knowledge, but an emphasis on metacognitive skills was not apparent. 

On Chapter 2

I think that some, if not all, of the best teachers I've had in my academic career have encouraged their students to examine their own thoughts and conclusions about the material to promote deeper understanding and structured their instruction in such a way that they built a sort of framework for the material covered in that class and students' future learning to grow on. By focusing on how to solve or think about problems rather than focusing on simple facts, teachers encourage students toward expert-level growth. 

I think the concepts introduced in this reading will be important for the instructional librarian, though the text won't be universally applicable, as it seems to be focused on a traditional learning structure rather than the one-shot approach more frequently found in libraries. However, if a one-shot educational opportunity is informed by the lessons imparted by the text, with the instructor focused on conditionalizing students' knowledge and metacognition, it is more likely to be transferable by the learner.  School librarians, of course, will more likely have opportunities to build upon previous instruction with the same students and construct a farther-reaching web of information.