gamification | The Journal of Creative Library Practice

By Brandon K. West, Head of Research Instruction Services
and Alan Witt, Research Instruction Librarian
Milne Library, State University of New York at Geneseo

Abstract

Student engagement is a consistent challenge for librarians in information literacy instruction, especially in the context of single session learning. Two librarians at a small, public liberal arts college took inspiration from Malone’s (1981) theory of intrinsically motivating instruction to create a lesson plan that caught the imagination of the students and produced enthusiastic participation. This paper explains the theoretical framework used, examines the reasons for its success in this iteration, and discusses potential applications to other information literacy lessons.

Continue reading Challenge, Fantasy, and Curiosity: Activating Students’ Intrinsic Motivation Within Information Literacy Sessions →

Nicole Tekulve, Chapel Cowden, Jaime Myers
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Faced with the annual revision of curriculum and activities for first-year Rhetoric and Composition courses, a group of instruction librarians at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) created a versatile board game, based on The Game of Life, to address the pitfalls and rewards of the research process. Librarians quickly learned, however, that creating an engaging, meaningful, and fast-paced game for library instruction is no small feat. Developing The Game of Research was a reminder that, just as librarians encourage students to be adaptive and creative in their research, we must also be adaptive and creative in our curriculum design in order to meet information literacy and course learning objectives. To that end, The Game of Research not only underwent many revisions but it also prompted the creation of a second game, The Research Road, based upon common learning objectives.

Continue reading The Game of Research: [Board] Gamification of Library Instruction →