Home Experiencing ACRL amp #8217 s Immersion

Experiencing ACRL’s Immersion: Learning outcomes for future participants

C&RL News, November 2006
Vol. 67, No. 10

by Ethan Pullman

Each year since 1999, ACRL’s Institute for Information Literacy Immersion Program has been selecting 90 participants to join a team of nationally recognized faculty librarians at its annual program, which offers a teacher and program track and is held at a different location each year. This year, Immersion took place in Boston at Simmons College. The experience was much more than I had expected, even after reading the information on ACRL’s Web site and e-mails from professional lists and talking to colleagues who previously attended the “four-and-one-half days of active learning and intensive interaction among academic librarians.”¹ 

The tips were plentiful. So to avoid repeating the mistake of squeezing them all in a 50 minute session (or in this case, this short article), I’ll apply what I learned at Immersion: Choose two or three outcomes! So here are my “learning outcomes” for the future participants of Immersion.

Disclaimer: Before any of the past participants, or Deb Gilchrist—our cohort leader—start flooding my e-mail or phone line for not including an ‘in order to’ statement in each of the following, making them true “outcomes,” and in the interest of saving space, please insert the following clause at the end of each of the outcomes given: “in order to maximize your learning experience at ACRL’s Immersion.”

^{Immersion students engaged in some
active learning. Photo by Jason Griffey,
www.jasongriffey.net, reference and instructional
technology librarian, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.}

Outcome 1: Go a day or two early, or stay a day or two late (both, if your wallet allows it). Since this was my first experience with an “immersion” program, I was not prepared for the impact of a full-day of activities on the mind. If this is your first time at an intensive workshop, at ACRL’s Immersion or elsewhere, this lesson might just be your life line, so don’t waste it.

Arriving a day or two before will give you a chance to check out those local restaurants and stores that were recommended by the program coordinators. That way, you’ll have an idea of how long you have between sessions to make a run for an off-site lunch, or how late you can grab that last dessert you suddenly crave.

Even if you arrive on the day of registration, be sure to participate in the planned activities. For us, a scheduled tour of Boston, and the neighboring Salem and its famous “House of the Seven Gables” and the “Witch cemetery,” was a great way to get to know our surroundings. The tour guide was quite informed, and the walking and bus combination was wonderful (many of us stopped to taste the wonderful pastries at Mike’s
Pastry).

On the other hand, staying two days after will allow you to reflect and, more importantly, decompress. Trust me, you won’t feel like answering the inevitable, and innocent, question from a curious colleague: “So how did Immersion go?” You simply won’t have absorbed that experience, much less found words to adequately and truthfully answer such a question. “It went well” can’t possibly describe it. The truth, most likely, is that you did well most of the time, and quite possibly had a mental shut down other times (thank goodness for re-boot activities, like a reception and bowling at Milky
Way).

Outcome 2: Do your home work and be ready for some active learning. There’s so much to cover in a short period of time, so be prepared to minimize information overload  to help you participate.

Yep, I said participate. You’ll learn about teaching, and you’ll be asked to teach. You’ll learn about learning styles and you’ll be asked to think about your own (be prepared to be surprised with the results).

Immersion is about active learning. Activities are participant centered; they are driven by their input and interest. While there’s definitely a curriculum and a plan, the participants think about issues and work on solving the issues at hand as a team.

In short, expect to present. Expect to critique. Expect to change your perception. Expect, most of all, to have a great time doing it.

^{Faculty recapping the program in the style
of the Wizard of Oz. Photo by Jason Griffey,
www.jasongriffey.net, reference and instructional
technology librarian, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.}

Outcome 3: Network! So it’s not all about work (while there’s plenty of it). It’s a great opportunity to network. First there’s the opening reception, where you’ll meet your cohort leaders and other participants. The games were great ice breakers.

Then breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Not only is it arranged so that all participants share their eating space, but they have to meet with their cohort leaders and group. Even when you want to eat outside, there’s more than one willing participant who’d love to share your love for that special place you found on your tour.

There’s also the mid-program break. Ours was at a dinner banquet at an old fashion style bowling alley with the heavy pins and small wooden balls with no holes for your fingers. Of course there were also pool tables, if one preferred. Not to mention the beer mugs with flashing bottoms that were quite the conversation piece (they still are when I serve
my guests).

Finally, there’s the closing reception. Who new that our faculty was so talented theatrically? Watching them recap our program in the style of the Wizard of Oz was quite entertaining.

In closing, saying goodbye was difficult, but knowing that I had gained future friends and colleagues was all worth it. I’d like to leave you with a quote from a colleague’s blog:

Well, I got home from ACRL’s Institute for Information Literacy Immersion ’06 in Boston a few days ago and I am dripping wet after being thoroughly immersed in information literacy for nearly a full week. It was an intense, but great experience. Not only did I learn a lot, but my perception of information literacy has changed and I’ve gotten so many ideas I want to try out.—Amy Ferguson, Instructional Services Librarian, Richland College, Texas²

Notes
1. Where to find the information? ACRL’s Institute for Information Literacy Immersion Program at www.acrl.org/immersion.

2. infolitlibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/08/immersion-06.html.

About the Author
Ethan Pullman is an Immersion alum and reference and instruction librarian at the University of Pittsburgh’s Hillman Library, e-mail: epullman@pitt.edu

© 2006 Ethan Pullman