DARE you 'outsource' your Library Freshmen Orientation to Student Facilitators? Why we are ROARING about it at Singapore Management University Libraries

• Main Author: ABDULLAH, Redzuan
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Library and Information Science
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/library_research/130; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1134&context=library_research
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Libraries are constantly seeking opportunities to evolve their library orientations in order to be more engaging and collaborative with students. In the lead-up to new term, SMU Libraries collaborated with the Office of Student Life (OSL), to pilot a peer-to-peer learning experience where student leaders conducted and facilitated the library orientation programme, which introduces new students to the physical and digital libraries. The trigger for this was the Provost’s Freshmen Experience Taskforce that mandated a review for a more coordinated orientation programme with the different offices and events for freshmen. The library was part of this taskforce that had traditionally conducted resource intensive multiple sessions often resulting in conflicts. Therein lay the opportunity to DARE! The objective of the pilot collaboration was to deliver an interactive experience using student leaders as facilitators that integrated seamlessly into the university’s 3-day orientation on- campus programme for freshmen. The author who coordinated the programme worked with the First Year Experience (FYE) librarians, a group of six librarians on the library’s talent management programme to curate a refreshed LibQuest, the library’s flagship orientation programme. Over the years, we grappled with what and how much to include in the first-year student’s orientation, we debated the effectiveness of methods and formats – presentation, interactive library scavenger app, library mini-quest, virtual library, guided-audio tour, library ‘Luau’; and many more. However, very often we do not involve our stakeholders and in this case the students and Office of Student Life. To this effect, the presenter will highlight the strategic role and value of collaboration, peer-to-peer learning and new pedagogical approaches such as problem-based learning to provide a holistic learning experience. Participants will journey though the pilot programme processes and learn more about some of the challenges and successes especially convincing the library’s leadership to entrust the student leaders to facilitate LibQuest. A key takeaway for participants will be the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) framework, which the presenter used to review and assess the programme and find answers to questions such as, Were the learning outcomes met? Did it increase peer-to-peer learning? What was the overall feedback from stakeholders? Was it win-win?