* Please note that the Physics Library will open 12pm – 5pm on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

For more information please see Mullen Library hours and Campus Library hours.

Download the 2009-2010 schedule

Mullen Library's MERIC classroom 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

By the early 1960s, the Treasure Chest was at the height of its popularity. In 1964, Joe Sinnott, the illustrator of Marvel Comics’ “The Fantastic Four”, teamed up with writer Berry Reece to produce a story depicting a U.S. presidential election. It was set in the future: the presidential election was supposedly that of 1976, the year of the nation’s bicentennial. “Pettigrew for President” lasted for ten issues, following the campaign trail of the fictional Tim Pettigrew from the announcement of his candidacy through the national convention of his party. The candidate’s face was carefully hidden in every panel, until the final page of the final issue of the story, when Pettigrew is finally revealed: the first black candidate for president of the United States!

This site presents the full Pettigrew series in its entirety for the first time. It also features biographical material on the series’ author and illustrator, a question and answer interview with Berry Reece, and background information contextualizing the series.

• Message from the Editors
• Welcome from the Associate Provost, Kim Kelley
• Goodbye and Good Luck Class of 2009 GLP’s
• Research Guides Get a Makeover
• Library Services and Resources
  • Access Services
  • Reference and Instructional Services
  • Special Collections and Branch Libraries
  • Library Facilities
• Orientation Events Calendar

Mullen Library regular hours:

Campus libraries hours:

For holiday hours please see Mullen Library Hours and Campus Library Hours.

Download the 2009-2010 schedule

Thank you for your patience while the matter was resolved.

For more information, please see Mullen Library Hours.

For more information including holiday hours please see Mullen Library Hours and Campus Library Hours.

Download the Summer 2009 schedule

Image 1, Flickr Commons (Library of Virginia)

Article:

de Winstanley, Patricia Ann, and Robert A. Bjork. (2002). Successful lecturing: Presenting information in ways that engage effective processing. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 89, 19-31.

Deets:

Monday afternoon, nine colleagues gathered on the third floor of Mullen library to kick-off the first CUA Library Instruction Journal Club (LIJC).*

de Winstanley and Bjork’s article begins by examining the actual goals behind the lecture—a term that has gained an increasingly negative connotation in recent years. As a group, we brainstormed our own objectives (optimistic and realistic) behind the lecture and came up with the following:

• To impart basic information to large (sometimes small) groups of individuals
• Convey new information
• Increase students’ enthusiasm
• To entertain
• To keep our job

These objectives then led to a discussion about what attributes our favorite past instructors had had.

Again, our list:

• Knowledgeable
• Interested
• Passionate
• Taught with clarity and simplicity
• Told stories
• Involved multiple senses (where one exceptional music instructor used a cake— providing both a visual and gustatory aid)

We listened to a short excerpt from WNYC-Radiolab to better illustrate the complexities of human learners as noted in the article, namely

1) learning is an interpretive process, relating to what

is already known,

2) information retrieval is a fallible process, and

3) retrieving information from memory is a potent

learning event.

After discussing the difficulties of how much should be reviewed and how to deal with unmotivated students, director Dr. Kim Kelley posed the rhetorical question “Are our goals manageable for a 50 min session?” Are they? Perhaps a topic for another LIJC.

Group members were quick to point out seeming contradictions in the article. For example, although PowerPoint was cited as dividing student attention, the use of visual images, mnemonics, graphs, film, and figures was encouraged as a technique to enhance processing.

In closing, I asked group members to share take-away elements of the article. What personally did they want to try in their own instruction? Answers ranged from making the material relevant to using word games and trivia in large groups. Others liked the idea of simple Lessig style presentations and making encoding possible by having students engage with the materials in small group settings. In toto the lively group participation made for an informative hour and a successful exchange of ideas.

More Info:

Missed the first meeting? Join us throughout the summer, the third Monday of each month at 2:00pm, where a different presenter will guide our discussion.

*LIJC is designed as a semi-structured gathering for library personnel to discuss scholarly articles relevant to library instruction and related topics (e.g., technology, pedagogy, students’ perceptions/misconceptions, involving faculty, active learning etc.).