WHY CHOOSE TO TEACH: PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS, BEGINNING TEACHERS, AND CAREER SWITCHERS IN MACAU

ABSTRACT

INFORMATION LITERACY [IL] IS A GLOBAL HIGHER EDUCATION ISSUE TO EDUCATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN ACQUIRING INFORMATION SKILLS, AND INFRASTRUCTURE A CRITICAL MINDSET FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHALLENGES IN THIS ERA. IT IS COMMON FOR A UNIVERSITY LIBRARY TO SERVE AS THE CENTRE FOR NAVIGATING STUDENTS IN UTILISING SCHOLARLY RESOURCES, TOOLS AND SYSTEMS, AS WELL AS PROVIDING RESEARCH SUPPORT TO FACULTY MEMBERS. MEANWHILE, UNIVERSITY LIBRARIANS CAN BE GOOD LISTENERS TO CAPTURE THE URGENT NEEDS OF STUDENTS AND PROVIDE SUPPORT TO THEM, REDUCE INFORMATION BARRIERS AND BUILD DEPENDENT RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH LONG-TERM DIALOGUES. THIS RESEARCH WAS CONDUCTED IN A UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT – A SMALL PRIVATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IN MACAO, CHINA. IL INSTRUCTION BEGAN WITH FOUR LIBRARIANS IN 2016 AND RECORDED OVER 140 SERVICE HOURS PER YEAR, WHICH PRESENTS THE PHENOMENON THAT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS HAVE URGENT NEEDS TO FAMILIARISE THEMSELVES WITH SCHOLARLY RESOURCES OR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS. THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIANS ORGANISE PERSONAL TUTORIALS AND IN-CLASS WORKSHOPS, EITHER THROUGH GENERAL PROMOTIONS OR INVITATIONS FROM, AND ENCOUNTER DIFFICULTIES WHEN REQUESTS COME LIKE SNOWFLAKES, PARTICULARLY IN 2018, WHEN THE CAMPUS RELOCATED AND WAS DIVIDED INTO THREE SEPARATE CAMPUSES. THE RESEARCHER REALISED THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVING THE TEACHING OF INFORMATION LITERACY, EITHER BY REIDENTIFYING THE VALUE OF INSTRUCTION OR LOOKING FOR THE OPPORTUNITY IN CAREER DEVELOPMENT, AFTER LONG-TERM SERVICE IN THE LIBRARY. HOWEVER, THE RECENT RESEARCH AND LITERATURE ARE NOT ABLE TO SATISFY THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, AS MOST STUDIES ARE CONDUCTED BY LARGE-SCALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES AND ARE CHALLENGING TO REFERENCE IN THE SMALLER ACADEMIC SETTINGS WITH SEVEN LIBRARIANS. THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO INVESTIGATE THE IL MODEL FOR SMALL-SCALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PROVIDING SOME REFERENCE MATERIALS FOR THOSE INTENDING TO OPERATE IN SIMILAR ACADEMIC SETTINGS. IN PARTICULAR, IT IS INCREASINGLY COMMON FOR NON-TEACHING ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS TO CONTRIBUTE TO RESEARCH SUPPORT SERVICES OR MULTIFACETED FUNCTIONS. FOR INSTANCE, PATRON SERVICE INTEGRATES THE LOAN SERVICE AND REFERENCE SERVICE INTO ONE, WHICH MEANS LIBRARIANS HAVE TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THEIR SCHOLARLY RESOURCES AND RESEARCH METHODS AND PROVIDE NAVIGATION GUIDANCE TO FACULTY AND STUDENTS IN PERSON. THEREFORE, LIBRARIANS ARE BUILDING THEIR ACADEMIC CONFIDENCE THROUGH CONTINUOUS TEACHING EXPERIENCES AND USER FEEDBACK. ADOPTING AN ACTION RESEARCH FRAMEWORK, THE LIBRARIAN, AS THE RESEARCHER, EXPLORES THE EFFECTIVENESS, CHALLENGES, AND IMPROVEMENTS OF TEACHING IL AND EXAMINES HOW ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS CONTRIBUTE TO UNIVERSITY IL INSTRUCTION IN THE DIGITAL AGE. THREE ACTION CYCLES ARE COMPLETED IN THIS RESEARCH, INCLUDING CYCLE 1 PRELIMINARY FINDINGS OF THE PILOT STUDY, CYCLE 2 STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT WITH IN- DEPTH INTERVIEWS AND SURVEYS, AND CYCLE 3 CONTEXTUALISING THE IL INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY. THE FINDINGS DERIVE FROM INTERVIEWING ENROLLED STUDENTS AND CURRENT FACULTY MEMBERS AND ALSO FROM ANALYSING THE NON-SCALE QUESTIONNAIRES ANSWERED BY STUDENTS. AFTER A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS, THE RESEARCHER IDENTIFIES PARALLEL MODELS FOR PERSONAL TUTORIALS AND IN-CLASS WORKSHOPS, WHILE MOST USERS REFLECT THEIR DEPENDENCE ON PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH LIBRARIANS. STILL, THE SELF-LEARNING SERVICE MAY PROVIDE ACCURATE NAVIGATION FOR STUDENTS WHO WISH TO ADDRESS PROBLEMS INDEPENDENTLY. MOREOVER, THE RESEARCH RESULTS DEMONSTRATE THAT THE LIBRARIAN'S PROACTIVE AND DIRECT ENGAGEMENT CAN HELP STUDENTS AND FACULTY MEMBERS ALLEVIATE STUDY AND TEACHING ANXIETY. ADDITIONALLY, TO FOSTER COLLABORATION IN INFORMATION LITERACY EDUCATION, A NOVEL COLLABORATIVE MODEL IS PROPOSED, AIMING TO ESTABLISH AN OPEN SCIENCE PLATFORM FOR PROFESSIONAL EXCHANGES AMONG LIBRARIES, ENCOMPASSING SHARED TEACHING RESOURCES AND COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS.