Instruction Committee – June 20, 2023

Members attending: Alex Deeke, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Guillermo Gasca, Morton College; Heather Koopmans, Illinois State University; Joanna Kolendo, Chicago State University; Abigail Mann, Illinois Wesleyan University; Alex O'Keefe, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Firouzeh Rismiller, DePaul University; Rebecca Starkey, University of Chicago

Members absent: Claire Reinert, McKendree University

Staff attending: Denise Green, Debbie Campbell

Guests: none

Minutes-taker: Heather Koopmans

Announcements

• I-share new libraries: UIC’s law library is officially live in Alma. Illinois College of Optometry and St. John’s College of Nursing will be integrated into Alma in July.
• All-committee kick-off meeting (for all Committee members, particularly new members) will be held July 18 1:00 p.m. Debbie and Denise will send a calendar invite to all continuing/new committee members
• Various professional development opportunities are on the CARLI event calendar, all are welcome to participate.

Discussion

• Recap of PIL event in April:
  • The collaboration with UIUC was positive. Our audience seems to value practical applications so we may wish to continue to consider how to interweave that with research findings in future events.
  • Fister and Head have co-authored an article on Inside Higher Ed. about ChatGPT which they shared with Alex O. after the PIL event.
• CARLI Instruction Showcase & feedback survey results discussion:
  • Debbie uploaded results of the feedback survey to the committee Drive and during the meeting we spent some time reviewing and further analyzing the data.
  • Showcase went smoothly overall with thanks to all organizers, moderators and presenters
  • Because the Showcase sessions tend to be specific, they will not be relevant to all participants - just an observation. Afternoon timing can cause a bit of a slump.
  • Registration was lower this year than last (83 registrants in 2023, 146 registrants in 2022, 117 in 2021). Folks might have Zoom fatigue. # of responses to the CFP were about the same in 2022 and 2023.
  • Comments show continued interest in showing how’s and why’s behind instruction. Future CFP’s could encourage sample teaching/ “teach ins”, which took place in prior (in person) showcases.
  • Survey shows that early summer (May/early June) is most preferred for the Showcase; Early fall least preferred.
  • In-person networking is a valuable way to foster community, esp. for those at small and rural libraries. May be an opportunity for regional events – could get a sense of location based on virtual event registration (map people’s institutions)
  • One comment seems to suggest inviting CFP’s for facilitated discussion in future showcases. This could support other commenters who were interested in programming around instruction for specific demographics. That format and topic combo could lend itself well to future unconference or “birds of a feather” session.
  • Multiple survey comments expressed preference for interactive discussion with focused structure and multiple ways to engage. Applicable to Showcase and yearlong programming.
  • AI/chat GPT is a topic of interest per multiple comments
• Discussion about leadership and structure for 2023-24.
  • Can be one chair or two co-chairs, tends to be someone who’s been on the committee for at least one year, self-nominated.
  • The Instruction Committee is back to its traditional structure of nine members on three-year memberships, each year three members cycle off and three new members join.
• Alex O. and Heather expressed appreciation to all for a productive and successful committee year!

Decisions / Tasks

• The Committee voted to hold onto the Inside Higher Ed article by Fister/Head for integration into a Committee event next year.
• Alex D. volunteered to chair, preferably co-chair in 2023-24 (yay, Alex!)
• Denise and Debbie will email the committee to see if anyone would like to voluntarily share co-chair duties with Alex D. (Alex O and Heather will help draft this)
• Plan to provide data from the feedback survey to next year’s committee for consideration.

Meeting Dates and Deadlines:

• All-Committee meeting July 18, 1 p.m. All 2023-24 CARLI committee members are welcome.
• Next Instruction Committee Meeting: August - date and time TBD (new committee cycle)