Exploring Teaching Librarians' Beliefs about Undergraduate Student Learning

Abstract

Whether formally articulated or tacitly held, all librarians have beliefs about how undergraduate students learn. Framing learning beliefs as a component of a teaching philosophy, this study explored how librarians described how undergraduate students learned best. Thirteen librarians from three doctoral universities in Texas were interviewed. Teaching librarians in this study believed that students learn in different ways; that students need to interact with others, act, and reflect in order to learn; and that students learn when certain conditions are met. The learning beliefs identified align with learning theories and the science of learning, but the threshold concepts theory underlying the ACRL Framework did not appear to influence how librarians conceptualized the learning process. These findings are a starting point for librarians considering how to articulate their own beliefs about learning.