Briana McNeil EDUF 7130 Reflection Paper #2 November 11, 2012

Describe an instructional program (hypothetical or actual) that makes use of Vygotskys zone of proximal development. What is being taught and learned? By whom? And utilizing what instructional strategies?

I wanted to use an actual instructional program that could apply for my classroom one day. I could not find an actual program however; I found a relevant instructional program guideline that I thought would be useful for college professors that involve the use of a library. The website serves as a teaching tool for teachers at the collegiate level to find a way to incorporate the library and its services into their curriculum. Academic libraries work together with other members of their institutional communities to participate in, support, and achieve the educational mission of their institutions by teaching the core competencies of information literacythe abilities involved in identifying an information need, accessing needed information, evaluating, managing, and applying information, and understanding the legal, social, and ethical aspects of information use (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2011). This organization calls for institutions to develop their own approach using the guidelines that they have set up on this website. I thought that as a teacher I could use this website to help with an undergraduate research experience class or an internship class. As a requirement for the class the students would be required to complete a future career project. The students would first have to decide on a career that they would like to work in after graduation. After they have chosen this career, they will research the career in the library as well as using the Internet to find out the job qualifications, salary, degree requirements, etc. By the end of the project students will create a poster board as a well presentation that includes all of their research and their results. During the research phase students will work with partners or a group to investigate useful

Briana McNeil EDUF 7130 Reflection Paper #2 November 11, 2012 websites and books to find the information they need to complete their project. Groups will have to list at least five valid websites and books that the class can use for research. What is being taught is how to do research using the Internet as well as how to use the library for school needs. The librarian primarily will teach, as he or she will have the most experience with the library. Designated classroom sessions will be conducted in the library so that the librarian may help the students with any questions or problems. The students should already have a working knowledge of how to use a computer and get to the Internet without the help of the librarian or myself. Referring to the zone of proximal development, the students may not be able to find valid and reliable websites to use for their projects. The librarian will assist the students in looking for both websites that are unreliable as well as websites that are reliable. Once the librarian has shown them the steps to take to find the information needed they can now do it on their own. They will be asked to work with a partner and using a different topic find useful and reliable websites that will help someone with that subject. They will have to discuss with their group and come up with one answer as to why they feel the websites they found are reliable as sources. This way by the end of the lesson and project the student will know how to use the Internet for future classes and know what to look for when searching for sources. The instructional strategy that is being used for this project is scaffolding. I as the instructor am responsible for structuring lessons and serving as a support tool that will help develop the learners zone of proximal development. I have shown that in this example by having the students work with the librarian, myself as well as their

Briana McNeil EDUF 7130 Reflection Paper #2 November 11, 2012 peers in collaborative groups. The students may learn more from each other than they will with a teacher that is why scaffolding is a useful tool in the classroom.

Briana McNeil EDUF 7130 Reflection Paper #2 November 11, 2012 Works Cited Association of College & Research Libraries. (2011, October). Guidelines & Standards: Guide for Instruction Programs in Academic Libraries. Retrieved November 5, 2012 from Association of College & Research Libraries Web site: http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/guidelinesinstruction