Integrated In-Class Presentations
Advantages, Disadvantages and Considerations
Advantages
Easiest form of instruction to set up.
Promotes collaboration with lecture and laboratory instructors.
Students are usually motivated, since the lecture materials will tie directly
into some course assignment.
When linked to a well-designed assignment, the topics to be covered are
usually easy to figure out.
Students are usually all at about the same level of knowledge, so you aren't
boring half the class while the other half doesn't understand what you're
talking about.
Since these students will be in the library anyway, one hour in the classroom
can save you many hours at the reference desk.
Sometimes trying to fit everything you want to cover into a single lecture
can be daunting.
If you're going to meet in the usual classroom, live demos of electronic
sources may not be possible.
Considerations
Try to reach out to instructors early (over the summer for fall courses),
so that your lecture can be fit into the schedule appropriately - either
at the best time to match the assignment, or to take advantage of a session
when the instructor would be unable to lecture anyway.
Link the lecture to one or more assignments that are a significant part
of the course to add relevance.
If electronic resources are to be covered, try to arrange for live demos.
If not, consider "canned" presentations using presentation software, or
Web browsers.
Whatever your presentation is, distill its essence into a handout - some
students take poor notes; others may miss your lecture, and it may come
in handy for patrons not in the class. If you have the chance, create a
Web version.
Hands-on training in a one-hour lecture probably isn't doable. If you have
more time, it may be worthwhile.