Librarians Grading: Giving A's, B's, C's, D's, and F's

SUMMARY The authors will discuss two innovative methods of increasing the teaching roles of librarians by designing and grading assignments that count towards students' final grades. One of the authors has expanded her teaching role on campus by being involved in the development of Virginia Tech's First-Year Seminar. She participates in the design of lesson plans and serves as a facilitator for one of the fourteen sections. This includes all of the professor roles: meeting with the class once a week, working with the Student Teaching Assistant, assigning and grading assignments, holding office hours, facilitating class discussions, and dealing with course management and grading issues. The other author is integrated within a junior-level course with at least four contacts with the students. Three training sessions include hands-on practice in the database and in-class and homework assignments. The six assignments are 15% of the final grade in the course. The author has total control of this segment of the course: design of the assignments, teaching of the courses, grading of the assignments, and dealing with grading issues. The authors find that these expanded roles lead to deeper relationships with the teaching faculty and the students, due to the increased involvement.