| Media selection is an important part of the instructional systems design process that warrants the delivery of appropriate content in support of an active learning environment. Instruction librarians, serving as designers-by-assignment, have responsibility for effectively teaching information literacy skills to students. The purpose of the study was to describe how instruction librarians select media when designing information literacy instruction within an active learning environment. Media selection by designers-by-assignment with little or no formal training in instructional systems design is an area that has not been fully explored. A sample of 7 academic instruction librarians were interviewed using a researcher prepared Interview Guide of open-ended, semi-structured questions. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Data were collected and triangulated from participant interviews, participant artifacts, and researcher notes. Data analysis was performed using inductive coding. Research findings indicated that media classified as software, particularly cloud-based software, is selected most often to integrate active learning in the design of information literacy instruction. The findings also revealed that cost is the predominate factor that determines media selection. In addition, media selection strategies used by designers-by-assignment within the academic library involves: (a) acquiring knowledge of best practices through professional development activities, (b) analyzing pragmatic and functional characteristics of available media, (c) and aligning media with learning objectives to meet learner needs. |
