Judith Peacock

DipT BEd GradDipLibSc AALIA

Learning and Study Support Coordinator

Contact details

Telephone: +61 7 3138 2893
Email: j.peacock@qut.edu.au
Fax: +61 7 3138 2485
Skpe: vegemitequt
Office: F707, Level 7, F Block/SLSC, Kelvin Grove campus
Visit my Virtual Office: http://tiny.cc/g2ymy

Role

Purpose of position

The Learning and Study Support Coordinator portfolio brings together services and support for information literacy (information/research skills) and academic literacy (academic/study skills). The role coordinates strategic, administrative and operational facets of the Library’s learning services and initiatives to create authentic learning support for students. The portfolio encompasses frontline and professional consultation services, physical and virtual learning programs, faculty-specific curriculum design/development and assessment (embedded learning), resource development, staffing and staff capacity building, and quality review and evaluation. The Learning and Study Support Coordinator engages widely in initiatives relating to First Year Experience, graduate capabilities, assessment and curriculum, widening participation, and enhancing the student experience. The position reports to the Associate Director (Client Services & Learning Support), Library.

Duties

• Guide/facilitate whole-of-Library implementation and review of the Library’s student-facing study support services including Learning and Research Desks, student study consultations, Peer Advisers, and faculty/discipline integration and embedding
• Lead/coordinate integrated resource development, provision, maintenance and evaluation (print and online)
• Coordinate the Library’s participation in university-wide transition and support activities for students (eg: Orientation and First year Experience)
• Support/facilitate embedded curriculum development and learning design (in collaboration with Liaison Librarians, Academic Skills Advisors and faculty).
• Contribute to strategic planning relating to the Library’s learning services and support
• Contribute to and engaging with policy and initiatives in the Division and the broader University in regard to graduate capabilities and the student experience, such as First Year Experience
• Monitor and report on measures of quality and performance related to the Library’s learning services and study support, and Divisional services with which they intersect
• Provide strategic direction for the Library's Learning and Study Support Subcommittee and facilitate the administrative and operational objectives of that team
• Coordinate communication and promotion of the Library’s learning support and resources, in collaboration with the Divisional Communications Team and other relevant stakeholders, units and teams
• Manage projects and supervise project-based administrative, technical and/or professional staff
• Lead ongoing development and review of QUT cite|write
• Convene the Divisional Student Events Team to coordinate the Division’s student-facing activities and the administrative processes of the team (eg: reporting)
• Coordinate, lead and/or facilitate Library staff development opportunities to assure informed learning services and study support, and effective learning resources

Core goals and principles of QUT Library's learning and study support services

QUT Library’s holistic learning services model connects and streamlines student access to academic learning services and study assistance. Reconceptualising its academic responsibility, the Library provides blended, centralised support for academic literacy (study skills) and information literacy (research skills), assuring access for students to an extensive array of interconnected study and learning options. Modelled on a “no wrong door” principle, our strategic and operational support initiatives are ubiquitously client-focussed, student-centred and personal.

QUT Library’s learning and study support model is unique, innovative and deliberate. Our service model signifies a longterm educational commitment to improving learning outcomes, to enhancing every student’s academic experience and achievement, and facilitating a safe and satisfying transition into, through and out of our university. The program incorporates in-person professional and peer-peer assistance and referral, anytime/anyplace general and specialist response, independent 24/7 learning resources, and extra-curricular and course-integrated workshops and events. Our model aggregates accountabilities and quality assurance processes, redefines service frameworks, and broadens client communication strategies. It establishes more coherent processes to scaffold and connect students with other support services, and to drive blended curriculum approaches that allow for the of sequenced, aligned development of two core capabilities - information literacy and academic literacy.

The merging of the scholarly processes of information literacy and academic literacy is logically matched by the reconceptualisation of QUT Library’s services, planning, operations and professional mentality. Underpinned by a strong client ethos and bolstered by a reputation for service excellence, our holistic approach to academic learning support is unique in the Australian tertiary sector.  We are one agency with one goal and a singular focus - academic support for students. These literacies form the basis of the Library's integrated/blended approach. QUT Library bases its services and resource provision on the principle that these capabilities are most effectively learned and applied when blended with the learning and teaching of other critical skills (such as critical thinking and problem solving), and when the knowledge and application is sequenced, supported and assessed within the context of a discipline. Information literacy is defined as an intellectual and applied framework for conceptualising, finding, interpreting, evaluating, using and managing information. At a fundamental level, information literacy activates enquiry, promotes challenge of assumptions & fosters critical discernment & reasoning (Bundy, 2004). Academic literacy is broadly defined as the knowledge, understanding & application of strategies & processes which enable effective & efficient study and scholastic achievement, such as writing, note taking, concept mapping, time management, synthesis and critical thinking. Fundamentally, academic literacy is a process which informs learning, activates thinking & allows for clear expression of meaning.

The outcome for students is highly accessible, available and personalised professional learning services and study support. One place to start to learn how to study and study how to learn. The first place to seek help and find answers. A visible place where not knowing is non-threatening. A comfortable place where learning is positive and developmental. In QUT Library, every student finds dedicated professional people and learning services designed for them and their individual needs. For our students, there is no wrong person or stupid question, no redirected solution, half-answers or apologetic dismissals. There is no “wrong door” for students seeking guidance or help with any study and learning issue because behind every one of our “service doors” is informed end-to-end support that is accessible, timely and fit for purpose. Theirs. We even work in the background with faculty to strengthen curriculum-embedded learning - the students don’t see us but they experience our contribution to their learning. Our helpdesks, chat services, individual consultations, specialist appointments, physical and online learning resources and tools, and generic and discipline-situated workshops, courses and events all connect students to their own interconnected study solutions. 

Our objectives are to:

• promote and develop Information Literacy and Academic Literacy as critical complementary qualities for successful study and lifelong learning
• lead the embedding of these capabilities, as “emerging skills”, into the whole learning experience, from inside the formal curriculum to scaffolded extended curriculum
• enable students to become critical, scholarly and independent members of an academic community, and informed citizens and employees
• promulgate models of best practice for the implementation and evaluation of information literacy and academic literacy initiatives in terms of students' learning outcomes, curriculum structure and assessment
• review and implement strategic and systemic approaches which facilitate sustainable teaching of graduate capabilities and ensure deep, durable learning outcomes for students.

Key online learning resources

• Studywell: http://www.studywell.library.qut.edu.au/
• QUT cite|write: http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/
• Pilot: https://pilot.library.qut.edu.au/index.jsp
• kickSTART, studySMART: http://www.kickstart.qut.edu.au/
• AIRS online: https://airs.library.qut.edu.au/ (QUT authentication required)

Other responsibilities | special interests within QUT

• Co-convenor: Division of TILS Student Events Team
• Convenor: QUT cite|write Editorial Team
• Member: First Year Experience and Retention Committee
• Member: Peer Programs Steering Committee
• Member: Transitions In Community of Practice
• QUT Discrimination Contact Officer

Professional activities external to QUT

• Member:    QULOC Learning and Information Services Working Party
• Reviewer:  Australian Library Journal & MCB Press
• Associate Member:   Australian Library & Information Association (ALIA)

Publications

• Access fulltext via QUT ePrints

Peacock, J. (2011). Integrated literacies: every online player wins a prize. Proceedings of the 15th Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Information Online Conference, 1-3 February, Sydney, Australia, 2011.

Peacock, J. (2010). Studywell - giving the edge, Students - getting ahead. Proceedings of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Access Conference, 1-3 September, Brisbane, Australia, 2010. [forthcoming]

Peacock, J. & Goebel, N. (2009). Evaluation is the Answer. Feliciter, Vol 55 (3) 2009 pp. 95-97.

Peacock, J. (2008). Not yours, not mine... but ours: integrating learning skills for integrated learning. Proceedings of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Biennial Conference: Dreaming 08, 2-5 September, Alice Springs, Australia, 2008.

Peacock, J. (2006). THINK Systemically, ACT Strategically: Sustainable development of information literacy in the broader context of students' learning. Proceedings of IATUL 2006: Embedding Libraries in Learning and Research (CD only), 22-25 May, Faculdade de Engenharia Universidade do Porto, Portugal.

Peacock, J. (2006). Beyond the Fashionable: strategic planning for critical information literacy education in Curzon, S. & Lampert, L. (eds) Proven Strategies for Building an Information Literacy Program. (NY: Neal-Schuman)

Peacock, J. (2005). Information literacy education in practice in Levy, P. & Roberts, S. (eds) (2005) Developing the New Learning Environment: The changing role of the academic librarian. London: Facet Publishing; pp153-180.

Peacock, J.,Tweedale, R., Fell, P. & Vollmerhause, K. (2004). Bounding Borders, Building Bridges: partnering for quality outcomes in the online learning of information literacy. Conference paper for Educause Australasia 2005, Auckland, New Zealand.

Tweedale, R., Fell, P., Conkas, M. & Peacock, J. (2004). Online Learning: The chicken or the egg? Forthcoming conference paper for Information Online, Sydney, Australia, 2005.

Peacock, J. (2004). Standards, Curriculum and learning: implications for professional development in Bundy, A. (ed) Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy Framework: principles, standards and practice, 2nd edition. Adelaide: ANZIIL.

Peacock, J. & Bradbury, S. (2003).  Queensland University   of Technology & QUT Library’s Information Literacy Framework. Submission for the Australian Award for University Teaching 2003: Institutional Award - Category 1: Innovative and practical approach to the provision of support services (on, and/or off campus) that assist the learning of students) [unpublished]. >> Submission 

Fell, P; Bradbury, S; Vollmerhause, K; Peacock, J. (2003). Pedagogy First, Technology Second: teaching & learning information literacy online. Proceedings of the QUT Online Learning & Teaching Conference 2003 - " Excellence: Making the Connections", Nov 5 2003, Brisbane, Australia (pp.121-127).

Hart, G; McCarthy, J. & Peacock, J. (2002). Double Strength, Maximum Gain: optimising student learning via collaborative partnerships@ QUT. Library Review, Vol 52 (9) 2003 pp. 433-437.

Peacock, J. (2002). Information Literacy Downunder: Principles and Practice at QUT. Presentation at the 31st Annual Workshop on Instruction in Library Use (WILU): River Runs - Trends in Library Instruction. Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada: 13-14 May 2002. 

Peacock, J. (2002). Reinventing the Reference Librarian: Information Literacy as a change agent. ACURIL XXXII Conference - The New Librarian.com, Ochos Rios, Jamaica 27-31 May 2002.

Peacock, J. (2002). The QUT Information Literacy Framework and Syllabus: walking the talk. Proceedings of the Lifelong Learning Conference, Central Queensland University, Yeppoon, Queensland, Australia 16-19 July 2002. 

Peacock, J. (2001). Teaching Skills for Teaching Librarians: postcards from the edge of the educational paradigm. Australian Academic Research Libraries, Vol 32 (1) March 2001 pp. 26-42.

Peacock, J. (2001) Outreach 2002: A collaborative schools project. InCite, Vol   24 April 2003 p.12.

Peacock, J. (2001) Drive, revive, survive...and thrive: going the distance for information literacy in ALIA/RAISS (2001) Revelling in Reference 2001. Proceedings of the Reference & Information Services Section Symposium, Melbourne, October 12-14 2001. Canberra: Australian Library & Information Association, pp. 133-148.

Peacock, J. (2000) Teaching Skills for Teaching Librarians: postcards from the edge of the educational paradigm. Paper presented at COMLA 2000: User Education for User Empowerment. Christchurch, New Zealand, 17 - 19 October 2000. 

Salisbury F. & Peacock, J. (2000) Information Literacy Coordination: two dynamic approaches. Paper presented at the Lifelong Learning Conference: Development of Generic Skills in Higher Education Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia 17-19 July 2000. 

Peacock, J. (2000) From Trainers to Educators: Librarians and the challenge of change in Booker, D. ed. (2000) Concept, Challenge, Conundrum: From Library Skills to Information Literacy. Proceedings of the 4th National Information Literacy Conference, Adelaide, December 3 - 5, 1999. Adelaide: University of South Australia, pp. 182-191. 

Peacock, J. & Middleton, M. (2000) Library Services to External Students from Australian Universities: The Influence of Flexible Delivery upon Traditional Service Provision in Sarkodie-Mensah, K. The Reference Librarian: Special Issue - Reference Services for the Adult Learner: challenging issues for the Traditional and Technological Era. Nos. 69/70, New York: Haworth Information Press.

Peacock, J. & Middleton, M. (1999) Mixed Mode Education: Implications for Library User Services. New Library World, Vol. 100, No. 1146, pp. 11-19 [January 1999].

Peacock, J. & Middleton, M. (1997) Mixed Mode Education by Default: Implications for Library User Services. Unpublished paper for Shifting Sands: Distance Education in Times of Change. Australian Library and Information Association Distance Education Special Interest Group National Conference. Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, December 1997.