Online Reading Lists: Encouraging Staff Engagement

What makes a good reading list? What do students do with reading lists? What helps them make the most of the reading list for a module?
At the University of Worcester (UW) we have worked hard to engage both staff and students with reading list software, Talis Aspire. While usage and feedback have been good, and many academics have become adept at updating and publishing their lists, there is work to be done in answering the above questions and ensuring that academics engage with reading lists at more than just a surface level.
This workshop will recreate a session given to academic staff at the UW Learning and Teaching Conference and as part of the PG Cert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, using TurningPoint software. It aims to encourage lecturers to consider how they can maximise the impact of their reading lists and increase library use. It examines the pedagogy of reading lists, how to engage students with reading and how academic staff and the library can support students in using the resources available. It looks at the type of content that reading lists typically contain and questions whether this accurately reflects what the students should be reading. It draws on best practice from academic colleagues at UW, examining (among other things) the effect of list length, layout and annotation.
This session will give a practical illustration of how to encourage academics of the need to engage with reading lists. It will be useful to anyone hoping to further engage academic colleagues with online reading list systems or hoping to breathe new life into departments where enthusiasm is flagging.