Shining a Spotlight on Teresa Hartman
Academy Member Since 2016
Professor, McGoogan Health Sciences Library
Bio
What do you do at UNMC?
I am a member of the Education & Research Services department in the McGoogan Health Sciences Library. I teach learners at UNMC, Children's Nebraska, and Nebraska Medicine how to search for, critically appraise, and manage biomedical research resources applicable to their research and patient care needs. In my new role as Head of Education, I support and coach my teammates on strengthening their pedagogy skills as they teach information literacy and critical thinking competencies throughout the UNMC college curricula.
Tell us about your educational research interests and teaching role.
I am interested in educational research, instructional design, and everything about teaching information literacy. I teach at the College of Medicine and serve as the Inquiry Coil Director. I also teach classes on the McGoogan Library information resources for all of our UNMC faculty, staff and student audiences.
What is one of your favorite/memorable teaching moments?
Once I heard a student's spontaneous vocal reaction during a class with the College of Medicine M4 right before graduation. We reviewed the search and appraising skills we had covered in their previous curriculum years. The student voiced their "aha" moment, saying they remembered what they had learned and recognized how valuable their skills would be in their next level of training. The smile on that student's face made all of my work worthwhile.
What do you see as the biggest benefit to being a member of the IAE?
The IAE offers a ready-made network of people interested in making education better. I know I can reach out to any fellow member and start a conversation that will result in my learning a new tip or skill or an additional person to help me with the teaching challenges I may be experiencing. If you aren’t a member yet, join!
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you "grew up"?
I wanted to live in Alaska and be a flying librarian, delivering books in my Cessna to people that wanted to read them. (It was the '70s.) I passed ground school but didn't have the money to pay for flight hours. I had a short land-based stint in the early '80s where I delivered for a living (hauling grain, not books.) I ultimately reached my dream here at UNMC: I connect people to their reading needs through ebooks and online journals and instruction through online video platforms.