Alyssa M. Valenti

Teaching Philosophy and Experience

I have taught information literacy instruction at Raritan Valley Community College for many different courses and departments since 2011.

I've been teaching at the college level at various institutions since 2005 and was initially trained in 'bibliographic instruction', however my teaching philosophy is to 'learn by doing' and simply presenting a lesson that serves to teach 'click here' and 'click here' doesn't really provide any concrete, real-life application for community college students. In fact, information literacy differs from bibliographic instruction as the skillset one acquires from being information literate is something that transcends the classroom and applies to real life situations. In our era of information overload and explosion, information literacy has never been more important for all citizens.

I am a proponent of active learning and try to get my students up and moving around the classroom as much as possible. Additionally, an effective method of information literacy instruction is to allow students to participate in the learning experience by sharing their own knowledge and expertise. Everyone brings their own unique worldview to the classroom and I really like to draw that out of my students with activities that make them share in the teaching. Of course, there are still elements of 'bibliographic instruction' due to the nature of library databases and catalogs, but I try to limit lecture as much as possible.

Below is a list of courses for which I have created individualized information literacy presentations, course materials, and lessons.

Online Teaching

I piloted an embedded librarian program at RVCC in 2012. Since then, I have been embedded in over 80 sections of English I, English II, US History: Beginnings to 1877, Survey of American Film, Nursing Foundations, Nursing of the Childbearing Family, Nursing of Families with Children, Nursing of Adults II, Nursing of Adults I, Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing, and World Literature since the Renaissance. 

My online teaching philosophy is that of teaching via multimedia. I create assignment and course specific screencast videos with Camtasia. Almost all of my videos are available on my YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/alyssamvalenti

Adjunct Faculty - Computer Science

CISY 225 - WEB PAGE DEVELOPMENT I

3 credits

This course introduces the student to publishing on the Internet using the Hypertext Markup Language HTML. Students will learn the knowledge and skills necessary to design and develop Web sites using standard Web development tools. The course will cover the fundamentals of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) syntax and layout, creating effective Web pages, designing the presentation and coherent organization of Web pages. The course will also cover frames, tables, forms, and an introduction to JavaScript. The course will also introduce students to Cascading Style Sheets used in Web authoring tools necessary for successful web design.