THE ROLE OF “LIBRARY LEARNING RESOURCES” IN INNOVATING
TEACHING METHODS
Võ Thị Hồng Mai
Library, Nam Can Tho University
The core of educational innovation lies in reforming methods and enhancing the ability of both teachers and students to self-study and update knowledge independently. In addition to improving faculty quality and training programs, building university libraries as learning resource centers is crucial to meet the self-study and research needs of lecturers and students.
Innovating teaching methods towards a more active approach requires students to be proactive in their learning, to search for lecture-related information from multiple sources—of which the library's resources play an important and active role. This article introduces the learning resources available in libraries, particularly those at Nam Can Tho University.
Enhancing Students’ Self-Study Role
Ensuring information access for teachers and students in higher education institutions is crucial to improving the quality of education, training, and research. In credit-based training systems, students are required to self-study and read more. Libraries should become students’ second classroom—places where they can access useful information that supports their learning and research, contributing to the school's success in implementing credit-based education and scientific research.
For lecturers, libraries support changes in teaching methods. Instead of giving traditional lectures, teachers can provide basic knowledge, raise questions, assign discussion topics or group work, and introduce the library's abundant resources. Students are then guided to research and gather necessary materials. Rather than passively transmitting knowledge, teachers encourage students to find solutions themselves.
Contributing to Higher Education Reform
Libraries play a significant role in transforming how learners search for, select, access, and use information and knowledge. This helps students develop creativity and turn education into a process of self-education. According to the Library Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, among 145 university libraries surveyed, 28% have websites and 54% have electronic catalogs. Many libraries also offer Q&A-based information services, on-demand support, and online search services. These services allow users to access tailored information easily and quickly anytime, anywhere. Some libraries even proactively align with faculty training programs to ensure learning materials are readily available. They shift from passive to proactive service models by recommending materials based on needs, diversifying service types, and extending service hours. Through user training activities and marketing strategies such as providing bibliographies and information publications, libraries help both teachers and students access valuable learning resources. This enables lecturers to design quality and flexible lesson plans.
Library Learning Resources
Learning resources refer to the materials available in the library that support studying, researching, and teaching. There are many types of learning resources. School libraries should provide a variety of them to support teaching and learning, with each type offering specific advantages. These include textbooks, course books, lectures, monographs, research findings, newspapers, academic journals, theses, dissertations, conference proceedings, internship and fieldwork reports, and other specialized materials.
In other words, learning resources are physical or digital media that store and reflect the content of a course. Teachers use them as the basis for organizing and supporting learning activities according to educational goals. Thus, learning resources consist of two components: a physical component for storage or presentation, and a content component for educational purposes. Resources can be categorized by content type or technological nature, including traditional formats (printed and audiovisual) and electronic formats. Electronic learning resources are diverse and include:
Library Learning Resources Supporting Teaching Methods
One of the key factors for improving teaching quality is strengthening contact between lecturers and students (according to “Some University‑level Teaching Methods” by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Hao). Interaction between teachers and learners inside and outside the classroom is the most important element in motivating students to study. The library is considered a “second lecture hall” where lecturers can organize group study sessions, guide students in using specialist materials available in the library, and help them search for learning information online in the library’s computer room.
Encourage cooperative activities among students. Learning quality in a group‑work environment develops better than individual work; forming study groups and assigning projects for students to work on together is also a way to attract them to visit the library more often. Active‑learning methods are promoted based on the following principles:
Principle 1: Provide timely feedback. Use assessment software that offers feedback and arrange Q&A sessions for each course.
Principle 2: Value time management. Effective time use is crucial for both students and lecturers; therefore, students need guidance on the best ways to manage their study time.
Principle 3: Maintain high expectations of students, encouraging them to work hard and demonstrate their abilities to the fullest, and offer feedback on the learning goals they should achieve.
Principle 4: Respect differences in talents and learning styles. Organizing group study in the library makes use of diverse teaching methods and learning activities.
Thus, the library’s role is embedded in all principles of active‑learning methodology.
How Do Learning Resources at DNC Library Help Lecturers?
During the transition from year‑based to credit‑based training, alongside changes in curriculum content and teaching–learning methods, universities focus on developing learning resources in libraries and documentation centers. Based on the reference lists for each course, university information‑resource centers supplement physical materials (books, newspapers, journals) or purchase access rights to suitable databases.
Learning resources for credit‑based programs should reflect most of the materials listed in course syllabi. To achieve this, collection development must rely on those reference lists. Fully meeting this requirement cannot be accomplished overnight, yet it is a prerequisite that determines training quality. Where ownership is not yet possible, temporary access to tailieu.vn or linking to other information‑library agencies is a viable solution to support lecturers in active‑teaching methods and encourage students to use the library for assignments. At Nam Can Tho University Library, besides digital resources from tailieu.vn, students and lecturers can also access Can Tho University’s Learning Resource Center, and links to Malaysia University of Science and Technology Library and JSTOR collections from Future Generations University are being established.
Open Learning Resources (Open Courseware)
Open learning resources are high‑quality, digitized study materials from official programs that can be freely accessed online.
OpenCourseWare (OCW) with multimedia has long been considered essential for global K‑12 education and for Vietnamese general education in today’s international integration.
Open learning resources support the training and retraining of schoolteachers, especially in science and social‑science subjects, accelerating professional development and engagement.
Open resources are formed mainly from two types:
‑ Traditional materials that have been digitized and stored electronically.
‑ Materials born digital. Open educational resources are licensed openly; they can be used for teaching, learning, and assessment without fees, and may be modified and redistributed without infringing copyright.
References
1. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Hao, Some University‑level Teaching Methods, Teaching‑method training material, 2018.
2. Nguyen Thi Phuong Nhung & Pham Tien Toan (2018), On Learning Resources Serving Students in Study and Scientific Research, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi.
Remarks:
In credit‑based training, learning resources play an extremely important role. The library is no longer merely a place for borrowing or providing materials but an indispensable component of the training process. I highly appreciate this article for directly addressing a practical issue beneficial to learners and to the teaching–learning process at Nam Can Tho University. However, the article should use clearer bullet points so readers can understand each idea more easily.
Published in the proceedings of the workshop “Innovating Teaching Methods,” Nam Can Tho University, 30 December 2018