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Extending Information Literacy Instruction for Upper-Division Students

This article discusses the need to extend information literacy instruction for upper-division students and provides strategies for preparing for this type of instruction. It also explores the challenges and tasks related to information literacy in the workplace and presents data gathered from literature reviews, interviews, and surveys.

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Extending Information Literacy Instruction for Upper-Division Students

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  1. Establishing Discipline-Specific Information Practices for Upper-Division Information Literacy Instruction Anne R. Diekema, Caitlin Gerrity, and Phil Roché Gerald R. Sherratt Library Southern Utah University

  2. Overview • Why does IL instruction need to be extended? • Our students are currently only required to achieve competence in IL. What then? • How do we best prepare for a new type of extended instruction? • Elicit knowledge from subject matter experts • Conduct literature reviews, interviews, focus groups, and surveys • Analyze relevant data • Integrate findings in to class curriculum

  3. Background

  4. IL at SUU • IL is one of our 15 essential learning outcomes (ELOs) • LM 1010 (Information Literacy) – a one-credit general education IL course • One-shot library instruction sessions for other campus courses • Our future plans include: • Introduction to the major courses • Capstone courses • LIW 2016

  5. Extending the Arc of Learning • ACRL’s Framework for IL for Higher Education • IL has ability to extend the arc of learning throughout students’ academic careers and beyond • For this to happen faculty and librarians need to collaborate on cohesive curricula where students learn discipline-specific information practices • http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework

  6. Minding the Competency Gap • According to employers, graduates lack the following IL competencies: • Engaging team members during research process • Retrieving information in a variety of formats • Finding patterns and making connections • Exploring a topic thoroughly (Employers N=23; Head, Van Hoeck, Eschler & Fullerton, 2013)

  7. IL Challenges Reported by Graduates • Increased sense of urgency permeates the workplace • Research tasks are assigned with little structure or direction • Information seeking and use is highly contextual and fundamentally social (Graduates N=33, focus groups; Head, Van Hoeck, Eschler & Fullerton, 2013)

  8. Workplace IL Tasks • Transformation of information to knowledge, shaping judgments, and decisions • Environmental scanning / staying up to date • Organizing, packaging, creating information • Time management skills • Overcoming information overload

  9. Transferability • Social, informal, contextualized processing of information • Problems are complex, messy, open-ended, and difficult to analyze • Tasks are context specific, not generic • Sociocultural practice that informs learning • Nature of sources is different • Company-wide knowledge sharing (Williams, Cooper, Wavell, 2014)

  10. Data Gathering

  11. Literature Reviews • General workplace information practices • Human information behavior studies of specific professional groups • Health care professionals, teachers, software engineers, lawyers, etc. • Professional standards of practice

  12. Interviews • In what ways is information used in the work environment? • How is information used to solve problems? • Did undergraduate IL education prepare for the workplace? • What resources are utilized in the profession? • What specific resources are typically consulted? • What is the role of research and information in the field?

  13. Interview Responses of SUU Graduates • Professional nurses interviewed • Responded to “information in the workplace” questions • Use information throughout workday • Initial sources: patient, healthcare provider information • 2nd tier: clinical practice guidelines, proprietary databases • 3rd tier: medical library, journals, PubMed, PDR, case studies, co-workers • Undergraduate work prepared them for workplace, but… • “Learned as I went along” • Helpful medical apps were not discussed

  14. Interview Responses of SUU Graduates (continued) • Searching strategies: Boolean Operators, general-to-specific search terms used • Information and evidence-based research is key to practice • Information utilized to solve everyday issues as well as address unknown symptoms, illnesses

  15. SurveysAsk a sample of professionals to respond to set of questions • Sampling of questions / considerations from the literature: • Demographic information [area of emphasis, years of experience, highest degree earned, etc.] • How frequently do you search for / access information in your field? • For what purpose do you seek information for use in your profession? • Which searching tools and/or resources do you use while seeking for information?

  16. Surveys (continued)Ask a sample of professionals to respond to set of questions • What do you usually type in to the search box when you’re looking for information? • Are you generally successful in locating the information that you need? • Approximately how much time do you spend when seeking (field-specific)information? • What do you take in to consideration when deciding whether the information you’ve located is relevant to your needs? • How do you keep abreast of current developments in your field?

  17. Focus Groups • Semi-structured interviews conducted with small groups of respondents (professionals) led by moderator, allows to reaction to responses of others • Ideal to determine professional practices (how do they do what they do?) • Find out opinions on information practices and information resources

  18. Focus Groups (continued) • Example questions: • What sources do you use to...? • What factors play a role in your decision to use various sources? • What are the biggest barriers to gaining access to this information? • How do you use the information? How do you determine its quality? (Mullaly-quijas, Ward, and Woefl, 1994)

  19. Curriculum Integration

  20. Data Analysis • Evidence-based IL instruction • Integrate research findings • Drives learning content, activities, and assessment • Synthesize findings from different data collection efforts • Scaffolding

  21. Frameworks / Models • Experience Framework • Evidence-based educational intervention • New, complex IL / “Themes of expanding awareness” • Skills needed for professional work environment • Apply “Variation Theory” • Introduce concepts more than once • Pair various learning concepts together (Forster, 2016)

  22. Frameworks / Models • IDEA Model • Collaboration between librarians and teaching faculty • Apply ADDIE Model to design / redesign IL • Strategies: concise content, “chunking,” logical sequencing, limit of redundancy, focus on critical learning • Interview: instructor interview, analyze syllabus, student profiles • Design: purposeful curriculum planning • Embed: integration of IL content / using v. searching • Assess & reassess: analyze outcomes for learning & effectiveness (Mullins, 2016)

  23. Initial Framework Implementation at SUU • Nursing Department • Admits cohorts of only 30 students in a competitive application process • Effective use of information is closely tied to professional performance • 25% of learning department’s outcomes align with IL • Use evidence as the basis for clinically competent contemporary nursing care • Demonstrate intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and motivation towards life-long learning

  24. IL Curriculum Recommendations • Create group information problem solving assignments • Real clinical problems – case studies (ill-formed) • Collaboration • Add additional information sources • People • Health care apps • Patient, healthcare provider information • Clinical practice guidelines, proprietary databases • IL for life-long learning

  25. Summary • College graduates are not prepared for workplace IL practices • IL needs to be integrated throughout curriculum and based on current information practices • Be mindful… • of ACRL Framework • of students’ current IL gap / challenges • that real-world / workplace IL needs are complex • that skills taught need to be transferable

  26. Summary (continued) • Evidence-based IL instruction includes: • Gathering data and eliciting knowledge from subject matter experts • Analyzing data to inform IL instruction • Collaborating with teaching faculty to integrate findings into instruction • Reassessing and implementing changes (i.e. “closing the loop”)

  27. Discussion / Questions • What are you doing likewise in your workplace? Is it working? • What do you think would be an ideal approach? • What do you think is the future of IL instruction? • What other methodologies might work to improve the impact of IL?

  28. References • Engel, D., Robbins, S., & Kulp, C. (2011). The information-seeking habits of engineering faculty. College & Research Libraries, 72(6), 560-567. • Head, A. J., Hoeck, M. V., Eschler, J., Fullerton, S. (2013) What information competencies matter in today’s workplace? Library and Information Research 37, 114, 74-104. • Forster, M. (2016). Developing an “experience framework” for an evidence-based information literacy education intervention. Journal of Documentation, 72(2), 306-320.

  29. References (continued) • Mullaly-Quijas, P., Ward, D.H., & Woelfl, N. (1994). Using focus groups to discover health professionals’ information needs: a regional market study. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 82(3), 305-311. • Mullins, K. (2016). IDEA Model from theory to practice: Integrating information literacy in academic courses. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42, 55-64. • Owen, D.J., & Fang, M.E. (2003). Information-seeking behavior in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM): an online survey of faculty at a health sciences campus. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 91(3), 311-321.

  30. References (continued) • Sapa, R., Krakowska, M., & Janiak, M. (2014). Information seeking behavior of mathematicians: Scientists and students. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 19(4). Retrieved from http://www.informationr.net/ir/19-4/paper644.html • Shipman, T., Bannon, S. H., & Nunes-Bufford, K. (2015). The information-seeking habits of in-service educators. College & Research Libraries, 76(2), 120-135.

  31. Images • Gapby Kevin Doncaster is licensed under (CC BY 2.0) • Delicate Arch by Matthew Peoples is licensed under (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) • Discussionby Muhammad Rafizeldi is licensed under (CC-SA 3.0) • Group People by Sara 506 is licensed under (CC BY-SA 3.0) • Information by Jean Victor Balin is licensed under (CC0 1.0)

  32. Images (continued) • Information Literacy by A.J. Cann is licensed under (CC BY-SA 2.0) • Information Literacy by Ewa Rozkosz is licensed under BY-SA 2.0) • Laptopby SCY is licensed under (CC0 Public Domain) • Overview by Dave Gandy is licensed under (CC BY-3.0) • Referencesby Tasite is licensed under (CC0 Public Domain) • Votingby League of Women Voters is licensed under (CC BY 2.0)

  33. Thank you for attending! • Anne Diekema annediekema@suu.edu • Cait Gerrity caitlingerrity@suu.edu • Phil Roché roche@suu.edu

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