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This presentation, "Developing Student Information Literacy: Influences of disciplinary contexts and implications for library practice" was given by Sheila Webber, Stuart Boon and Bill Johnston at the Creating Knowledge V conference, Turku, Finland, on 21st August 2008. It summaries research into the conceptions of information literacy, and of teaching information literacy, held by UK academics in the field of Civil Engineering. It goes on the identify implications for librarians and for student learning.
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Developing Student
Information Literacy
Influences of disciplinary contexts and
implications for library practice
Stuart Boon, Bill Johnston (Strathclyde)
Sheila Webber (Sheffield)
CKV 2008
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Outline
Our information literacy research
Implications for library practice
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Information Literacy
“Information literacy is the adoption of appropriate information behaviour to identify, through whatever channel or medium, information well fitted to information needs, leading to wise and ethical use of information in society.”
Johnston & Webber 2002
A key discipline of the information society
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Our Research
To explore UK academics’ conceptions of,
and pedagogy for, information literacy
Three-year, £130,000 Arts & Humanities
Research Council (AHRC) funded project
(Nov 2002 - Oct 2005)
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Our research design
Phenomenographic study: interviews and analysis 20 interviews x 4 disciplines
Soft Pure: English Literature
Soft Applied: Marketing
Hard Pure: Chemistry
Hard Applied: Civil Engineering
80 Academics from 26 different universities
Survey of wider practice: questionnaires and analysis
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Contextual imperatives: each
new piece of knowledge has
its place in the picture
"Discovery”
Chemistry
Draws on hard knowledge
domain, applied to practical
problems
Outcomes which are often
products, techniques
Civil Engineering
Contextual associations:
loosely knit clusters of ideas
"Interpretations”
English
Draws on soft pure
knowledge domain to
interpret and understand
situations
Outcomes are often
protocols or procedures
Marketing
AppliedPure
Hard
Soft
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Boon, Johnston & Webber
Purposive sample
80 interviews: 20 per discipline
26 universities: 69% from pre-1992 universities
61% male, 39% female
Ages in ranges 21-30 to 61+
Years of teaching in ranges 0-5 to 31+
All taught undergrads, 93% taught Masters, 54% PhDs
48% course/programme coordinators
Departments with a variety of scores in national research and teaching assessments
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Method: Phenomenography
Phenomenography is the empirical study of
the differing ways in which people
experience, perceive, apprehend, understand,
conceptualise various phenomena in and
aspects of the world around us.Marton (1994)
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Phenomenography… cont’d
Looks for variation rather than commonality
within experiences of a phenomenon
Seeks a more holistic and complete view of
an experience by incorporating variation (e.g.
seeing a situation from many angles)
Provides a detailed and descriptive
„snapshot‟ of the phenomenon studied
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Civil Engineering:
Information literacy as…
1. Accessing, reading & writing information
2. Using information sources
3. Knowing how to conduct research and make
sense of information
4. Manipulating and presenting data
5. Becoming autonomous, responsible and
confident as a professional engineer
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Civil Engineering:Teaching Information literacy as…
1. Someone else's job
2. Provision of core information
3. Student centred learning
4. Encouraging independent, confident and
critical thought
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Implications for library
practice
Disciplinary differences are very real!
Grafting existing information literacy frameworks and
models (e.g. SCONUL 7 Pillars or ACRL) onto
curricula may lead to dissonance with practices and
perceptions of academics
Effective information literacy education requires
effective engagement and collaboration between
librarians and academics
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Implications for library
practice… cont’d
Working with academics may require:
Insight into disciplinary contexts and academics‟
perceptions of information literacy
Re-defining existing „roles‟ and relationships
Strategic management of those relationships
Developing student information literacy beyond
today‟s standards will require new approaches to
working collaboratively and embedding information
literacy into disciplinary curricula
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Boon, Johnston & Webber
Strategies & Interventions
Given span of variation in concepts and
pedagogy, need to engage at curriculum
development/course design levels.
Establish an „information literacy
enhancement network‟ at
professional/departmental levels?
Seek agreement on a common development
project over time & evaluate experiences
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Student learning
Students may have a richer understanding
of information literacy through experiencing
it in various ways
• Using information sources
• Manipulating and presenting data
• (etc.)
Different academics/modules may provide
the varying experiences
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Student
Cognition
Social Context
Motivation
Active
Constructive
Cumulative
Individually Different
Self-Regulated
Needs
Values
Beliefs about self
Expectancies of
success or failure
Interaction with other students
Environmental context
Quality of teacher-student
relationship
Facilitate and mediate
active knowledge
construction
Build on prior
knowledge
Vary teaching
interventions
Foster metacognition -
acquisition of thinking
skills
Share
responsibility for
learning with
students
Increase relevance
of learning (e.g.
authentic tasks)
Provide cues that
make progress in
learning explicit
Foster dialogue
around learning
Establish safe-
supportive classroom
climate
Induce and mobilise
interaction and
cooperation
Increase collaboration
among teachers
Teacher behaviours that should support and accelerate students’ learning (Nicol 1997)
Learning and Teaching
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Boon, Johnston & Webber
Contact us…
Stuart Boon, Lecturer
Centre for Academic Practice & Learning Enhancement
University of Strathclyde
Graham Hills Bldg., 50 George Street
Glasgow, Scotland
G1 1QE
Bill Johnston, Senior Lecturer
Centre for Academic Practice & Learning Enhancement
University of Strathclyde
Graham Hills Bldg., 50 George Street
Glasgow, Scotland
G1 1QE
Sheila Webber, Senior Lecturer
Department of Information Studies
University of Sheffield
Regent Court, 211 Portobello Street
Sheffield, England
S1 4DP
Information Literacy Weblog
http://information-literacy.blogspot.com
IL aggregator (blogs etc.)
http://www.pageflakes.com/informationliteracy/
CKV 2008
Boon, Johnston & Webber
Bibliography
Boon, S., Johnston, B. and Webber, S. (2007) "A phenomenographic study of English faculty's conceptions of information literacy." Journal of documentation, 63 (2), 204-228.
Johnston, B. and Webber, S. (2006) “As we may think: Information Literacy as a discipline for the information age” Research strategies, 20 (3), 108-121.
Webber, S., Boon, S. and Johnston, B. (2005) “A comparison of UK academics‟ conceptions of information literacy in two disciplines: English and Marketing.” Library and information research, 29 (93), 4-15. http://www.cilip.org.uk/specialinterestgroups/bysubject/research/publications/journal/archive/lir93/article93b.htm
Webber, S. and Johnston, B. (2005) “Information literacy in the curriculum: selected findings from a phenomenographic study of UK conceptions of, and pedagogy for, information literacy” In: Rust, C. (Ed)Improving Student Learning: Diversity and Inclusivity: Proceedings of the 11th ISL symposium, Birmingham, 6-8 September 2004. Oxford: Oxford Brookes University. pp212-224.http://dis.shef.ac.uk/sheila/literacy/webber-johnston-isl.pdf
