Looking Back on my Information Learning Activity

I believe that being a reflective practitioner is an integral part of being a successful teacher.  Upon the completion of my Information Learning Activity(ILA) I decided to use the Generic, Situated and Transformative(GeST) windows for information literacy (Lupton & Bruce, 2010) to analyse how well my ILA achieved ‘holistic information literacy education’ and to determine what changes I could make to improve my ILA for future use.   

Information literacy can be viewed from 3 different perspectives: as a set of generic skills, as occurring in social practices, or as transformative- both for the individual and for society (Lupton & Bruce, 2010).  Information literacy  can involve various resources not just text.  Resources and stimuli can be seen, heard and experienced through senses(Lupton & Bruce, 2010).  For this reason, I decided to base my ILA in Science where students used many of their senses to gather and analyse information.  

To begin with I analysed my ILA using the Generic window.  This window views information literacy as a set of specific skills and processes that are used to find and work with information (Lupton and Bruce, 2010).  The teaching and learning activities that fit here included lectures on using learning objects, drawing diagrams, the formatting of science experiments and critical reading of text.  These tasks were geared to prepare students for future situations where they would be required to find information and use or display the information in a manner prescribed by their instructor.

Next I looked at my ILA through the Situated window.  Through this window, literacy is viewed as, “contextual, authentic, collaborative and participatory,’ and ‘information is found through purposeful search strategies, but also by encountering information,”(Lupton & Bruce, 2010).  Using one’s senses to gather information and build one’s understanding by working with information are vital, making the process more personal and subjective and in turn having an impact on social groups.  Tasks that related to this contextualised information practice included hands on experiments, comic analysis (looking at contrasting perspectives of scientists) and class discussions about different ways we use electricity on a daily basis.  

Finally, I used the Transformative window to view my ILA.  I looked at ways students used information practices to change themselves and the society around them (Lupton & Bruce, 2010).  I noticed that during the ILA we briefly discussed other sources of energy but students weren’t challenged to research further to determine what personal or political action they could take to improve the impact that our choices of energy consumption have on the environment.  I have concluded that the transformative window was not really apparent in my activity.  If students were challenged to take action, rather than just asked to explore in order to better understand how the world around them works, the ILA would be more socially critical as it would have included personal and political action and therefore address the theme of social responsibility(Lupton & Bruce, 2010). 

In conclusion, I feel that my ILA included elements of the three GeST windows, but my primary focus was on the Generic and Situated windows.  To improve the ILA for future teaching and learning episodes I would need to incorporate elements that would ‘empower learners to critique information in order to challenge the status quo and to transform oneself and society,’ (Lupton & Bruce, 2010).  I plan to incorporate further analysis of other sources of energy and have students reflect on ways that they could make more environmentally friendly choices at home.  I will also have students write to their local Member of Parliament suggesting ways in which schools could improve their consumption of energy in order to incorporate more sustainable practices for the future.

References:

Lupton, Mandy and Bruce, Christine. (2010). Chapter 1 : Windows on Information Literacy Worlds : Generic, Situated and Transformative Perspectives in Lloyd, Annemaree and Talja, Sanna, Practising information literacy : bringing theories of learning, practice and information literacy together, Wagga Wagga: Centre for Information Studies, pp.3-27.

My Experience with Kuhlthau's Model of the Information Search Process

By focussing on my experiences during my own research, I have found that I have become more aware of the feelings and stages that my students must go through when they are set research tasks.  I feel that I will be better prepared to support students as I have recently encountered similar problems or feelings of frustration.

The process students go through to find information today is very different than when I was a student at primary school.  Students have access to many more resources due to advancements in technology.  The exposure to vast amounts of information impacts on the exploration and formulation stages found in Kuhlthau's Model of the Information Search Process(Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari, 2007).  I found this to be true during my own information search where I would come across hundreds of thousands of documents and found it difficult to narrow down the results to find and form a focus for my research.
       

(Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari, 2007, p.19)

References:
Kuhlthau, C., Maniotes, L., Caspari, A. (2007), Guided Inquiry, Learning in the 21st Century, Libraries Unlimited, Connecticut, USA.

My Personal Experience with Kuhlthau's Information Literacy Process

Gaining a clear understanding of the term 'guided inquiry' is difficult as it is used by experts in numerous ways.  Guided Inquiry is the specific term used by Kuhlthau to describe information literacy skills that are used to assist students to locate, evaluate and use information.  It originates form  the constructivist approach to learning (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari, 2007).  Guided Inquiry helps to develop the three areas of the American Association of School Libraries (AASL) information literacy standards- information literacy, independent learning and social responsibility (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari, 2007).  Students independently look for, choose and interact with information in ways that better prepare them for real-life situations due to the high degree of independence involved.

Libraries are seen as valuable environments for the instruction of information literacy skills.  Information literacy is viewed as fundamental in shaping the way people learn in the 21st century (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari, 2007).  I feel that this instruction needs to take place both in classrooms and in the libraries to be most beneficial.  I found my Teacher Librarian had some valuable insights into the different ways in which information is organised on the web compared to the collections for teachers in the library.  An emphasis needs to be placed on cooperative teaching between teachers and teacher librarians for students to benefit most.

Part of Guided Inquiry involves the development of an understanding that different searches are required throughout the inquiry process to achieve various goals.  The four search types involved are preliminary, exploratory, comprehensive and summary searches (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari, 2007).  I found that I used these different types of searches during the development of my context.  Initially, I used a preliminary search to explore different possibilities for my topic of research.  I was able to build up a general knowledge of the types of  information that were available in order to narrow my topic.  I then delved further into my narrowed topic during my exploratory phase to gain a clearer focus.  The comprehensive search helped me gather more detailed and specific sources of information to use.  My summary search assisted in the clarification of information and the retrieval of any missing information needed to complete my context. 

When determining the reliability and usefulness of the information I gathered, I found my strategies closely related to Kuhlthau's 'Five Characteristics for Evaluating Sources'(Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari, 2007).  The five criteria include: expertise, accuracy, currency, perspective and quality.  I often look for scholarly articles and cited works to ensure the author's expertise on the topic and to ensure accuracy  and quality of information.  I often use the advanced search options on databases to limit my searches to information published in the last five to ten years if my topic is a current one or an ongoing issue where recent information is necessary.  I try to be alert to any bias or personal perspectives that may be present in the information I find.  I quickly scan information to determine if it is factual or opinion based and determine if the information is suitable to use.

I agree with the development of information literacy through Guided Inquiry but feel that this can be best achieved by close coordination between the teacher librarian and the teacher.  Teaching and learning episodes need to take place both in the library and in the classroom. 

References:

Kuhlthau, C., Maniotes, L., Caspari, A. (2007), Guided Inquiry, Learning in the 21st Century, Libraries Unlimited, Connecticut, USA.

Critically Evaluating Information

How Far Have I Come?

Question Time- What have I learned?

1) What do I know about my topic? 

After reading research written by a variety of experts, I now understand that there are many definitions for terms such as guided inquiry and information literacy.  I realise there is a lot more to understand about these terms than I originally realised.  I feel confident in knowing that inquiry learning is supported and encouraged during science lessons.

 2) How interested are you in this topic?

I continue to be genuinely interested in learning about ways to actively engage students in the classroom. I aim to keep up with current research into the ways in which I can support students in the classroom.

3) How much do you know about this topic?

I have gained much knowledge on information literacy and inquiry learning but I am aware that there is still much to learn.  Research continues and new ideas will continue to be presented.  What I do know is that students will always have inquiring minds and teachers need to continue to encourage and support this inquiry the best way that they can.

4) When researching, what do I find easy to do?

I am finding that I have become quicker at finding suitable search terms that will return results that are pertinent to the topic I am interested in.  Linking the advanced search button in Google Scholar to the QUT databases will save me time in future searches.  I am improving on my ability to organise the information I find to make it more manageable to work with.

5) When researching, what do I find difficult to do?

I still find the referencing of some materials difficult.  I often find time management difficult as it is easy to get caught up in an interesting article that isn't as relevant to my topic as I initially thought. 

Inquiry-based Learning

In inquiry-based learning, asking questions is fundamental.  I encouraged questioning throughout my information learning activity and modelled different types of questions.  I found modelling a variety of question types assisted students to improve their questioning skills over the unit.


Students have inquiring minds but often find it difficult to verbalise what they are thinking.  I  believe this might be due to an overwhelming amount of information causing them to have difficulty sorting it in their minds.  I find when I don’t have a clear understanding of a task, writing down questions helps me to clarify what it is that I understand and what exactly I am unclear about.  During my own information quest I found that I used questioning to help me sort out the confusion I felt at the early stages of my inquiry.

Science inquiry, involving questioning, is the focus of Bell et all (2005) in the article “Simplifying inquiry instruction” where different levels of inquiry are outlined.  The belief that inquiry must involve data analysis, not just searching library or internet resources, is discussed.  This belief is in contrast to other researchers who believe that library searches are inquiry learning.  

The levels of inquiry outlined by Bell et all (2005) are: Confirmation (level 1 - lowest), Structured (level 2), Guided Inquiry (level 3) and Open Inquiry (level 4 - entirely student directed).  After reading this article I believe that my Information Learning Activity involved elements at both the Structured and Guided Inquiry levels.  At times students were instructed to investigate a specific question in a way specified by myself(Structured inquiry).  Students also were involved in investigating a question presented by myself but they were to design the procedures that they would use for the investigation(Guided inquiry). 

Initially I found the terms inquiry-based learning, information literacy, guided inquiry and science literacy all quite confusing.  I remembered a flow chart that once helped me understand the terms inquiry-based learning and information literacy.  I found that this chart in conjunction with this article helped me understand the different types of inquiry and was useful in helping me organise my thoughts around the type of Information Learning Activity I wanted to develop and the types of outcomes I hoped to achieve.  

(Lupton 2010)

(Lupton 2010)

References:

Bell, R; Smetana, L & Binns, I. (2005). Simplyfying inquiry instruction The Science Teacher, 72 (7), 30-33. [CMD]

Lupton, M. (2010). CLN646 Learning Hubs: Week 3 [Readings]. Retrieved from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_62532_1%26url%3D

The Six Principles of Guided Inquiry and Five Kinds of Learning in the Inquiry Process

I found these tables helped me to understand the main elements of the five kinds of learning in the inquiry process and the six principles of guided inquiry.  The layout of the information made it easy to use as a quick reference and helped me keep my thoughts on track.

References:

Kuhlthau, C., Maniotes, L., Caspari, A. (2007), Guided Inquiry, Learning in the 21st Century, Libraries Unlimited, Connecticut, USA.