Ne Le rningSp c sfo Ne
w a ae r w
Mo e o Le rninga
ds f a nd
Te c
a hing
BBSLG Annual Conference
Leeds, 10th July 2008
Philippa Levy
w w
w .shef.,ac.uk/cilass

• Inquiry-based learning 2
• Web 2.0
• Information Com ons
m
Ove w
rvie and inquiry
collaboratories
• Learning partnerships

3
Inquiry
• The core of inquiry is the
QUESTION –generating a
process of discovery
• “ action of s e e king , especially
The
(nowalw ays) for truth, know ledge
or inform ation concerning
som ething; search, research,
investigation, exam ination”(OED)
• Student-led exploration,
investigation, research
• Cas e - and pro ble m -bas e d
le arning
• Expe rie ntial le arning
• Re s e arc h pro je c ts ‘
Inner Biology’ the inquiry m
– ethod of teaching biology
staff.washington.edu/jshaver/innerbiology/

4
IBL invo s
lve
• Students and/or tutors establishing
question/problem etc
• Students pursuing lines of inquiry
(often in groups)
• Draw on existing know
ing ledge
• Identifying newlearning and
inform ation needs
• Seeking inform ation, evidence,
e.g. interacting w (digital)
ith
resources, datasets, archives
• Discussing, receiving feedback,
synthesising inform ation,
constructing know ledge
• Analysing and com unicating
m
ideas and results
• W orking w staff as partners,
ith
participating in and contributing to
a research com unity
m

5
Inq uiring W b2
, e .0
le rne
a rs
• Ow ning and directing their
experience
• Participating, collaborating,
social netw orking
• Producing and co-creating -
generating, repurposing and
sharing content
• Accessing m ultiple sources
• Using a w variety of tools
ide
and environm ents
• Creating personal learning
netw orks and environm ents
• Learning 2.0: ‘ passion-based
learning’ (John Seely Brow n,
2008) Source: www.deitel.com

6
W inq
hy uiry-b s dle rning(IBL)?
ae a
• Active and deep engagem ent
w m
ith essy, authentic
questions and problem s
• Experiencing ‘ supercom plexity’
and understanding how
know ledge is created
• Social participation,
em ploym ent, lifelong learning
• Strengthening the research-
teaching nexus in universities
• A strategic focus for University
of Sheffield

7
An inte ra dvis n o HE
g te io f
“ purpose of teaching [… ] becom to induct
The es
students into various form of inquiry so that individuals
s
are able to live in a complex, uncertain w orld where
know howto inquire is key to survival. W are looking
ing e
towards a higher education w here inquiry can becom e
centre stage for both academ and students”
ics (Brew,
2006)
“ pedagogy of joint discovery”
A (Barnett, 2007: 159)

8
• “ hat I liked about [IBL] w that I got to do - I m
W as ean I
w freer in a w
as ay. [...] I built m ow argum
y n ents, and
that w really, really good for m I re ally e njo ye d
as e.
that, be c aus e it was fre e [...] I don’think you can do
t
that to the sam extent in an essay because that m
e ode
often is a set question that you have to have –of course
you can say if you agree or not agree to w it states,
hat
but the question is often based on certain concepts or
certain theories, w hile in this [inquiry ] pro je c t we
c o uld c ho o s e o ur appo ro ac h by o urs e lve s . That was
re ally g o o d”.
• “think doing som
I ething that, this is your project, do w hat
you w w it, it’s s c ary but […] it’s my , my thing
ant ith
[…] I fe e l like a g ro wn -up pe rs o n, going into [the
research field], I like being able to do your ow thing”
n .
‘Discovery’ inquiry projects

9

10
CILASS IBL fra e o
m w rk
• Co llabo rative inquiry and
inquiry c o mmunitie s
• Info rmatio n lite rac y
developm ent
• Ne two rke d learning
• Inte rdis c iplinary inquiry
• Classroom as re s e arc h
s
e nviro nme nts
(‘collaboratories’
)
“ odelling the process of research in the student learning experience”
M

11
‘ e ta ingLa ’
Und rs nd w
• 250 students
• Online w orkbooks, structured
tasks
• Inquiry journals
• Supported by online
discussions (W ebCT)
• 45 research groups,
developing m ultim edia
resources (film podcast,
,
pow erpoint)
• Presented at ‘ celebration of
inquiry’ event (attended by
other students, staff and
invited lawprofessionals)

12
She W b e De a e o Info a n Stud s Uo
ila e b r, p rtm nt f rm tio ie , S

13
Inquiry in Se o Life
c nd
• A learning (and play) space –m like a classroom than a w
ore ebsite –
w newpedagogical possibilities
ith
• Assessed activity for 1 st year BSc Inform ation M anagem students on
ent
Inform ation Literacy m odule
• Part of induction into research: in Sem ester 2 they undertake their ow n
sm all-scale research projects
• Critical incident interview w SL residents (a tim w
s ith e hen they had an
inform ation need relating to a SL activity) in SL itself
• Students analyse transcripts in relation to m odels of RL information
behaviour + audit interviewtechnique (for assessm ent)
• Working w 2 librarians: in Sheffield (Lyn Parker) and St Andrew
ith s
(Vickie Corm ie)
S . W e bbe r, Information S tudie s

14
Stud ntsa re e rc rs p d e ,
e s s a he , ro uc rs
m m e o inq
e b rs f uiry c m unitie
o m s
• Students researching the rise
of blogging and considering
w hether this is a new
narrative genre
• W orkshops held in CILASS
collaboratory - groups of
students m onitor blogs over a
sem ester, and each research
group has its ow blog
n
• Dr Stone aim to help
s
interested students to get
their research published in a
scholarly journal
Dr. Brendan Stone, School of English, UoS

15
Inquiry-b s dinfo a n lite c
ae rm tio ra y
d ve p e - P yc lo y
e lo m nt s ho g
• Students investigate differences in the quality of
information in psychology ‘ stories’ the popular press
in
and in the journal articles that provided their source
• Students engage in online searching task to identify
popular stories and trace the research evidence, using
new sources and W of Know
s eb ledge database; they
then analyse the findings and reflect on their experience
• Supported by the Library’ W of Know
s eb ledge tutorial,
trained student IL mentors (3rd years) and tutors

16
Dis e ina
s m ting
s e inq
tud nt uiry
a re e rc
nd s a h
Tw jo
o urnals

17
Inquiry in ne s a e
w pcs
• Accessible
• Flexible
• Social
• Inform ation-rich
• Technology-rich
• Seam lessly interfacing
betw een virtual and physical
spaces/resources

18
TheInfo a n
rm tio
Cm o
o m ns
“ o tha alib ry,
m re n ra
m retha a IT s a e
o n n pc,
m retha as y
o n tud
c ntre
e ”
Social learning spaces,
connecting and integrating digital
and physical spaces in neww ays

19
Uo Info a n C m o
S rm tio o m ns
• 1,300+ study spaces, 500+ PCs, 100,000
books, 50 Internet kiosks
• Diverse study spaces, w ireless enabled
• Silent spaces: PC room no PC/laptop
;
space; laptops-only space
• 10 bookable group room s
• Flexispace
• Diverse table form ats, incl. large group
tables w w screen PCs
ith ide
• Soft seating w pow points for laptops
ith er
• 2 ICT-enabled classroom s
• Café
• CILASS spaces and collaboratories

20
“ g t b o o Fa e o k, c t to
I e o ks ut, c b o ha
p o le yo kno , c o ab ha a
ep , u w hill ut it, ve
c ffe . Ye h, w s m g o e s ys
o e a rite o e o d s a ,
tha s rt o thing re lly”
t o f , a
• “Better than the library… it’ not
s
• Colour com pletely silent, which I get a bit
intimidated by, really”
• Views
• Space
• Quiet • “ can sit dow and m
You n ake
yourself at hom you know –
e, ?
• Relaxed you’ got a lot of table space and
ve
• Approachable you can lay yourself out w ithout
• M odern w orrying about disturbing other
people as m uch”
• Cosy
• Com puters
• Resources • “ e like the Inform
W ation Com ons
m
because w can sit in a group and
e
do our w freely w
ork ithout any
restrictions”

21
CILASS Inquiry
c lla o to s
o b ra rie
• 2‘
collaboratories’ and 24 students)
(40
• 1 w fixed collaborative w
ith orkstations (large
screens)
• 1 w flexible tables/chairs and laptops
ith
• 5 breakout/group room (6-8 students)
s
• W ireless netw orking
• Cluster connectivity betw een com puters and
plasm screens
a
• Interactive w hiteboards
• Sound and video-recording
• Access Grid Node (studio-based, Collaboratory 1)
• ‘Huddleboards’ and copycam flipcharts; w
s; rite-on
w surfaces
all
• M obile technologies, including digital cam eras,
cam corders, PDAs, personal response system
• Soft spaces
• Seam less access to resources of w ider IC

22
Hud le o rd a c p a s
d b a s nd o yc m
Lightw eight, double-sided,
w hiteboards for sm group
all
collaboration or presentations.
M obile easels and w all-
m ounted tracks for display.
Ideas generated on
huddleboards are converted
to digital images using the
Copy Cam e.g. for use
s,
in pow erpoint presentations,
collaborative inquiry
projects.

23
W t s ff s y
ha ta a
• “ perfect opportunity to
The
get students w orking w ith
research m aterials”
•“ Inviting, technologically
advanced and perfect for
group-w ork”
• “ ulates newideas for
Stim
teaching and pedagogy”
• “w facilities like the
I ish
collaboratories w mere ore
w idely available throughout
the University”

24
W ts e s y
ha tud nts a
•“CILASS rules! W hat
an environm ent!”
•“CILASS room
fantastic - technology
here w really great,
as
m ade it far m ore
interesting than other
sem inars”
•“Learning has finally
com into the 21st
e
century! The new
technology has
opened m eyes to
y
exciting neww ays to
exam literary texts”
ine

25
• Developing newpedagogies
and creating newspaces
•M ulti-disciplinary partnership
• Focused on learning and
teaching
• Student involvem ent
• Supporting the users
• Cham pions prom oting the
ideas
• Training (blending technology
and pedagogy)
• Facilitating exchange of
practice

26
C nc io
o lus n
• A strategic perspective
• An integrated perspective on pedagogy,
space and technology
• A partnership project dependent on cross-
disciplinary dialogue and stakeholder
involvem ent
• A w in progress –w re learning as w
ork e’ e
go along
• Underpinned by evaluation and research

27
http://
w w c c
w .jis .a .uk/eli_le rning p c s
a s a e .html
Short JISC video on
‘designing
technology-rich
learning spaces,
CILASS
collaboratory’

28
Que tio fo b a ut s s io
s ns r re ko e s n
• Howdo you and your service currently support
‘
inquiring’learners and pedagogies? Howm ight
you further build on and develop w you do?
hat
• Physical spaces? Partnerships w educational
ith
developm ent? W 2.0? … .?
eb
• W issues and challenges do you identify in
hat
the developm of your practice and service for
ent
‘inquiring’students and pedagogies?