Variation theory as a
basis for designing a
module on teaching
information literacy
Sheila Webber
University of Sheffield
Department of Information Studies
Stuart Boon & Bill Johnston,
Centre for Academic Practice and Learning
Enhancement, University of Strathclyde
22 May 2008 Webber, Boon &
Presented at the SIG Phenomenography conference, Kristianstad, May 2008 2008
Johnston, 20 May

Outline
• Basis for the approach: project on
conceptions pedagogy for IL
• Variation theory
• Thoughts on applying variation theory
in a module on Education for
Information Literacy
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Our project
Bill Johnston
Stuart Boon
Sheila Webber
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

• Three-year Arts & Humanities Research Council
(AHRC) - funded project (Nov 2002- Nov 2005)
To explore UK academics’ conceptions of,
and pedagogy for, information literacy
• Sheila Webber; Bill Johnston; Stuart Boon
• Phenomenographic study: interviewing 20
academics in each of 4 disciplines to identify
variation in conceptions (visited 26 universities to
collect 80 interviews)
• Marketing, English, Civil Engineering, Chemistry
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

\"Phenomenography is the empirical
study of the differing ways in
which people experience,
perceive, apprehend, understand,
conceptualise various
Marton (1994)
phenomena in and aspects of the
world around us.”
Qualitative research aiming for insights
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Insights
Interviewee
Us
What is key focus of
Interviewee’s conception
? of IL?
Information Literacy
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Information literacy? Mastering a
chemist's
information skill set
Accessing information
Creating, and
Using
quickly and easily to be
incorporating
aware of what’s going
information
information into a
on
professional
literacy to
knowledge base
solve real-
Accessing and retrieving textual
world
information
problems
Becoming
confident, An essential part of
autonomous the constitution/
Some of the
conceptions in English, learners and construction/
Marketing, Engineering
critical creation of
& Chemistry that our
research discovered thinkers knowledge
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Key research questions
1. What conceptions of information literacy are
held by UK academics?
2. What are academics’ conceptions and
reported practice in educating students
for information literacy? (today’s focus)
3. Do differences in conception correspond to
differences in discipline?
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Whole purposive sample
• 80 interviews, 20 per discipline
• 26 universities: 69% from pre-1992 (“new”) 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
• Research Assessment Exercise ratings from 2 - 5*
• Teaching quality grades from Satisfactory - Excellent
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Marketing: Pedagogy for Information
Literacy as…
1. Someone else’s job
2. Upgrading students’ information toolbox at an appropriate point
3. Facilitating access to a variety of resources
4. Showing students how and when to use information skills
5. Helping students understand how information literacy is critical
to them, for marketing & life
Key factors: 1) Academics' conceptions of information literacy
2) Their approach to pedagogy
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Chemistry academics' conceptions of
pedagogy for IL as …
1. Implicit in teaching students to understand
chemistry. “we teach them to find chemical data and structures
for their assignments” (Chem 2)
2. Designing a path for students through a chemistry
course “So we do make sure that we’ve assessed them and we
introduce them to all the different databases throughout the four
years, em, but we will always ask them to do stuff outside of that to
widen their understanding.” (Chem 4)
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Chemistry academics' conceptions of
pedagogy for IL as …
3. Challenging students to respond independently,
critically and creatively with information “… to be able
to question, to disagree, to… really to have fun with information as
well.” (Chem 11)
Key factors: Pedagogic approach;
Outcomes for learning IL
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Approaches to teaching
• Compatible with other \"conceptions of pedagogy\"
research, for example as reviewed by
Samuelowitz and Bain (2001)
– Knowledge conveying categories (e.g. transferring
knowledge, explaining curriculum)
– Intermediate categories (e.g. focus on student-teacher
interaction)
– Facilitation of learning categories (e.g. facilitating
conceptual change & understanding)
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Factors for variation
• Approach to teaching and/or outcomes for learning
emerged as factors in each discipline
• Relationship of information/ IL to discipline
• As hypothesised, were variations within and
between disciplines
• See Webber et al (2006), Webber and Johnston
(2005)
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Variation theory
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

• That people learn through experiencing variation
• Build up awareness and understanding through
discerning object of study in different ways
• Using discoveries from phenomenographic
investigation may provide variations that can be
taught/ discerned
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

“The point of departure for variation theory is that learning
is characterized in terms of the learner’s dynamic
structure of awareness, and is related to discernment,
variation, and simultaneity …. Learning is associated
with a change in discernment, which entails a change in
the aspect(s) of the phenomenon in the focal awareness
of the learner.”
(Pang and Marton, 2005; 162)
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

“In using variation theory, the role of the teacher is to design
learning experiences in such away that helps students to
discern the critical aspects of the object of learning with the
use of variation. … By consciously varying certain critical
aspects of the phenomenon in question while keeping other
aspects invariant, a space of variation is created that can
bring the learner’s focal awareness to bear upon the critical
aspects, which makes it possible for the learner to experience
the object of learning.”
(Pang and Marton, 2005; 164)
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

The module: Education
for Information Literacy
The “Object of learning” for the module is:
approaches to learning, teaching and
assessment of information literacy
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Basics
• Core part of new (for 2008/9) MA Information Literacy (IL) at
Department of Information Studies, Sheffield University, UK (we
think 1st internationally)
• 30 credits (half of teaching in Semester 1 of this 12 month
programme) c. 3-4 hours per week contact
• Other core modules: IL & resources; information retrieval;
Educational Informatics; IL research
• Also available as stand-alone for professional development
• Blended learning – face to face plus use of WebCT etc
• Constructivist/ Inquiry Based Learning approaches amongst
faculty in the Department
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Background
• Small cohorts anticipated: librarians, teachers etc.
who want to make IL core part of their job
• Teaching seen increasingly as a role of the library &
information professional internationally
• Challenge is that librarians may be obliged to fit in
with teaching approach of lead educators
(schoolteachers, faculty etc)
• Librarians may perceive teachers’ problems in
teaching IL as arising out of teachers’ lack of
information literacy
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Already ….
• With MA Librarianship & MSc Information
Management cohorts
– Introduce categories of pedagogy for IL in first session
of Information Literacy class
– Ask students (in groups) to see whether they can
identify which category their subject lecturers fell into +
identify implications
– Mini presentations from students
– Students able to categorise; and discuss their own
learning experience
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Proposed “Education for Information
Literacy” module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, a candidate will be able to:
• identify their existing capabilities, strengths and areas for
development in teaching information literacy;
• compare different approaches to teaching information literacy and
demonstrate awareness of implications for adopting different
approaches;
• analyse different contexts (disciplinary, national etc) for teaching
information literacy, and identify their own position within those
contexts;
• plan, design and implement an intervention to facilitate students’
learning of information literacy;
• communicate effectively, orally and in writing.
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Assessment
85% Portfolio of evidence relating to development in
learning, teaching and assessment of information
literacy; including reflective reports, example
material; reports and reviews on specific aspects of
the class;
15% Individual presentation
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Approach to curriculum design
• Key sessions focus on clusters of conceptions of
pedagogy for IL (taken from 4 disciplines)
• Students reflect on their own conceptions of IL and
teaching IL at various points
• Explaining/ exploring variation theory at start of
module
• Involve external teachers/ practitioners who
– espouse a particular conception of pedagogy for IL, or
– work with people who espouse it, or
– experienced it as learners Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Conceptions of learners taking the module
• Opportunities for these conceptions to emerge
through reflection (e.g. reflective diaries) and
explicit discussion
• Thus hope to treat module also as collaborative
research exercise
“The opening of variation can be done by the teacher herself or by
the teacher and the pupils jointly. The way the pupil understands
that which is being taught, can sometimes contribute to opening
dimensions of variation and thereby to the extension of the space
of variation constituted” (Runesson, 1999: 9)
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Issues!
• Involving colleagues in design
• Variation theory will be a curriculum design principle
– will this also give the message that it is a major
approach to teaching information literacy?
• Different critical aspects of the object of study
(information literacy) are discerned along with
different critical aspects of pedagogy – is this: an
issue, inevitable, desirable?
• Also disciplinary differences … sectoral differences
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

Sheila Webber
s.webber@shef.ac.uk
Stuart Boon
stuart.boon@strath.ac.uk
BillJohnston
b.johnston@strath.ac.uk
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

References
• Pang, M.F. and Marton, F. (2003) “Beyond ``lesson study'':
Comparing two ways of facilitating the grasp of some economic
concepts.” Instructional Science, 31 (3), 175-194
• Pang, M.F. and Marton, F. (2005) “Learning Theory as Teaching
Resource: Enhancing Students’ Understanding of Economic
Concepts.” Instructional Science, 33 (2), 159-191.
• Marton et al. ( 2004) Classroom discourse and the space of learning.
Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Runesson, U. (1999) “Teaching as constituting a space of variation.”
Paper presented at the 8th EARLI-conference, Göteborg, Sweden,
Aug. 24-28 1999.
http://www.ped.gu.se/biorn/phgraph/civil/graphica/ur.pdf
• Samuelowicz, K. and Bain, J.D. (2001) Revisiting academics’ beliefs
about teaching and learning. Higher education, 41, 299-325.
Webber, Boon &
Johnston, 20 May 2008

• 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.
• 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.
• Webber, S., Boon, S. and Johnston, B. (2006) \"Comparaison des
conceptions pédagogiques de la maîtrise de l’information chez des
universitaires britanniques de différentes disciplines.“ [British academics
from different disciplines: comparing their conceptions of pedagogy for
information literacy] Actes des 5èmes Rencontres Formist: Lyon: 2005.
Lyon: ENSSIB. http://babel.enssib.fr/document.php?id=315 (English
version at: http://dis.shef.ac.uk/sheila/webber-FORMIST.pdf)
• 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 Boon &
Webber,
Johnston, 20 May 2008