1. A New Curriculum for Information Literacy Dr Jane Secker & Dr Emma Coonan Dr Helen Webster & Katy Wrathall University of Sheffield, 10 th November 2011 12-3pm
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3. Our research remit: Develop a new, revolutionary curriculum for information literacy in a digital age
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6. What do we mean by information literacy? “ Digital fluency”
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9. “ Information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. “ It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion in all nations.” UNESCO (2005) Alexandria Proclamation
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11. What our experts said… Modular, flexible holistic, embedded, Relevant to students Format and structure of the curriculum Online / face to face Active learning: discussion and reflection Training > Teaching Teaching style and method of delivery Who teaches? When?
12. And don’t forget…. Use of audits Meaningful assessment Learning outcomes How to market IL to different audiences Assessment Marketing / hooks Aligning the curriculum content to discipline specific knowledge, skills and behaviour
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17. Next steps, October - December 2011 ‘ Strategies for implementing the Curriculum for Information Literacy’ Dr Helen Webster & Katy Wrathall Arcadia Fellows, Oct-Dec 2011 http://arcadiaproject.lib.cam.ac.uk/projects/strategies-for-implementation.html
21. What format will it take? Staff-led Student-led Subject expertise Professional expertise
22. Careers Unit Alumni Office Student Services Research Support Unit Faculty Learning Development Learning Development Student ambassadors International Office Disability Unit Student Services Careers Unit Faculty Library Library Library Student ambassadors Library Faculty Learning Development Faculty Faculty Research Support Unit
25. Thank you Image: ‘Tulip staircase at the Queens House, Greenwich’ by mcginnly, flickr.com
Editor's Notes
Jane
Jane
Jane
Jane Modified Delphi approach (used in forecasting the future) - consultation with experts in the education and information fields via e-mail questionnaire and interviews Including trainee teachers, school librarians, academic librarians, educational technologists and others Literature review Developing a curriculum plus various supporting resources Examples of best practice Evidence toolkit Mapping of curriculum to SCONUL 7 pillars Preliminary findings presented at workshop
The 2011 Demos report argues that helping young people navigate hugely variable Internet sources should be achieved not by tighter controls but by ensuring they can make informed judgements (4). The digital world is not alien – offline critical thinking skills remain relevant in the online setting (9). The move towards independent learning is again key not just to our practices but in our thinking – we should think less about the internet causing harm (passive learning model) and instead focus on what young people bring to the technologies – helping them equip and empower themselves with an understanding of how to apply critical judgement. The Demos report also touches on a general human issue around information – its emotional impact and its close links with our identities. We tend to search for evidence that supports our beliefs, not refutes them; we notice more flaws in studies that conflict with our beliefs (23). This is the rationale behind our strand 10, which reaches beyond the higher education arena into the social dimension of information literacy.
Emma
Emma
Jane
Jane
Emma holistic: supporting the whole process of researching and writing rather than just teaching traditional library skills modular: ongoing classes to meet the developing needs of students during their whole academic career, not just one-shot sessions embedded and flexible: can be implemented and taught not only by librarians but by study skills advisors, learning developers, supervisors and lecturers (depending on the needs and structure of the institution) active and assessed: containing a significant element of active and reflective learning, including peer assessment elements, in order to help students develop into informed and autonomous learners Transitional Transferable Transformational Transition occurs in learners, who enter university from a wide variety of backgrounds, but often need to make the transition from school to higher education. They also have to make the transition from dependent to autonomous learning. The curriculum content needs to be transferable, forming a part of education, not simply ‘library training.’ Information literacy fosters and develops appropriatebehaviour, approaches, cognitive functions and skills surrounding the use of information. In essence information literacy equips students with the capacity to generate their own strategies for dealing with new information contexts, for example when they leave higher education and enter the workplace. Finally, information literacy should be transformational for the learner, changing their attitude, behaviour, outlook and even their world-view. Therefore this curriculum has the potential to change lives and make a real difference to society.
Emma The strands reflect the areas identified by our expert panelists and that arose in our own discussions and research. These are the themes that we believe constitute information literacy in its proper sense, as the foundation of lifelong learning as well as the ability to discern and evaluate in specific contexts such as academic scholarship.
Emma
Emma
It’s a curriculum, not a model or a framework – the focus is on the process of learning to become information literate rather than outlining the attributes of the ideal student.
The curriculum has expanded the definition of IL beyond the core of librarianship – to be implemented effectively, it has to be interprofessional.
How MIGHT it work – in a fictional HEI?
And how might it work at Sheffield or your institution?