scholarly journals The mapping of information landscapes as a tool to develop IL

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Whitworth

In her discussion of information literacy, Annemaree Lloyd (2010) developed the notion of the information landscape as a way of conceptualising the informational and technological resources arrayed around individuals and groups, and which they must learn to navigate. She alludes (p. 2) to the idea of mapping this landscape as a way by which actors learn these navigational skills and, thus, develop information literacy. But she offers no detail in this work or others regarding what mapping might actually mean as an educational practice, and how it might be employed in the teaching and learning of information literacy. This paper will report on research conducted on data generated in different ways from a course in which mapping is integrated, as both a graphical and discursive practice. At the start of this course, students are asked to collaborate on drawing mind maps that depict their information landscape as they see it at this point, and these maps can be analysed as depictions of their information horizons, in ways similar to the study of Sonnenwald, Wildemuth and Harmon (2001). In addition, data have been generated from online discussions undertaken throughout the course, which record how within small groups, students negotiate and build the information landscape that they use to complete the course assessment. By suggesting and/or validating the judgments of members, the group develops an agreed-upon representation of their landscape that can be the basis for further judgments. Thus, from the dialogue emerges a discursive map of this landscape. It will be argued that the process of negotiating this map is a productive one when considering how information literacy sklills can be developed in ways that will transfer effectively outside the university.

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adele Martin-Bowtell ◽  
Rebekah Taylor

Why do significant parts of our art libraries collections remain undiscovered and unused? Seemingly invisible to students and staff, the university archive strong room creates a barrier, preventing our students and researchers from accessing and browsing materials, as they would with our open shelf collections. What happens when archive materials are freed from their confines, brought out into the studio and explored and used by arts students? Better still, what happens when librarian, archivist and academic collaborate to make this happen, enabling increased awareness of these resources and facilitating information literacy skills learning? Conclude this with an artistic response to this method of teaching and learning and you have the Animation Archive Day at the University for the Creative Arts. The day formed part of a longer term initiative put together by the archivist and librarian to raise awareness among students and staff of the opportunities to utilize archives in their subject specific creative arts learning and education. The project recognizes the importance of allowing students to steer and interact creatively with archive use in a library context.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 607-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki Lawal ◽  
Stephen Akintunde

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential role of information literacy (IL) within the changing context of the e-learning environment at the University of Jos in recent years. It focuses and emphasises the role of the University library in facilitating teaching and learning through the use of e-learning platforms in teaching information retrieval skills. The paper aims to identify gaps in students’ information skills that could be addressed through IL instruction. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a case study research design while the methodology involved the administration of structured questionnaires to the two groups of respondents. Findings – Findings from the study provide useful insights to the skills challenges experienced by students and point to a need for effective collaboration between the library, faculty and management in order to promote a better approach to learning at the institution. Originality/value – By emphasising the role of the library, the paper contributes to previous studies on e-learning at the University and provides a basis for further research in this regard.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
Phan Van Hoa ◽  
Ngo Thi Hien Trang

Speaking, one of the two productive skills, has been paid much attention to by first-year students at the Faculty of English, University of Foreign Language Studies - The University of Danang (FE, UFLS - UD). There are a variety of strategies and techniques assisting EFL teachers and learners, and mind mapping technique is among these which could be implemented to improve teaching and learning performances in general and speaking skill in particular. Mind maps are being taken advantage of by EFL students in classes to improve their speaking skill. In this study, the researchers have assumed that mind maps have the facilitating impact on the oral speech performance of the first-year students at FE, UFLS - UD. We have conducted this research quantitatively and qualitatively whose data is from interview questions and a set of questionnaires for first-year students, and the researchers’ classroom observation. This is a case study which aims to explore the reality of using mind maps including the frequency, speaking stages, and freshmen’s attitudes when utilizing this technique to enhance this skill. Its suggestions could be applied in teaching and learning English speaking skill effectively.


Author(s):  
Ghulam Murtaza Rafique ◽  
Hina Asif Khan

The objective of this study was to determine the information literacy (IL) skills of Management Sciences students. A questionnaire was adopted to collect data from 254 currently enrolled graduate and undergraduate students of two universities, one public sector and one private sector, situated in Lahore, Pakistan. An equal-sized stratified random sampling technique through random numbers was used for this purpose. The results showed that the majority of the students used the university library infrequently to locate their requisite information. Most of the students required a moderate level of information and preferred to get this information in an online format. The opinion of most of the students showed that they were proficient in using internet services (e.g. Google, Yahoo etc.) and different websites to identify their required information. The findings revealed that most of the students were unanimous in their skills to precisely recognize and describe the information they required. This study highlights the importance of IL skills, in order that students can become lifelong learners in retrieving, using, organizing, and presenting their information. The findings of this study would provide some insightful guidelines to university management, policy makers, and those concerned to augment and increase the IL training sessions and programs in Pakistan at the university level. These findings could be implemented on other universities with the same teaching and learning system, strategies, and circumstances.


2021 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 214
Author(s):  
Samantha Peter ◽  
Kristina Clement ◽  
Shannon Sheridan ◽  
Hilary Baribeau

In fall 2019, the University of Wyoming (UW) Libraries launched an information and digital literacy badge and certificate program in partnership with the Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning (ECTL), housed in the UW Libraries main branch. ECTL crafts programing and provides support for graduate students, staff, and faculty who teach on our campus by employing instructional designers.The Information and Digital Badge and Certificate Program was created when ECTL redesigned their Teaching and Learning Certificate, and it features many services and resources that UW Libraries already offers (i.e., information literacy instruction and research consultations). This article will detail the redesign of the certificate program, how the current teaching and learning certificate was designed, and conclude with lessons learned from the first year of the program as well as future goals.


IFLA Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-132
Author(s):  
Michael Flierl ◽  
Clarence Maybee

There are many ways for an academic librarian to contribute to the teaching and learning mission of an institution ranging from direct instruction to assignment design. Given this plethora of information literacy educational practices, what should academic librarians and educators focus time, labor, and resources on, and why should they do so? With an eye towards improving information literacy educational practice and addressing these fundamental questions, we examine the foundational philosophical commitments of two information literacy theories, Critical Information Literacy and Informed Learning. We find that these information literacy theories may be biased towards a 20th-century European worldview. This finding supports the idea that “good” IL educational practice in higher education requires active engagement with information literacy theory to justify what one does as an educator and to demonstrate why information literacy can be integral to learning in higher education.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Domingo-Coscollola ◽  
Alejandra Bosco-Paniagua ◽  
Sara Carrasco-Segovia ◽  
Joan-Anton Sánchez-Valero

Este artículo da cuenta del proyecto “Propuesta interuniversitaria de formación inicial de maestros en tecnologías digitales”. Para elaborarla, nos planteamos conocer la percepción de estudiantes y de docentes sobre qué necesidades abordar en relación con las tecnologías digitales y la competencia digital metodológica, y qué acciones institucionales son preferentes para desarrollar la competencia digital docente (CDD). En este estudio, utilizamos un diseño de investigación de métodos mixtos. Las técnicas e instrumentos usados han sido el análisis de la documentación disponible, grupos de discusión y cuestionarios. La propuesta va dirigida a las nueve universidades catalanas que imparten la formación de futuros docentes en los grados de Maestro de Educación Infantil y Primaria. Las principales conclusiones apuntan hacia la necesidad de vincular la universidad con la sociedad, así como de favorecer un desarrollo profesional del profesorado universitario y la alfabetización digital de sus estudiantes fomentando el aprendizaje colaborativo y la autoría. También, se destaca la importancia de priorizar la comunicación y la colaboración durante el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje usando recursos digitales útiles que lo faciliten. A su vez, se resalta la ética y la ciudadanía digital como una dimensión emergente a considerar en la práctica educativa. Finalmente, se apuntan tres acciones institucionales sobre CDD para contemplar en los planes de estudio universitarios. This article provides an account of the project "An inter-university proposal for the initial training of teachers in digital technologies". In order to prepare it, we consider the perception of students and teachers on what needs to be addressed with regard to digital technologies and methodological digital competence, and what institutional actions are preferential for the development of teachers’ digital competence (TDC). In this study, we used a mixed-method research design. The techniques and instruments used have been the analysis of available documentation, focus groups and surveys. The proposal is targeted at the nine Catalan Universities that provide training for future teachers in Pre-school and Primary Education Degrees. The main findings point to the need to link the university to the society, as well as to promote a professional development of university teachers and the digital literacy of their students by fostering collaborative learning and authorship.  Likewise, it highlights the importance of prioritizing communication and collaboration during the teaching and learning process using useful digital resources that facilitate it. At the same time, ethics and digital citizenship is highlighted as an emerging dimension to be considered in educational practice. Finally, three institutional actions about TDC are pointed out to consider in university curricula.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 238212052199966
Author(s):  
Melanie Nasseripour ◽  
Jonathan Turner ◽  
Susha Rajadurai ◽  
Jonathan San Diego ◽  
Barry Quinn ◽  
...  

The Covid-19 pandemic made it necessary to adopt and establish complete or partial online delivery of our clinical teaching and learning. We developed an alternative approach with a combination of Problem based Learning asynchronous fora and Teacher-facilitated synchronous online discussions. Our aim is to share our educational practice and highlight the requirements and constraints, advantages and challenges of such an approach. It allowed a more student-centred experience, but clinical simulation and face-to-face patient care remain necessary. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the landscape of dental education for the foreseeable future, with a reduced number of patients in dental clinics. Further study is therefore necessary to understand the lived experience of students and teachers to the adopted online teaching and learning approach.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Anne Sen ◽  
Pamela McKinney

Reflective writing is a key professional skill, and the University of Sheffield Information School seeks to develop this skill in our students through the use of reflective assessments. Reflection has been used as a means of supporting Information Literacy development in the Higher Education context and recent pedagogical IL frameworks highlight the important role of reflection. This paper presents an analysis of Undergraduate students’ reflective writing on one module. The writing is mapped against two models of reflection to understand the nature and depth of the students’ reflection and through this understand their Information literacy development, with the overall aim of improving the teaching and learning experience for the future. Key findings are that students did reflect deeply and identified a number of ways in which they felt their IL had developed (e.g. developing a knowledge of specialist sources), ways they could have improved their information literacy practices (e.g. through storing information in a more organised fashion), and ways that we could improve our teaching (e.g. by providing appropriate scaffolding for the activities).


2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela McKinney ◽  
Barbara A Sen

Reflective writing has long been acknowledged as an important aspect of personal and professional development. There is increasing evidence of the use of reflective writing assessments and activities in the context of information literacy (IL) education, particular in higher education (HE). Writing reflectively can help students to understand their own IL development and engage in deeper learning. Students on an undergraduate business intelligence module at the University of Sheffield completed a piece of reflective writing about their IL development as part of the assessed work for the module. This writing was mapped against a model of reflection and a model of IL to understand the depth and spread of reflection offered by these students. The results showed that students had chosen to reflect in some but not all areas of IL, and the depth of reflection was variable. However, the aspects of IL where students were reflective illustrated that the learning outcomes of the module had been met. Mapping reflective statements against models of reflection was found to aid in the analysis and assessment of the reflective writing. The analysis undertaken by the researchers supported their own reflective practice as scholars of teaching and learning.


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