Findings from two Project Information Literacy studies plus ideas for incorporating findings into composition instruction

1. Critical Literacies: Exploring the Intersections of
Writing and Information Literacy
Bridgewater State University
17 Oct 2014
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM STUDENTS ABOUT INFORMATION LITERACY? MICHELE VAN HOECK PROJECT INFORMATION LITERACY & CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY MARITIME

2. Composition
Information Literacy

4. Recognize when
information is needed. Locate,
evaluate, and use effectively
the needed information.
WHAT IS INFORMATION LITERACY?

5. In an environment of rapid technological
change, proliferating resources, escalating
complexity, diversity of choices, and unfiltered
formats of uncertain quality…
The sheer abundance of information will not
in itself create a more informed citizenry without a complementary cluster of abilities necessary to use information effectively...
Information literacy forms the basis for
lifelong learning. It is common to
all disciplines, to all learning environments,
and to all levels of education.
WHY DO WE NEED IT?

7. The information literate student:
1.Determines nature and extent of information needed
2.Accesses needed information effectively and efficiently
3.Evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.
4.Uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
5.Understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

9. Information Literacy Threshold Concepts
Scholarship is a Conversation
Research as Inquiry
Authority is Contextual and Constructed
Format as a Process
Searching as Exploration
Information has Value
ACRL DRAFT FRAMEWORK

10. SEARCHING AS EXPLORATION

11. FORMAT AS A PROCESS

12. How would you rate the information literacy of the students you teach, on average?
What do you see students struggle with most in research projects?
POLL!

13. “Adjectives that describe how you feel when you get a research assignment?”
fear,
angst,
tired,
dread,
excited,
anxious,
annoyed,
stressed,
disgusted,
intrigued,
confused,
overwhelmed
2008, n = 86 | 7 campuses
How Do Students Feel About Research?

14. Project Information Literacy
A large-scale study about early adults and their research habits

15. 2008
n = 86
2009
n = 2,318
2010
n = 8,353
n = 191
Focus
groups
Online survey Technology
& Prompt analysis interviews
2011
n = 560
Eight studies
13,000 students, 63 US campuses
Passage studies
2012 2013 2014-15
n = 23 n = 35 n = 60
n = 33 n = 1,941 n = 4,000
Online
survey
Workplace Freshmen Lifelong
Overview of findings @ http://tinyurl.com/lg7fryh
Finding
Evaluating/using
Multitasking
Transitioning

16. What Can We Learn From Students?

17. 8,353 students
(sophomores, juniors, seniors)
Course and everyday life research
Spring 2010
25 campuses across U.S.
Funded by MacArthur Grant
ONLINE STUDENT SURVEY

18. 3
Takeaways
from the
2010
Student
Survey

19. GETTING STARTED- THE HARDEST PART OF COURSE RESEARCH
#1

20. Search
Using
Information
Task
definition
Search
Self
assessment
69%
41%
30%
25%
WHAT TASKS ARE MOST DIFFICULT?
Getting started
(84%)
Defining a topic
(66%)
Narrowing a topic (62%)

21. #2
STUDENTS
USE THE
SAME FEW
GO-TO
SOURCES

22. SOURCES MOST USED
97%
96%
94%
88%
85%
75%
100%
Course readings
Search engines, including
Google
Library databases (e.g.,
JSTOR)
Instructors
Wikipedia.org

23. WIKIPEDIA IS
“MY
PRESEARCH
TOOL”
#3

24. WHY WIKIPEDIA?
82%
76%
69%
67%
64%
54%
44%
39%
17%
16%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Obtain a summary
Get started on assignment
Interface is easy to use
Finding the meaning of terms
Comprehensible explanations
Citation trail included
Figure out search terms
Current, up-to-date entries
More credible than other Web sites
Peer-to-peer source

25. Instructor’s handout
Course readings
Google and Wikipedia
JSTOR
etc.
Instructors
Satisficing
Situational context
Big picture &
Language contexts
A FAMILIAR PATH…

26. FOR A NOVICE RESEARCH FINDING CONTEXT

27. TEACHING IDEAS FOR THE FIRST STAGES OF RESEARCH WRITING

28. 1. ACKNOWLEDGE GETTING STARTED IS DIFFICULT

29. 2. FEEDING THE DRAGON: DISCUSS THE “IDEA STAGE”

30. Getting Started LibGuide - "idea sources" : CountryWatch, Room for Debate
3. SUGGEST “IDEA SOURCES”

31. 4. LANGUAGE CONTEXT: DEVELOP SEARCH WORDS

32. Concept mapping
Brain- storming
Freewriting
Narrowing- down exercises
LANGUAGE CONTEXT
Concept mapping

33. 5. EXPAND BIG PICTURE CONTEXT
VS.

34. COMMENTS QUESTIONS

35. WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM COLLEGE GRADS?

36. Employer interviews
College graduate
focus groups
“DAY AFTER GRADUATION” STUDY

37. 23 EMPLOYERS
 Media
 Tech
 Engineering
 Government
 Manufacturing
 Financial

38. 33 GRADUATES
Santa Rosa Junior College
University of Puget Sound
University of Texas Austin
Harvard College

39. WHERE?
graduate focus groups
employers

40. WHY?

41. STUDENTS WILL WORK AS
1%
Academics
Something Else

42. 5%
Years in Higher Ed
Rest of Life
OUR STUDENTS’ LIVES

43. We asked about “doing research” or “solving information problems” at work.
Translating “Information Literacy”

44. 14 ACRL
information literacy
performance indicators
16 Habits of Mind
CODING

45. FINDINGS: WHAT DID EMPLOYERS SAY ABOUT COLLEGE GRADS STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES?

46. Ease with technology
STRENGTHS

47. “The contrast is so evident
between us on one side
and them on the other.
They are connected in a way
my generation wasn’t.”
- an employer

48. “Information?
They find it, they take it,
and they blend it,
they mash it up,
they re-purpose it.”
- another employer

49. DIFFICULTIES

50. We need someone who will
explore on their own and then
come back to the team and say,
‘Here's my best take, what do you
think?’ They need that ability to
invite discussion and be able to
redirect on the fly.
1. ENGAGE TEAM DURING RESEARCH PROCESS

51. They believe the computer is their workspace, so basic interactions between people are lost. They won’t walk over and ask someone a question. They are less comfortable and have some lack of willingness to use people as sources and also have a lack of awareness that people are a valid source of information.

52. There were many graduates who just looked in one place— the Internet—and that was the problem. It’s a whole bag of tricks you need for doing research today.
2. USE VARIETY OF FORMATS

53. difficulty
distinguishing the noise from the solid material
3. FIND PATTERNS
get stuck in the mud trying to figure out what it all means

54. I don't think there's a lot of
that desire to go deep. They expect information to be so easy to get, that when it's not, it's frustrating to them.
4. BE THOROUGH

55. WHAT DID GRADS SAY?

56. “Which college learning experiences
have been most applicable?”
“What’s challenging about solving
information problems in the
workplace?”
WE ASKED:

57. My job feels like there’s a perpetual thesis due, but my job is literally about finding information that does not exist. My information needs have changed and intensified since I was an undergraduate.

58. Systematically evaluate sources
Critically analyze published sources
Synthesize large volumes of content
WHAT TRANSFERRED? ABILITY TO:

59. 1.Filtering and sorting relevant sources (57%)
2.Summarizing and integrating different sources (43%)
3.Reading and comprehending sources (34%)
LOOKING BACK: FRESHMAN DIFFICULTIES
2013 Learning the Ropes interviews, n = 35 first year students; 6 campuses

60. 1. Increased sense of urgency
2. Little structure or direction
3. Highly contextual and
fundamentally social
WORKPLACE CHALLENGES

61. OVERLAP: WORKPLACE RESEARCH IS SOCIAL
The biggest hurdle for me was getting used to talking to strangers.
They need to look beyond their computer screens.
Recent grad
Employer

62. Grads perceive: fast pace
Employers need: persistence, thoroughness
OPPOSING VIEWS

63.  Synthesizes a variety of sources
 Requires persistence
 Requires openness to continuous learning
Is fundamentally social
WORKPLACE RESEARCH:

64. Why aren’t grads better at doing research in teams?

65. POLL!

66. COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
Most learning does not take place with the master; it takes place with journeymen and other apprentices.
Lave & Wenger

67. How are project groups in college different than Communities of Practice?

68. IDENTIFYING, CONTACTING EXPERTS

69. PEER ROUNDTABLES

70. THANK YOU!

71. ACRL Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education: www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency
ACRL Draft Framework for Information Literacy:
acrl.ala.org/ilstandards/wp- content/uploads/2014/02/Framework-for-IL-for-HE-Draft- 2.pdf
Project Information Literacy reports: projectinfolit.org/publications
Etienne Wenger, Communities of practice: A brief introduction. http://wenger-trayner.com/theory/
CRITICAL RESOURCES

72. IMAGE CREDITS
Ditch digging by Auburntown Historical Society
Arthur Sulzberger by Reuters News Service
“Sea of Blue” by Flickr user Ben Stephenson
Etienne Wenger by Wikimedia Commons user Beverly Trayner
Jean Lave from UC Berkeley Graduate Council Lectures
"Getting help at the ref desk" by Flickr user Wendt Commons
 “Seminar Bard College Berlin, 2013” by Wikimedia Commons user Irina.stelea