Academic Exchange Quarterly Summer 2005 ISSN 1096-1453 Volume 9, Issue 2
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Crisis in Information Literacy
Ann Jabro,
Jacqueline
Corinth,
Ann Jabro, Ph.D, is a professor of communications, and Jacqueline
Corinth, MSLIS is an assistant professor of learning resources and a public
services librarian.
Abstract
Colleges
and universities are integrating information literacy components into current
curricula to better prepare students for the global marketplace. Students
attending
Introduction
Despite
numerous exposures and application exercises to the fundamentals of information
retrieval, analysis, and synthesis, students’ were unsuccessful in their
attempts to complete information content designed tasks. This
article discusses a unified effort initiated to abate a series of problems
related to information literacy. Specifically, an assistant professor of
learning resources and a public services librarian (librarian) and a professor
of communications (professor) joined forces to devise effective strategies to
better manage the crisis. Students’ inabilities to apply information literacy
skills to a specific area of investigation were identified as a crisis.
The term crisis is strong, but is used in this discussion because despite the development
of reference materials to assist students with their tasks, and 15-credits of
on-going application exercises during freshman and sophomore years, their
appeared to be a “disconnect” between content and application.
We
begin our discussion with background on information literacy and the
five-course sequence at
Information Literacy
The
term information literacy has been known to librarians prior to the publication
of the American Libraries Association’s (
To
be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is
needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed
information. Producing such a citizenry will require that schools and colleges
appreciate and integrate the concept of information literacy into their
learning programs and that they play a leadership role in equipping individuals
and institutions to take advantage of the opportunities inherent within the
information society (American Library Association's Presidential Committee on
Information Literacy, 1989).
Librarians
are experienced in all manners of information retrieval and were one of the
first professions to notice the gap that was forming between humans and machines
as information resources became increasingly available in only electronic
formats. These new mediums required additional skills to first locate,
evaluate, and then understand the information contained within them. Academic
librarians in particular became disturbed by this disconnect. They determined
that the placement of information literacy instruction within higher education
made sense and began working on a common set of criteria to better accomplish
this goal. In 2000, The Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL),
and division of
The
ACRL document is comprised of five standards that the information literate
student demonstrates:
Standard #1 - Know: the nature and extent of the information needed.
Standard #2 - Access: accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.
Standard #3 - Evaluate: evaluates information and its sources
critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base
and value system.
Standard #4 - Use: individually or as a member of a group, use information
effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
Standard #5 -Ethics: understand many of the economic, legal, and social issues
surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically
and legally (ACRL, 2003).
Each
standard contains a number of performance indicators that detail exactly what
skills the students should learn in this standard and the related outcomes that
describe possible evidence of learning.
Example:
Standard: The information literate student
accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.
Performance
Indicator: The information
literate student selects the most appropriate investigative methods or
information retrieval systems for accessing the needed information.
Outcomes
Include:
A.
Identifies appropriate investigative methods (e.g., laboratory experiment,
simulation, fieldwork)
B.
Investigates benefits and applicability of various investigative methods
C.
Investigates the scope, content, and organization of information retrieval
systems
D.
Selects efficient and effective approaches for accessing the information
needed from the investigative method or
information retrieval system (ACRL, 2003).
In
more recent years, the call for information literacy at the college level
extended beyond the boundaries of the academic library when the general campus
community adopted information literacy as a mission in higher education. This
was due in no small part to the regional higher education accrediting agencies
that began to list information literacy instruction as a necessary component
for reaccredidation. RMU falls under the regional jurisdiction of the Middle
States Commission on Higher Education. In 2003, the ACRL standards were
adapted by Middle States for their “Developing Research & Communication
Skills: Guidelines for Information Literacy in the Curriculum.”
The
foundation for student information literacy at RMU was established through the
University’s award-winning Communication Skills Program. This program consists
of nine courses that stress “reading and interpreting, writing, speaking, listening,
making presentations using appropriate software, developing skills in cross
cultural and multicultural group dynamics, and applying rhetorical skills.” (
Communication Skills and
Information Literacy
Most
of the library-originated information literacy instruction for RMU occurs in
the bibliographic instruction format for the various communication skills
classes. Bibliographic instruction sessions, also called library instruction or
library research sessions, are presentations done by library faculty for
specific classes to teach research skills. Many communication skills
instructors bring their freshmen and sophomores to the library for research
instruction as part of a specific communication skills course. The librarian
assigned that particular presentation will converse with the instructor
concerning presentation content and will tailor the presentation to the
instructor’s specifications. Past bibliographic instruction sessions have
included such topics as: using the library catalog, performing basic and
advanced database searches, determining popular vs. scholarly publications, and
evaluating Web sites, as well as demonstrations of relevant electronic databases.
Students then use these skills to complete assignments for the particular
course.
Although
helpful for the short term, these isolated one-shot library presentations need
to be given a larger context and reinforced to contribute to a student’s deep learning.
For bibliographic instruction to really take hold in a student’s memory and
become a true component of information literacy instruction, the university
instructors must have the student use these skills to complete a variety of
research assignments throughout their undergraduate education. For this,
librarian and the teaching faculty must collaborate to create authentic
learning experiences for the student.
Capstone Course in Skills
Intensive Program
RMU
integrated authentic learning experiences for information literacy skills and
major content areas through the creation of “skills intensive capstone courses”
in students’ specific area of study. Faculty who wish to have a content
specific course designated “skills intensive” must prepare a course proposal
that demonstrates to a review committee that the course integrates information
literacy skills in a specific content area. Upon review of a proposal, a vote
is taken. One course that passed the test was Media Management, which is one of
several capstone courses in the communications major.
Media Management
The
instructor designed three projects, which required extensive research,
synthesis, analysis, and writing. The written component was then
collapsed to a 50-minute oral presentation. The market analysis featured an
internal and external analysis covering twelve discrete content areas of a
media organization or conglomeration. The assignment was multi-faceted and
involved the following: coordination of teams, group graded generation of a proposal,
individually graded compilation of a research portfolio, individually graded
research and writing of individual content sections, group graded coordination
of group project, group graded oral presentation of written findings, and
individually graded critique of the written and oral presentations and group
experience. After students selected teammates with whom to work, they
negotiated the media entity for investigation and selected separate sections of
the internal (history, consumers, competition, suppliers, market
intermediaries, distributors) and external (demographic, societal, economic,
political, cultural, regulatory) environments for individual investigation. The
single greatest indicator for success with this project is mastery of skill#1: know.
If the students know where to obtain information and how to use the
information, the task is very simple.
Research Portfolio
As
the instructor prepared the students for the assignment, she assessed their
information literacy abilities with a simple survey designed to ascertain
knowledge of and comfort with information retrieval skills and adequate
familiarity of RMU’s on-line resources. Few students
indicated they had no experience with using the library and the majority
indicated they possessed above average information retrieval abilities. The
instructor was aware that certain instructors used the services of the
librarians to present the research units in the skills courses, other
instructors taught the units themselves. Thus, the instructor drafted a list of
references that would direct students to references necessary to complete the
assignment satisfactorily.
In
an effort to ward off plagiarism, model time management skills, and enhance
appropriate paper writing strategies, students were asked to compile their
research and subject it to review by the instructor; creating a graded research
portfolio. A grading rubric was provided that identified a point distribution
for the following areas: ability to retrieve and select appropriate peer-reviewed
and popular sources, and identification of areas where the research needed
enhancement. A major portion of the grade was devoted to the relevancy of the
research to the paper topic, as well as the likelihood that the student would
be able to complete the assignment based on the research retrieved to
date.
Crisis Identification
This
simple task turned out to be an immense commitment of time, effort, and
individualized instruction. Almost 50% of the research portfolios did not earn
passing grades on the first effort. This prompted closer analysis of the
process and the instruction. More than 300 research portfolios and grading
rubrics were analyzed to identify student weaknesses. The results suggest the
following: 1) students didn’t read the reference handouts, which created an
inability to demonstrate information literacy skill #1: knowledge, as it
was obvious that students’ familiarity and comfort with conducting broad data
retrieval efforts using multiple databases was limited. 2) As a result of
a lack of familiarity with the potential references, information literacy skill
#2: awareness was not demonstrated. For example, students didn’t
distinguish between popular and peer-reviewed sources and their research
presented no indication of depth knowledge. 3) Students were looking to news
stories and company-generated web sites, rather then primary research on the
topic, which supports a deficiency with standard #3: evaluation. It
should also be noted that the students who earned the grade of passing or higher
tended to have minimal information retrieval problems and tended to seek
confirmation from the teacher or librarian that their research was correct.
Small Talk
Leads to Big Ideas
The
professor and the librarian were exchanging pleasantries one day, when the
conversation drifted to the media management assignment. The librarian
discussed the number of students who were physically visiting the library
seeking assistance. The professor shared the research portfolio grading
trends and was disgruntled. She explained how much time she was spending
with students conducting one-on-one training sessions about how to collect
research to satisfy the requirements of the assignment. The librarian also
shared similar stories. It was determined that a unified effort was
necessary, to better prepare students to approach and execute the assignment
successfully. The unified effort would also empower the professor and the
librarian to maintain on-going dialogue about the strengths and weaknesses of
their approaches. It appeared that Bloom’s Taxonomy (1964) or learning domains
of cognition and attitude were being addressed in the skills courses, but the
domain of psychomotor or manual skills acumen was insufficient. Thus, a
new strategy needed to be developed to enhance student learning and application
of information literacy skills.
Collaboration
The
librarian prepared a detailed handout that addressed and directed students to
the specific aspects of the market analysis based on her numerous encounters
with different students. The professor distributed research portfolios to share
with students. She also incorporated an in-class demonstration of how to
approach collecting research for different aspects of the assignment;
particular attention was given to peer-reviewed sources and how to use the
information contained in those references. Based on this experience, we have
generated our “Best Practices in Collaboration.”
Best
Practices in Collaboration
Know: Solicit input from the Librarian before and while you are designing the task.
Access: Become familiar with the repertoire of references the library owns, is licensed to use, and/or has access to through electronic databases and interlibrary loan.
Evaluate: Learn what resources are available through cooperative agreements with other information providers and what process must be followed to access this information.
Use: Make an appointment with the librarian
and show him or her finished tasks.
Together, discuss expectations and identify potential shortcomings.
Ethics: Monitor student achievement.
If the task is compartmentalized correctly and appropriate resources are generated to guide the students, they should be successful in their endeavors. If not, the professor and the librarian need to examine, refine, and redo. The suggestions for successful collaboration are congruent with the five standards of information literacy. As such, we concur that preparing students to be successful citizens of the world is directly linked to our ability to ascertain what we know about our fields, and determine what information is available to better inform us about our respective areas of expertise. As collaborators, these conversations serve to generate an on-going redefinition of our personal information literacy based on the plethora of resources available on a daily basis.
Conclusion
While
the initial data were without scientific basis many students have offered their
observations about the superior quality of learning and enriched information
literacy skills they honed while members of the class. Furthermore, students
acknowledge that they thought they understood how to identify, retrieve and
evaluate information prior to taking the course, but they didn’t realize how
much more information was yet to be tapped - “I considered myself to be a very
bright and information savvy senior until I took this course. I have
learned so much about how to find and use different types of information.
I know that this was a valuable experience that will help me throughout my life.”
Today, the professor distributes a thoroughly planned and designed reference
handout generated by the librarian to introduce students to the voluminous
array of reference materials that could influence students’ research choices.
She uses in-class demonstrations to explicate how certain references will be
used to satisfy key components of the project and provides students with
research portfolios compiled from previous semesters to review. More students
are experiencing less frustration with the research-gathering component of the
project. They may spend time in the library working with the reference
librarians to ensure they are acquiring correct data for the project, rather
then asking how to begin the process. The professor and librarian converse regularly
in order to ascertain additional research ideas and approaches that could
further improve the project. We learned that students who possess the
knowledge and attitude for learning aren’t completely successful without the
psychomotor or skills aspect in tact. The collaboration between the
library and professor has created a discipline-specific information literacy
rich course that builds on the more general communication skills courses the
students have already completed. This inclusion of information literacy
components throughout the students’ academic careers through the use of
authentic research assignments promotes the kind of deep learning students
require to succeed in the world today.
References
1.
American Library Association's Presidential Committee on Information Literacy
(1989). Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report.
Retrieved February 28, 2005 from http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/presidential.htm.
2.
Association of College & Research Libraries (2000). Information Literacy
Competency Standards for Higher Education.
3.
Association of College & Research Libraries (2003). Standards Toolkit.
Retrieved February 28, 2005 from http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/infolitstandards/standardstoolkit.htm.
4.
Bengamin S. Bloom, Bertram B. Mesia,
and David R. Krathwohl (1964). Taxonomy of
Educational Objectives (two vols: The Affective
Domain & The Cognitive Domain).
5.