Thanks to the Internet, students now have access to information that may have previously required trips to the library, as well as copious notetaking and compilation of information. But as teachers are well aware, increased access has not necessarily improved the quality of the information available nor has it increased the quality of the analysis students apply to the information they find. Thus, not only are the technical skills of information literacy becoming crucial in today’s classrooms, effective ways to promote the discernment and critical thinking students display during the research process are being sought by both librarians and classroom faculty. The following article, adapted from a presentation given by CCP Librarian Rosemary McAndrew at the PREP Colloquium this year, demonstrates that support for information literacy is high at the College, and that librarians and teachers are collaborating in an effort to supply students with the needed skills in both research and problem solving.
Many of the students at CCP are seriously underprepared for college, being products of the Philadelphia public school system, crisis-driven personal lives, and neighborhoods that fail to provide the infrastructure for learning based activities. Although it changes at the speed of light, the digital divide is still a reality. A class of developmental students is likely to have half of its members dependent on the computer labs at the college for all of their access to library and other resources.
And yet, when I look back over my years at other academic institutions, I see that students at Johns Hopkins, Haverford and NYU had something in common: The distinctions between a book and a journal citation are, evidently, impossible to teach! At Hopkins, we provided “Term Paper Clinics” set up like Lucy Booths from the Peanuts comic strips. At Haverford, students, embarrassed because they knew they should know, would come to the Circulation Desk for help making the distinctions. And at NYU, the librarians threw up their hands! We decided that, with a universal interface in beta-test and bibliographic software surely around the next technologic corner, maybe it didn’t matter that students could not make this discernment.
I heard myself lament this in my current academic environment too, but now, something’s changed. Now we say that the constructs of information literacy allow us to get at the core of knowledge, the building blocks of learning. So I tried. I arrived at the English class with a shopping bag full of citation elements, written on paper scrolls. Each student chose one and, after studying their element, made an intuitive decision about where to place it in the templates I had written on the white board. Every student in that class thought that the “source” was the “author.” You can see how they would think that, can’t you? One day, a student who, we later learned, had never been in a library, completed the “call number” section of his request slip with his phone number. Of course, I thought, what else would it be?
We want students to learn the difference between primary and secondary sources because we understand the fundamental perspectives of these documents. We know that rhetoric and composition are about “truth finding.” We must find ways to engage students in the “quest.”
Most of us have competing interests. On the one hand, we are concerned with course prerequisites, distinctions between “advanced” and “sequential,” competing purposes of depth in and flexibility of course-taking. Librarians see the fallout from these issues everyday at our reference desks. We also live “in the moment”— in classrooms with students. We make eye contact, get a laugh, an honest response (albeit the incorrect answer), and relationships are born. Information literacy, and whatever it is called next year, comes in second to this.
A college-wide concern for in formation literacy abilities is visible at CCP. In 1999, I received a College grant to attend Immersion, ACRL’s Institute for Information Literacy’s teacher training. Also, over the past few years, as Coordinator of the Library’s Instruction Program, I have seen a 33% increase in library instruction, indicating an unprecedented College participation in this work. In addition, College librarians are now actively involved in the College’s learning/teaching community.
Other evidence of support for information literacy includes:
FOS. All students in the Freshman Orientation Seminar, facilitated by the Counseling Department, are mandated by the curriculum document to attend Library Instruction/Information Literacy sessions.
Pilot program. The Director of Developmental Education has conducted pilot programs on information literacy at two developmental levels.
Leadership training. Information literacy is a component of the Leadership Institute produced by the Office of Academic Affairs.
Faculty collaboration. Although librarians have always worked in concert with discipline faculty to build collections and facilitate course reserves, new collaborations can be seen at the syllabus level. Librarians are consulted regarding the assignments students are given and asked to evaluate them in terms of information literacy.
In addition, discussion of intellectual property, academic honesty, plagiarism, and proper crediting of sources permeate professional development sessions, departmental meetings, and faculty chats throughout the College.
Instruction and support in the research process can be seen at Community College of Philadelphia in the fact that all of the Library faculty teach and participate in course related professional activities, for example:
I think the single most influential element of good teaching is “active learning.” The belief that knowledge is not implanted, but rather discovered, can shape classroom and library activities. Students can learn from us how to ask the all-important question: “How do I know that?” Assignments that require the student to integrate knowledge are becoming more and more common at CCP. Models include:
“Use a published bibliography to identify items in the library’s online catalog.”
“Contrast two journal articles or editorials from recent publications reflecting conservative and liberal thought.”
“Select two reference works that discuss your topic and describe the distinct features of each work as it relates to your topic.”
“Create a timeline for the main character in the play. Using chronologies from the reference section of the library, match the elements of your timeline to things that happened in the world that would relate to or impact your character.” (See Timeline Exercise.)
Another example that draws on students’ metacognitive skills is “The Research Essay: I-Search a Word” (Macrorie, 1988, pp. 54-65). Writers identify a topic of interest to them, tell what they already know about the topic, tell about their search for more information, and tell, finally, what they learned through the process.
Assignments that promote critical thinking and active learning include the research paper process, when it is done in steps that are monitored and “guided” by the instructor. In this type of process, students are asked to submit (or discuss in individual conferences) first, a list of sources, then a list of annotated sources, then a thesis statement etc., building to the final paper. An example of a “step process” assignment is “Information Tracing.” Information Tracing Assignment.) In this assignment, which comes from a course I team taught at Rutgers called “Research in the Information Age,” we see an example of the backwards process. I use a simple form of this with developmental students at CCP. The students are given a newspaper article, asked to identify the known elements and then find the article, or a citation to it, in a database. In this exercise, students are asked to explain their process specifically in order to make them more aware of how to think.
You can see the theme here: High student engagement, emphasis on critical thinking, and the constant reinforcement of “How would I know that?” In my opinon, Pierce College in Washington State has one of the best lists of core abilities: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Multicul-turalism, Effective Communication, Responsibility, and Information Competency. For more information, see http://www.pierce.ctc.edu/programs/coreabilities.php3.
A list of core abilities that students must master can guide us as we refine our goals for information literacy in the coming years.
English 101-108
Fences
Fall 2003
Complete the following tasks:
1. Create two parallel timelines. One should contain the major events of Troy’s life. The other should contain the major historical events in each decade from the 1900’s through the 1960’s that affected Troy’s life in some way. (Note: This timeline should contain only the events affecting Troy, either directly or indirectly. So, for example, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand would not be on this list.)
2. Produce a written explanation of the timelines, summarizing Troy’s life and describing how each major event you chose is connected to his life.
Hints: What shifts in labor and lifestyle were happening to African American people when Troy was a teenager or young adult? What changes were going on in sports during Troy’s early and middle years? Where was Troy while these changes were taking place? What was the impact of the GI Bill on American lifestyles after the war? In Troy’s later life (i.e., when we see him in the play), what events were changing attitudes about race across the country?
Information Tracing Assignment
From “Research in the Information Age,” a semester-long honors course taught by Ann Scholz-Crane, Theo Haynes and Rosemary McAndrew, Spring 2000, Rutgers Camden campus. The article referred to below is titled “Hostile Start Makes for Divorce,” by Karen S. Peterson. It appeared in USA Today on September 28, 1999.
Assignment: Information Tracing
Extra Credit (20pts)
Go online and find more information on the topic. Remember your reactions to the statements above and find sources based on the strategies you outlined in those responses. Try to retrieve a variety of source types. For the three sources you determine to be most relevant and useful, provide the following information:
(Select at least two different information source types.)
Reference
©Copyright 2004. Contact author for permission
Maintained by Jay Howard,Apr 2004