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Interactive Information Literacy Teaching Strategies
Interactive Information Literacy Teaching Strategies
Resource List
• All print and electronic resources referenced in this class are listed here:
• http://www.delicious.com/eduserv/10_Strategies • http://delicious.com/eduserv/information_literacy
What Do You Call…
…This?
I call it a Coke…but--
• Coke• Pop• Soda• Cola• Tonic • Drink
•Soft drink•Can•Soda pop•Carbonated Beverage• ?
Strategy:Using Language/Figures of Speech
• Great for teaching larger, abstract concepts used in a variety of research contexts
• Uses terminology students connect with
• Creates a conversation, active involvement
• Creates meaning in a fun way • Synonyms, metaphor, simile, analogy
English Class
• Metaphor--a figure of speech concisely comparing two things, saying that one is the other
• Analogy--a cognitive process of transferring information from a particular subject (the analogue or source) to another particular subject (the target), and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process.
• Simile--A figure of speech comparing two unlike things, often introduced with the word "like" or "as"
• Synonyms--“Coke can”– Controlled vocabulary or search term
selection• “pay-per-view” metaphor
– Quality of programming compared to quality of information
– Information as a commodity
• “Garbage can as database” for an identity thief
• Facebook/database
Examples
Common Sources--Metaphors and Analogies
• Sports• Shopping• Food• Cars• Pets
•Technology•Weather•Family•Politics • ?
Fishing for Analogies and Metaphors
• Students are the fish, how do you catch them? (know your students)
• What kind of “hook” are you going to use? (concept(s) you are teaching)
• Put a few lines in the water (brainstorm with colleagues)
• Watch for good fishing spots (look for examples in real life)
Your Turn!
• Find a partner• Take 5 minutes to discuss how you
might use language creatively in your class!
• Be ready to share an example with the group!
Strategy: Using Humorous Examples or
Images
Make an Impression…
Strategy: (Humorous) Comparisons
• Web page evaluation• Articles • Scholarly vs. popular
Site Comparison:The Onion
vs. CNN
Article Comparison
• Exploding Head Syndrome
Weekly World News
• From the Weekly World News, May 24, 1994:• MOSCOW --• Doctors are blaming a rare electrical imbalance in
the brain for the bizarre death of a chess player whose head literally exploded in the middle of a championship game!No one else was hurt in the fatal explosion but four players and three officials at the Moscow Candidate Masters' Chess Championship were sprayed with blood and brain matter when…
WWN, Cont’d.
• ..Nikolai Titov's head suddenly blew apart. Experts say he suffered from a condition called Hyper-Cerebral Electrosis or HCE.
• "He was deep in concentration with his eyes focused on the board," says Titov's opponent, Vladimir Dobrynin. "All of a sudden his hands flew to his temples and he screamed in pain. Everyone looked up from their games, startled by the noise. Then, as if someone had put a bomb in his cranium, his head popped like a firecracker.”
Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain*
• Evans, R., & Pearce, J. (2001, June). Exploding Head Syndrome. Headache: The Journal of Head & Face Pain, 41(6), 602-603. Retrieved December 2, 2007, from Academic Search Complete database.
• *Ouch.
Comparisons: Classroom Potential
• Give students one source and see what else they can find--is it real?
• Validate (or invalidate) by searching a variety of sources
• Direct comparisons--Search for bias, parody, consistency of facts across resources
• Bias--Fox vs. CNN; different disciplines? Journalism vs. scholarship/Medicine vs. Psychology
• Is there a corporate entity behind scholarly work? Example--positive article about Atkins Diet in scholarly journal, but sponsored by Atkins Corp.
Strategy: Let’s Play with Print!
• Research shows students often have a great deal of difficulty selecting and narrowing their topic*
• Libraries have great print resources that help teach and reinforce information literacy concepts in a variety of ways!
– *Quarton, B. (2003, June). Research Skills and the New Undergraduate. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 30(2), 120. Retrieved December 2, 2007, from Academic Search Complete database.
Useful Print Resources
• CQ Researcher • Subject encyclopedias (Encyclopedia
of Psychology, Religion, Philosophy) • Periodicals
Print Resources: Classroom Potential
• CQ Researcher (or other current, topical resource)
• Excellent for exploring a variety of current topics
• Concise, interesting articles• Other, more in-depth sources are cited • Offers statistical information, pro-con
arguments on controversial issues
Subject/Topic Encyclopedias
• Students are often unaware of these wonderful, scholarly resources
• Generally, sources of this type offer a better, more in depth overview than the web or a general encyclopedia
• Opportunities for students to explore other, cited resources
Periodicals
• Scholarly vs. Popular • Give them criteria have them review
in teams• Evaluate and share, offer feedback• Tricks! Publications like Science,
Nature, New Yorker or Discover can prove challenging to evaluate
• Print vs. online full text
Strategy: Boolehuh?
• Boolean searching is an essential concept for effective database searching
• I learned it via Venn diagrams. Ugh. • What are some other, more effective
ways to teach students about this idea?
Boolean Operators
AND -- NOT -- OR --NEAR
cars AND trucks library OR libraries
dolphins NOT football
Boolean Shoes
• Use the students, get them up and moving and illustrate boolean concepts based on the kinds of shoes they are wearing:
• Black AND brown shoes (NO Results!) • Flip flops OR sandals• Sneakers NOT Reebok
Strategy:
Make it Memorable With Mnemonics
• The Five W’s of Information Evaluation
• The ABC3 of web page evaluation• SQ3R-for critical thinking • CRAAP test • Others?
Five W’s
• Who-authority• What-topic, consistency• Where-where did you find it? • When-when was it published? Last
updated? • Why-Bias- is it trying to influence or
inform? Persuade, sell, entertain?
ABC3
• Authority• Bias• Content• Consistency• Currency
Discussion: Do you ever?
Helpful Resources
• Perdue University OWL• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/• OWL Materials-Writing a Research
Paper• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
resource/658/01/
Helpful Method-SQ3R for Critical Thinking
• Survey• Question• Read• Recite• Review• WRITE!
Strategy: Use a Game
• Information Literacy Game • Information Literacy Jeopardy • Word search• “Information Literacy Bingo”
Information Literacy Game
• General concepts in board game format from UNC-Greensboro
• Multiple players• Fun, interactive--students can chose
an avatar/identity• UNC-G makes files available for other
libraries to share
Information Literacy Jeopardy
• Any popular game is adaptable • Really helps reinforcing concepts like
Plagiarism• Example of “answer” from Murphy
Library/UW LaCrosse Library Jeopardy: • To take or disguise ideas or words of
others as your own; to use another’s idea without crediting the source.
• Question: “What is plagiarism?”
http://www.uwlax.edu/murphy/nonweb/searchsoup/jeopardy/
Discussion: Competition!
• Competition=engagement• How else might we engage students
in competitive endeavors in the classroom?
• Contests, Trivia, “Battles,” Teams
Strategy: Use an Online Tutorial
• Yours, or, well, ‘borrow’ one!• There are lots of good ones out there• Great for exploring topics in a hands-
on process• Excellent for use with difficult or time
consuming topics like plagiarism
Online Tutorial: Example
• Acadia University • “You Quote it, You Note it”• http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/
plagiarism/
Strategy: Concept to Search Terms
• Frustration: You’ve spent time teaching boolean searching, search terms, etc.--then you move to hands on searching.
• Still, students type in their topic as a complete sentence!
Topic
• The role of women in the Civil War• “Mindwalking through”
Key Concepts
• Women Role Civil War
Keywords
Women Role Civil War
•Gender•Wife
•Wives
•Home•Family•Nurse•Spy
•War btw. The States
•United States
•History•American Civil War,
1861-1865
Strategy: Make a Logical Leap
• Everyday information leads to scholarship• Instructor prompts discussion with students about
different information needs in a typical student’s life, different information sources they might use to fill that need, and why a source is useful.
• Example: Where do you look when you need info about--
• A movie you might like to see?• The weather for the upcoming weekend?• Information about a celebrity or political figure?
Then…
Magazines/Newspapers
Books/Monographs
Scholarly Journals
•Most current info•Good for topics in the news
•Thorough treatment•Written by experts
•Present research•Review articles•Very specialized
Instructor explains that, similarly, there are different sources of academic information and each has its uses. List each source and its characteristics.
Icebreakers or…This One Goes to 11!
A Few Icebreakers to Get Your Class Going!
• Use candy as an incentive/prize for responses• Inform students that it's "o.k." to interrupt
librarians• Ask students about their previous
experience(s) in using the library, good/bad, successful/unsuccessful, etc.
• Begin with a library orientation video
– 3 Letter body parts!
• Discussion: How do you break the ice?– ACRL Brainstorm,
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/about/sections/is/eventsconferences/brainstorming.cfm
Video-Be careful!
• Queue it up carefully!• Make sure it works• Test ahead of time• Make sure it is still there
– http://www.watchcartoononline.com/the-simpsons-episode-206-dead-putting-society
– 12:31
Icebreakers
• Use icebreakers to set the tone for your lecture
• If you get students attention from the beginning, it's easier to keep it
• Students stop listening after the first seven minutes of class, so keep icebreakers on hand even for use in the middle of a session
Strategy: Student Driver
• Let a student in the class ‘drive’ the computer!
• Expands your ability to roam for hands-on• Opens another workstation for hands-on
work• Engages the students as they watch a
peer • Makes your instruction more deliberate
and carefully guided as you direct the student driver
Update! Students “drive” the whole class!
• LOEX Presentation by Tracy Mayfield• “Letting the Inmates Run the Asylum”• Let students set the agenda• Students discuss what they want to
learn• Librarian creates agenda (word, etc.)• Students learn, engage, have fun,
understand “WIIFM”
Strategy: Mindwalk Through It
• Students think about a concept, then “mindwalk” through different aspects of the concept
• Record in writing (whiteboard, flip chart pages) their ideas related to each aspect of the concept
• Gets students thinking and moving• Great early morning or after lunch activity • Brainstorm and categorize; a great way to
emphasize critical thinking
Mindwalk—Library of Congress, Historical Evidence in Your Daily Life
1. In the last day, did you create any records of your activities (a diary, notes to yourself, a letter to a friend or relative, an e-mail message, a telephone message)?
Historical Evidence Mindwalk, cont’d.
2. Would traces of your activities appear in records someone else created (a friend's diary, notes, or calendar entry; a letter or e-mail from a friend or relative)?
Mindwalk, cont’d.• 3. Would traces of your activities appear in
school records? in business records (did you write a check or use a charge card)? in the school or local newspaper? in government records (did you get your driver's license or go to traffic court)?
Mindwalk, cont’d.• 4. Would anyone be able to offer
testimony (or oral history) about your activities (who and why)?
» Library of Congress, Historical Evidence in Your Daily Life Activity Page: http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/psources/mindwalk.html#quests
Strategy: Team Teaching
• Librarian/Librarian• Librarian/Bibliographer• Librarian/Library Staff • Librarian/Archivist • Librarian/Faculty• Librarian/Student!• ?
Discussion: Team Teaching
• Let’s take some time to share successful team teaching situations in your IL classroom!
Strategy: More Advanced Work WithSubject Specific Encyclopedias
• Working with faculty• In class assignment• Students find entry on topic of interest• Use catalog/databases to follow up on source list
from encyclopedia entry bibliography • Compare and contrast other resources to
encyclopedia entry • Expands ability to search & knowledge of a
variety of resources
Strategy: Problem Based Learning
• Small groups of students are presented with contextual situations and asked to define the problem, decide what skills and resources are necessary to investigate the problem and then pose possible solutions (Duch, Groh & Allen, 2001)
• Idea works well with, comes from medicine/the sciences
• Good opportunity for faculty collaboration
Facilitating PBL
• Small groups of students work with a PBL tutor or facilitator
• Works well with multiple meetings, but can be done in a single class
• At the first meeting, students are presented with an unfamiliar situation or problem
• Students identify the main issues and formulate questions to work on
• Following a period of individual study the group meets• They discuss what they have learnt and apply this to
the original problem• Supporting activities (labs, lectures) are designed and
scheduled as needed
Seven Step Method, PBL• Identify and clarify unfamiliar terms presented in the scenario
• Define the problem or problems to be discussed
• Ideas storming session to discuss the problem(s)• Review steps 2 and 3 and arrange explanations for possible
solutions
• Step 5 Formulate learning objectives
• Step 6 Private study (all students gather information related to each objective)
• Step 7 Reconvene - Group shares results of private study (Wood)
PBL Scenario Example
• For example, in our local community, as in many others, the status of creationism vs. evolution in the school curriculum continues to be a hot topic.
• A possible scenario for a science class could be: • The local school board is considering the
curriculum for 7th grade earth science. You have been asked to testify on the topic of the age of the Earth. How old is the Earth, how do we know, and what kind of accuracy do we know it with? Your testimony could influence what local students are taught in the coming years. What do you tell the board, and how will you back up your conclusions?
Strategy: Use the Constructivist Approach
• Also, “Discovery learning”• Inquiry based method • Ties together experience and
education• Emphasis on using existing knowledge
to solve problems and, at the same time, learning and integrating new knowledge along the way
The Constructivist Classroom
• Curriculum is presented whole to part with emphasis on big concepts Pursuit of student questions is highly valued
• Curricular activities rely heavily on primary sources of data and manipulative materials
• Students are viewed as thinkers with emerging theories about the world
• Teacher generally behaves in an interactive manner mediating the environment for students
•
Constructivist Classroom, cont’d.
• Teacher seeks the students' points of to understand students' present conceptions for use in subsequent lessons.
• Assessment of student learning is interwoven with teaching and occurs through teacher observations of students at work and through student exhibitions and portfolios. Students primarily work in groups. (Brooks & Brooks, 1993
Project Examples
• 23 Things • Public Library of Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Co. and Others!• http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/
• 23 Things you can do to learn/discover more about the internet!
• Step by step process of discovery
Engineering Project
• Students act as technology managers
• Research & review an existing technology in an industry of interest
• Report findings to stakeholders & peers in oral/written reports
Organic ChemistrySynthesis Project
• Students work on a semester-long project to successfully synthesize an organic compound
• Rely heavily on library databases and chemistry resources
• Team teaching with chemistry faculty (more advanced, structure indexed databases)
Strategy: Use “Old Stuff:”Primary/Secondary Documents
• Special collections • Archival collections• Great collections online! • Opportunity to team teach with
archives/special collections
Strategy Eight: Scenarios & Plagiarism
• Teaching students about plagiarism is an involved process
• In my research, I found few techniques discussed
• Most are practical and interactive--• Scenarios--posing real life situations
where plagiarism can happen as a starting point for discussion
Scenario Example• Scenario 1:• The assignment for Web Authoring is to compile
research into a informative website for a specific audience. A student is particularly interested in goldfish and notices that no single website compiles all of the information about goldfish into one location. The student happens to be a member of The National Goldfish Society and has identified an audience need for the project. Much of his research is already online so the student simply cuts and pastes language from multiple websites and reorganizes this information into a format that meets his target audiences needs
Scenario Solution
• Answer to Scenario 1:• Yes, this is plagiarism. Just because the
student has free access to information on the web does not mean that it is there for the taking. If a student cut and pasted several articles and book chapters together into an essay, it would count as plagiarism. The same goes for creating a website
Plagiarism Resource
• Scenarios from Rutgers University, Business and Technical Writing--Teacher Resources Page
• http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~bizntech/teacher_resources/plagiarism/index.html
Strategy: Peer Teaching
• Students identify strongly with peers• Find peers more credible than
teachers • When peers make something look
“fun” or worth the effort, our millenials are more receptive to it
Resource Wrangle
• Example of learning from peers • Each student is given a card with
questions and the title of a reference book.
• Find book location in catalog then in reference stacks--then use it to answer the questions
• Students share their findings with others• Enables students to learn about different
types of reference sources
Strategy: Procrastinators? Try an Assignment Calculator!
• University of Maryland Assignment Calculator
• http://www.lib.umd.edu/UES/freecalc/
• Emphasizes the need for preparation and planning
• Leads to good research strategies and planning
Questions? Comments?• What strategies do you use?
Print Resources
• Duch, B., Gron, S., Allen, D. (eds) (2001) ‘The Power of Problem Based Learning.’ Stylus Publishing
• Wood, D.F. (2003) ‘ABC of learning and teaching in medicine: Problem based learning’ British Medical Journal 326: 328-330
