Just one more model

This week I examined a wide variety of information literacy, inquiry learning and research models. These differed in the number of steps or phases and the definitions of their processes. Identifying the merits and limitations of the various models became confusing because the use of terminology differs from model to model — particularly words like ‘assess’, ‘evaluate’ and ‘reflect’. Perhaps, there are as many models as there are learners. Perhaps each learner might use different models for different circumstances.

Some models cut to the bone, and while this might make them seem more manageable, some seem to loose something in the translation, like the Super 3 — Beginning (plan), Middle (do), End (review) (http://academic.wsc.edu/redl/classes/tami/super3.html). Others are lengthy and unweildy, like Stripling and Pitts’ (1988) 10 phase Research Process Model (http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/courses/250.loertscher/modelstrip.html). Some models are very cute, particularly the 8 Ws of information inquiry developed by Annette Lamb in the early 1990s. (http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/ws.htm), that involves watching, wondering, webbing, wiggling, weaving, wrapping, waving and wishing. Or Gwen Gawith’s (1983) 3 rhyming doors of aim, claim and frame.

I like the idea of 5 stages, like Ian Juke’s 5As —Asking - key questions to be answered; Accessing - relevant information; Analyzing - the acquired information; Applying - the information to a task; Assessing - the end result and the process. (http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/as.htm)

I also liked the concept of graphical representation offered by Lane Clark’s ThinkBox (http://www.laneclark-ideasys.com/about_boxtower.htm).

To illustrate how muddy the waters of inquiry models is, I began to devise some cute models of my own, beginning with the need to ask a QUESTION and find the ANSWERS.

Question Understand Evaluate Search Twist Invent Overhaul Never ask this question again!

Ask Need Search Worry Evaluate Right back where we started Silly .....

Hmmmm! So much for cute!

After some thought, I settled on a model that was neither too short, nor too long and certainly not cute.

This model is not linear. It comprises 5 broad sets of key processes. As an inquiry process it’s essential that it involves questioning and reflecting. The processes are organised under the verbs ‘reflect’, ‘question’, ‘find’, ‘judge’ and ‘use’. Each key process is underpinned by a prompt question. The diagram below shows the interplay amongst the key processes. I  avoided using the words ‘evaluate’ and ‘assess’ as key processes because they are used with differing intent in other inquiry models.

So I wonder how this might work with pre-primary students.

The age of wisdom

The difference between “literacy” and “information literacy” and the need for so many forms of literacy still seem problematic to me.

Perhaps I can appeal to the learning theorists for guidance in exploring the problem. It is generally accepted that learning is a process that begins at birth and continues throughout a person’s life. Dewey believed in ‘learning by doing’ — a process of constructing meaning through experience and action (Kuhlthau et al, 2007). Dewey’s constructivism is also a political process that encourages students to make up their own minds about what is ‘right’ and what should be valued, and what action should be taken.

According to Dewey, ‘learning is a process of construction’. He believed that, of the two main approaches to learning (transmission in which the teacher or text imparts knowledge to students; and constructivist in which the student is active in building on what they already know to construct deep understandings by engaging with information and ideas), constructivist is the more intuitive.

But Dewey also saw learning is an emotional process. In How We Think (1933), Dewey described phases of reflective thinking: suggestion, intellectualism, guiding idea, reasoning and action.

Dewey proposed that construction of meaning begins with a suggestion. At this stage the learner is perplexed and confused because they have an incomplete understanding of the topic. I am currently at this stage in my understanding of “information literacy”.

Dewey advocates that through intellectualisation, the learner begins to define the problem or question and envisage possible solutions.

So let’s first of all look at the rudimentary definition of “literacy” by examining its etymological roots. (Etymology is the study of the history of words.) The word “literacy” is a combination of the Latin root “liter” meaning “letter” and the Latin noun forming “acy” refering to a state of being, quality, condition or level of adequacy. It’s amazing how much information seven letters can convey. When applied to people, “literacy” would be a person with an adequate level of understanding of letters, or perhaps an adequate level of ability to use letters — basic reading and writing.

Perhaps “literacy” is no more than what we need to be adequate.

When this word was pieced together from its Latin roots, it was probably an adequate term for its purpose. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy), the word “literacy” was first used for the ability to write ones own name; then was used to describe “the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material”; and evolved into a term to represent “the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print”. Over time the term “literacy” has shouldered an ever-increasing burden as people muscle their way through the information explosion.

What represents adequacy today?

In this age, educated citizens need more than a mere understanding of letters and the ability use them to read and write. Now it seems we need a term that encompasses gaining meaning from more than print materials (written and spoken texts, music, dance, visual arts, still and moving images and digital multimedia). Educated people must know how to find or create sources of information or data; organise information and data meaningful ways to construct further meanings; view data and information critically and creatively; and set about effectively communicating new ideas in politically active ways to effect social, economic and cultural change.

Ah! Now we need to be more than adequate, we probably need more than seven letters to describe such an accomplishment. So let’s continue to appropriate the word “literacy” and stick “information” in front. But does "information literacy" embody all we want to describe. Is there a better term for describing what we have come to call “information literacy”.

The Latin root “liter” is probably no longer sufficient to encompass the variety of sources of information available. An using ‘acy’ to describe the state of being is equally problematic — being ‘adequate’ is probably not enough for effective citizenship.

We need to cast a little broader and aim a little higher. Instead of Latin, let’s appeal to the Greeks. We not only need to study (ology) what is visible (phanero-) but also seek what is hidden (crypt-) and strive to change (morph-) it into something that we can put to work (erg-) in new ways. That might look something like the field of “phanercryptmorphergology” with “phanercryptmorphergacy” as the state of being an adequate “phanercryptmorphergist”. Quite a mouthful!

If we are going to appropriate terms from the past why not "philo-" meaning "love of" and "sophia" meaning "wisdom" — "philosophy"?

My point is that why take a term and tack on extra baggage when there already exists a word for fostering a love of learning through exploration, reflection and discussion. Philosophy says it all. Philosophy can be seen in action in most ancient and modern cultures of world. Contemporary Western philosophy, in common with many philosophies across the world and through the ages seeks to find wisdom through logical thought, discussion and action. Are we not seeking to ensure that students make wise use of what they learn?

Perhaps what the curriculum needs is a resurgance of philosophy rather than a redefinition of literacy. This is just a tentative notion of course - a proposition for further exploration. According to Dewey, once a tentative guiding idea is formed, it helps to focus the gathering of data and information to clarify the problem.

Learners then use reasoning to make the guiding idea more precise in light of the wider range of information. The next logical step is to compare information literacy learning with contemporary philosophy classroom practices.

What does philosophy look like in a Preparatory Year classroom?

I'm certainly looking forward to Dewey's final stage, where learners use their new understandings to adopt a point of view and take action to resolve their initial doubt. Whatever I gleen from this learning process, I'm sure it will impact on how I conduct library lessons in the future. 

References

Kuhlthau, C.C. , Maniotes, L.K. & Caspari, A.K. (2007). Chapter 2: The Theory and Research Basis for Guided Inquiry in Kuhlthau, C.C., Maniotes, L.K. & Caspari, A.K. (2007). Guided inquiry : learning in the 21^st century, Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited, pp.13--‐28.

Ramek. A. (2006). 'List of Greek and Latin roots in English'. on Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_and_Latin_roots_in_English#L

Reflections on GeST Windows

Lupton and Bruce (2010) acknowledge some of the various views of information literacy, including that it is sometimes considered a separate literacy and sometimes considered to be part of a ‘literacy continuum’ and often recognised as a natural outcome of the advances in information and communications technologies. They propose a model of information literacy described from behavioural, socio-cultural and critical perspectives.

These three windows are labelled generic, situated and transformative. Levels of information literacy progress from basic and procedural (the generic window), to viewing contextual, authentic, collaborative and participatory information literacy practices through socio-cultural filters (the situated window) and onto applying critical filters to reveal the subjective nature of literacy and empower students to challenge the status quo to the transformative window (the transformative window). After conducting research to explore the experienced relationship between information literacy and learning in music composition and law tax Lupton (2008) proposed a second transformative window to complement the critical transformative window — the expressive transformative window. Lupton found that the original GeST model didn’t adequately cater for creative learning like that experience by students learning music composition.

Sir Ken Robinson, professor at the University of Warwick (UK), agrees with the need to embed teaching towards creativity into the curriculum. In an interview posted on TED: Ideas worth Sharing, Robinson stated that “creativity isn’t a specific activity; it’s a quality of things we do”.

In the past, creativity has sometimes been as synomomous with a lack of academic rigour or discipline — a ‘letting go’ or a ‘free for all’ experience. But exercising creativity builds on rigour — improving quality by taking achievements to a new level beyond technical excellence. In addition, creativity has been traditionally associated with the fine arts. But in Robinson’s view, “You can be creative in anything — in math, science, engineering, philosophy — as much as you can in music or in painting or in dance.” He stresses that creativity is “not about creating some small space in schools where people can be creative” and “not just tacking on some art programs on a Friday afternoon”. 

Creativity needs to be embedded in whatever we do in all curriculum areas. Robinson describes two forms of creativity —  general creativity and creativity as a personal process. Speaking metaphorically, Robinson talks about the importance of helping students to understand the "grammar of creativity". He believes that educators can teach specific creative thinking skills or series of processes that help students think productively, generate ideas effectively. This is general creativity. Creativity as a personal process is about identifying personal strengths and capacities. Educators can help students find their particular, individual creative strengths — including for example, visual, verbal, physically, mathematically.

Robinson thinks this view of creativity has huge implications for schools. He believes we need to re-think the school curriculum, pedogogy and assessment. Educators “have to make the idea of creativity clear and operational”.

The key messages in Robinson’s report for the British government called All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education are that we need to overcome past dichotomies in national debates about educational priorities. The report advocates a new balance in education, and proposes that it shouldn't be necessary to choose between the arts or the sciences; the core curriculum or the broad curriculum; between academic standards or creativity; freedom or authority in teaching methods. 

“Realising the potential of young people, and raising standards of achievement and motivation includes all of these elements. Creating the right synergy and achieving the right balance in education is an urgent and complex task, from national policy making to classroom teaching.”

The report indicates that new technologies are “providing unprecedented access to ideas, information, people and organisations throughout the world, as well as to new modes of creativity, personal expression, cultural exchange and understanding”.

The report stresses that there is creative potential in “all areas of human activity, including the arts, sciences, at work at play and in all other areas of daily life” and that all people have different creative abilities. It also values creativity as a serious achievement based on deep understanding and control of materials, techniques and ideas.

Developing creative capacity “involves a balance between teaching skills and understanding, and promoting the freedom to innovate, and take risks.”

In addition the report clearly links creativity with cultural understandings by stating that ”The engine of cultural change is the human capacity for creative thought and action.“ It proposes that creative and cultural education are general functions of education. And that through education, students should come to understand and respect different cultural values and traditions and the processes of cultural change and development. Schools need to broaden their definition of social culture to include “the impact of science and technology on ways of life and the increasing interaction between cultures”. Educators need to encourage young people “to engage positively with cultural change and diversity”, undestand the “dangers of cultural intolerance”.  The report proposes that the dynamic relationship between creative and cultural education has practical implications for curriculum and classroom practice.

Many points made in Robinson’s view of creativity in education raised in the interview and report are compatible with the GeST windows model of information literacy that includes the generic, situational, transformative and expressive windows. Within the GeST model, both the transformative (expressive and critical) windows are inclusive of the situational (socio-cultural) and generic (procedural) windows. This implies that creativity and critical thinking rely upon students confidence and competence in information literacy practices and deep socio-cultural understandings.

References

Lupton, M. (2008). Information Literacy and Learning. Doctoral Thesis. University of Queensland. Retrieved 29 August 2011 from QUT ePrints http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16665/

Lupton, Mandy and Bruce, Christine. (2010). Chapter 1 : Windows on Information Literacy Worlds : Generic, Situated and Transformative Perspectives in Lloyd, Annemaree and Talja, Sanna, Practising information literacy : bringing theories of learning, practice and information literacy together, Wagga Wagga: Centre for Information Studies, pp.3-27.

National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education. (1999). All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education, Report to the Secretary of State for Education and Employment the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Retrieved August 29, 2011 from www.cypni.org.uk/downloads/alloutfutures.pdf

Robinson, E. (2009).TED and Reddit asked Sir Ken Robinson anything — and he answered on TED Ideas Worth Sharing. Retrieved August 29, 2011 from http://blog.ted.com/2009/08/12/ted_and_reddit_1/

Information Literacy: What is it? And is it enough?

As a young child I was puzzled by mum’s excitement about buying a World Book encyclopedia. Nor did I understand her passion for updating the encyclopedia each year when the Year Books arrived. I took access to encyclopedias and dictionaries for granted because we had them at school. But for mum instant access to information at home was an exciting new experience. Mum grew up on a farm a few miles from town. She left school at 14 without going to high school and joined the airforce as a transport driver when she turned 21.

While we say, ‘Let’s Google it!’ Mum said, ‘We’ll look it up in World Book.’ Mum explained that updating the World Book was like updating the airforce officers’ service manuals. The meticulous annual update kept the encyclopedia current. I thought she was very patient and very clever, a master of information. So it came as a complete surprise to me when, years later, while we were visiting the Council library, she asked me to explain to her how the card catalogue worked. I had just assumed that she would know, because I knew. In the 20 or so years since she had left school, information practices had left her behind.

A few decades ago, it was enough to be literate, now we have to be multi-literate — information literate, technologically literate, digitally literate.  This highlights the need to develop understandings about the nature of information, and the systems for organising, retrieving and disseminating information. It also highlights the need to foster an awareness of the speed with which such practices can become obsolete, and how to constantly update our information practices. 

Bruce, 2004 states that information literacy is a “natural extension of the concept of literacy in our information society”. She believes that since the early 1970s, information literacy has developed into the “critical, overarching literacy for the twenty-first century”. It is “inextricably associated with information practices and critical thinking in the information and communication technology (ICT) environment.” So the apparent difference between ‘literacy’ and ‘information literacy’ is the application of literacy to ICT environments.

Information and communication technologies are rapidly evolving and becoming increasing complex. Learners engage with new forms of information and new information environments as part of their everyday experience. Bruce believes that this makes information literacy pivotal to lifelong learning, personal empowerment and economic development — the catalyst for transforming the information society of today into the learning society of tomorrow.

However, Shapiro and Huges (1996)  pointed out that information literacy is “an often-used but dangerously ambiguous concept”. They raised a number of important questions about the nature of information literacy, how it should be promoted and how it might be accomplished.  

Is information literacy about the technical aspects of information and communication technology; about becoming effective information consumers; about the ability to adapt effectively to technological change; or about thinking critically about “information enterprise and information society"?

Shapiro and Huges (1996)  go as far as to propose that information literacy might be an emerging "liberal art" — “part of what it means to be a free person in the present historical context of the dawn of the information age”. They conceive it as encompassing computer-know-how, the ability to access information and “critical reflection on the nature of information itself, its technical infrastructure, and its social, cultural and even philosophical context and impact” (Shapiro & Huges, 1996). They believe that information literacy is not only as essential to an educated citizen of the information-age as grammar, logic and rhetoric were to an educated person in medieval times; but necessary to the future of democracy (Shapiro & Huges, 1996).

References

Bruce, Christine S. (2004) Information Literacy as a Catalyst for Educational Change. A Background Paper. In Danaher, Patrick A. (Ed.) "Lifelong Learning: Whose responsibility and what is your contribution?", the 3rd International Lifelong Learning Conference, 13-16 June 2004, Yeppoon, Queensland. Retrieved August 19, 2011, from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/4977/.

Shapiro, Jeremy J. and Hughes, Shelley K. (1996). Information Literacy as a Liberal Art: Enlightenment proposals for a new curriculum. EdCom Review. Sequence: Volume 31, Number 2, March/April 1996. Retrieved August 9, 2011, from http://net.educause.edu/apps/er/review/reviewarticles/31231.html.

Guided Inquiry and the learning process

Learning is an emotional process.

Consistent with Bell (2005), Kuhlthau et al's (2007) approach to guided inquiry is underpinned by constructivist learning theory, and based on the premise that ‘deep, lasting learning’ results from students’  having opportunties to construct understandings through engagement and reflection. In addition, the six guiding principles of guided inquiry also acknowledge that children learn in different ways by building on what they already know, learn through social interaction, instruction and experience, and develop higher order thinking skills through guidance at critical points in the learning process (Kuhlthau et al, 2007).

A further aspect for consideration in a guided inquiry approach is the connections amongst learning, reflection and emotions. Kuhlthau et al (2007) cite Dewey’s phases of reflective thinking. Learning begins with uncertainty and confusion. Gradually, as learners reflect on what they already know, how they might learn more, what they have discovered and how it fits their problem or question and what knowledge they have constructed, they move past their uncertainty to curiostity, enthusiasm, excitement and pride in their achievements. The emotional experience of knowledge construction should be an important consideration with young learners.

Kuhlthau et al (2007) also believe that young children should learn by doing, and that guided inquiry for young children should involve them in ‘natural’ learning processes for the early stages of cognitive development. They see a ‘lock-step’ developmental approach as counterproductive. They believe that while young children may still need to engage with concrete materials, they are capable of engaging in all of the processes of inquiry (Kuhlthau et  al, 2007).

It is evident that guided inquiry with a prepartory class should involve concrete materials, play and social interaction with peers and members of the school and wider communities. Teachers need to provide timely support at critical points in the learning process in order to maximise learning. The tricky part is that the critical points will naturally vary from context to context and be different for each child. It is important that they closely monitor students emotions and behaviours. Students moods might provide valuable clues to about when teachers need to support learning.

Reference

Kuhlthau, Carol C. ; Maniotes, Leslie K. & Caspari, Ann K. (2007). Chapter 2: The Theory and Research Basis for Guided Inquiry in Kuhlthau, Carol C.; Maniotes, Leslie K. & Caspari, Ann K, Guided inquiry : learning in the 21^st century, Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited, pp.13-28.

What does inquiry-based learning look like in Prep?

In his article, Simplifying Inquiry Instruction, Bell (2005) writes specifically about using inquiry learning in science. Bell (2005) explains that different levels of inquiry are based on a) the amount of information provided by the teacher; b) the complexity of the task in terms of openness and cognitive demand. His descriptions of the levels are:  A  Level 1 or ‘confirmation’ inquiry-based learning activity uses a teacher-provided question and process to verify expected results. In a Level 2 or ‘structured’ inquiry the teacher presents a question and prescribes a procedure for investigating it. A Level 3 or ‘guided’ inquiry, students  determine the investigative method and solution for a teacher-presented question. While a Level 4 or open inquiry requires students to pose the question and plan and conduct data collection and analysis independently.

According to Bell (2005), inquiry is a learning process in which student collect and analyse data in order to answer questions. So an inquiry learning process requires skills such as identifying needs or problems, planning and conducting investigations, choosing appropriate tools and techniques for data collection; anyalsing relationships through critical and logical thinking; formulating explanations and communicating arguments (Bell, 2005). Bell (2005) stresses that for students to gain the confidence and competence in these skills that is necessary for conducting independent open inquiries, they generally require significant amounts of scaffolding. This means that the four broad levels of inquiry (confirmation, structured, guided and open) are all necessary to students’ development of effective inquiry practice.

From Bell’s description, it becomes apparent that inquiry-based learning will ‘look’ different during different stages of students development. While all inquiry-based learning should start with a problem to be solved or a question to be answered, the amount and type of teacher scaffolding will vary from context to context, task to task and student to student.

A work in progress

In a Preparatory year setting, teachers would need to think about how to scaffold the development of the following.

	Skill set	Literacy and numercy demands
Identify needs or problems	asking questions stating problems	Understanding the meanings of words like ‘know’, ‘learn’, ‘ask’, ‘question’, ‘statement’. Distinguishing between questions and statements
Plan and conduct investigations	Identifying sources of information	Understanding the meanings of words like ‘know’, ‘ask’, ‘learn’, ‘information’, ‘facts’ and terms used to describe different sources of information that are accessible to 5-6 year old pre-readers (e.g. photos, pictures, illustrations, books, posters, television, radio, computers, iphones)
Collect and select  appropriate data and information	tools techniques	Number names, conservation, one-to-correspondence, colour names, interpreting tables and graphs
Anyalse relationships through critical and logical thinking	Identifying similarities and differences Sorting and comparing data Identifying relationships amongst sets of data (empty, independent, intersecting sets and subsets) Identifying patterns data	language to describe colour, shape and size comparative language such as ‘same’, ‘similar’, ‘different’, ‘a lot’, ‘not many’, ‘all’, ‘none’, ‘more’, ‘less’, ‘most’, ‘least’.
Formulate and communicate findings, explanations and arguments	Inferring Conclude Explaining Predicting

My attempts to plot the literacy and numeracy demands of inquiry-based learning only highlight gaps in my understanding of how preparatory year students might identify problems and questions, plan and conduct investigations, collect data and information, analyse relationships amongst data and information, and formulate conclusions, explanations and arguments.

References

Bell, R; Smetana, L & Binns, I. (2005). Simplyfying inquiry instruction The Science Teacher, 72 (7), 30-‐33.

Questionnaire 1 (1 August 2011)

My goal for this semester is to learn more about what information literacy and inquiry-based learning looks like in Preparatory Year (for students 5-6 years old).

1. My thoughts and feelings about my topic.

To begin with, I have more questions than answers.

How do you begin to teach information literacy to students who are only beginning to read?

What is the difference between literacy and information literacy?

What does inquiry learning look like in Prep?

To what degree is open inquiry possible in Prep?

I’m quite confused about the difference between literacy and information literacy, and wonder why there needs to be a distinction. Term ‘information literacy’  is sometimes used as a label for a set of skills and processes for dealing with information, and sometimes it’s used to describe a state of being — a confidence with and capability for accessing, organising, analysing, evaluating and communicating information.

So, what does information literacy involve in Prep? Is it about developing understandings about the representation of thoughts, feelings and ideas as images, symbols and scripts?

This is my first year of involvement with Prep students. As a beginning teacher-librarian, I’ve played it safe with the Preps. So far, our 30 minutes a week in the library have included letter recognition and alphabetical order; book sense (a picture book has an author and illustrator, text is generally read left to right, top to bottom, picture clues can be used to decode text); looking after books (bring your library bag on library days); how books are stored in the library (location of picture books and non-fiction); selecting books; and library borrowing processes (recognise your name, find your borrower barcode, present books for borrowing with the library barcode showing, bring your books back to the library when you have read them).

I’ve always thought that information literacy is integral to resource-based and inquiry-based learning. I believed that both learning approaches provided opportunities for students to learn and practice information literacy skills within a broader content-specific learning context.

What is inquiry-based learning like in Prep?

In any stage of learning, I think that inquiry-based learning should start with a problem to be solved or a question to be answered. This approach should be compatible with negotiated learning and play-based learning approaches advocated in Queensland. Our Prep teachers negotiate learning with their classes, generally each class is exploring a different topic or set of topics each term.

I also think that, where possible, inquiry-learning should be experiential. Fore example, in Term 1, all of the Prep classes were learning about the local community. One of the facets of the community that they explored was the library. We organised for them to visit the local Brisbane City Council library and to compare it with our school library. Then the Prep students set up their own library in their classroom, where they played at being librarians and borrowers.

2. My interest level for this topic

Not at all ☐    not much ☐    quite a bit R    a great deal ☐

I am very motivated to learn more about the information literacy needs of preparatory students and about how inquiry learning might be implemented with a preparatory class.

3. My knowledge level about this topic

Nothing ☐     not much R    quite a bit ☐    a great deal ☐

I’ve chosen this area of schooling because I have the least amount of experience with this age group. By expanding my knowledge and expertise in this area, I will have a better understanding of how I, as a teacher-librarian can support the Prep teachers and enhance learning opportunities for the Prep students.

4. Things I find easy when researching

Thinking of keywords for searches

Google and Google Scholar searches

Talking to colleagues

Finding Queensland and national curriculum materials and policy documents online

5.  Things I find difficult when researching

Academic searches

Evaluating reliability of sources

Analysing and synthesising information quickly

Writing reflectively


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Reflection is a very important learning process. I used this questionnaire as a reflection tool at the beginning, middle and end of the information learning activity.

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Questionnaire 2


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