Information Literacy FPLC Pierce 2007-8
From CTLpedia
Reflections on my Experience in the Information Literacy Faculty and Professional Learning Community, Janell Pierce, Library Department, Mesa Community College, Contact me (mailto:jpierce@mail.mc.maricopa.edu)
Sumary: My project summary.
Information Literacy FPLC Background
As a librarian, I am deeply involved with information literacy -- promoting it, teaching it, practicing it. I recognize that these are essential skills for lifelong learning and success, and I try to help students and others appreciate that.
Background: I have a Masters in Library Science and my undergraduate degree is in Latin American Studies. While I was earning my degrees, information literacy skills were taught but they were not referred to as such. Even now, one hears variations on the phrase: information literacy, information fluency, information competency.
While I learned the basics in college, I am still -- and will always be -- adding to and refining these skills. As new technologies emerge, I take advantage of opportunities to master the new technologies. The CTL has been a priceless resource for this, offering many workshops that enable MCC employees to upgrade their skills and knowledge.
Technology is only one aspect of information literacy, albeit an essential one.
I love research and scholarship, and I hope that I can help students to value and appreciate the challenges and the rewards of critical inquiry.
My Initial Views on Information Literacy
My initial view is that information literacy is essential and widely embraced by academics, but there is a need for more communication and coordination in this area. We can all learn from each other what works and what doesn't.
I see information literacy as a shared responsibility among all faculty -- those who teach in the classroom and those who teach outside the classroom. Collaboration and coordination are critical to insure that resources and services are available to support student assignments and student learning.
Besides the responsibility of instructional faculty and service faculty, I see information literacy as the responsibility of each student. Students must accept their own roles in preparing for lifelong learning. One of my goals is to eventually implement a peer tutoring program so that students with an interest and an aptitude for information literacy can take additional training to serve as a resource for other students. This could further the point-of-need delivery of support and assistance.
Information literacy is also a responsibility and an opportunity for everyone who works with students at MCC: counselors, administrators, advisers, tutors ... We are all in a position to promote these concepts and these skills to our students.
My Goals or Hopes for My Information Literacy FPLC Experience
My goal for this FPLC experience is to bring together people who are interested in exploring how to best teach information literacy concepts to our students. I would like to see us conduct research by introducing new methods of teaching one (or more) of the concepts and sharing the results in order to contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning. This spring (2008), we will pursue individual projects with our students and share with each other and the college community what we learn.
MCC's Assessment of students' information literacy skills reveals that they have the most trouble locating information, so we may want to focus some of our efforts on that particular area. Evaluation is another area of concern worthy of further investigation.
I would also like to see us work collaboratively to create a resource for all faculty that provides access to exemplary web sites related to information literacy instruction and information literacy skills, including suggested assignments mapped to specific information literacy competencies. Ultimately I would like to invite other MCC and Maricopa County Community College faculty to contribute some of their most successful information literacy assignments for others to modify and incorporate into their own classes, if desired.
Information Literacy FPLC Activities Experienced
As part of our FPLC experience, we read and discussed articles on information literacy.
We started out exploring ways that other colleges and universities teach information literacy skills and evaluated what might work best here at MCC.
Amy Williams experimented with two different ways of teaching "the flow of information" (how information is generated and distributed across the timeline) and surveyed her students to find out which they preferred. She later reported her results to the rest of the group. (The students were nearly unanimous in which they preferred, which was the opposite of what some of us would have chosen!)
Regrettably, we lost a few members over the course of the semester, which left us with a FPLC comprised of library faculty and staff. This led us to re-group and focus on new projects. We divided into two groups to accomplish two different goals. Three members (Megan McGuire, Ora Wagoner, and Marcia Melton) worked on developing a library tutorial (in process) which will be added to the Web when it is completed. It will include a lesson on how to find one's way through the MCC libary, what resources and servcies are offered, and how to locate materials in the library.
Three other members (Marlene Forney, Itibari Zulu, and Janell Pierce) partnered with Amelia Wilson of the Retention FPLC to explore new ways to introduce library skills to RDG 081 and 091 students. Rather than a single 50-minute library visit, we scheduled two shorter visits and we team-taught the classes, using media, short skits, and interactive exercises. This involved a lot of preparation (and imagination!), to which the entire FPLC contributed ideas and suggestions. It was rewarding to see how well the students responded to this change in instruction, and, with a few modifications and additions, we hope to continue this effort with Amelia's students.
Reflection on my Experience in Information Literacy FPLC
This is our first semester and we are just getting our momentum. I am excited to work with our instructional faculty and my library colleagues to further information literacy at MCC. I am optimistic that we will learn a lot and share a lot this spring when we actually start exploring what works with students in the classroom. I am hoping that sharing our experiences with each other and with the college community will attract more wide-ranging attention and involvement in the future.
Final Reflection on Information Literacy in Teaching and Learning
I had high hopes for our FPLC, some of which did not materialize. The heart and soul of the Faculty and Professional Learning Community program is to draw faculty and staff together from different disciplines to work on a shared goal or vision. Our FPLC attracted a small number of classroom faculty and several service faculty (library) and staff. We had ongoing challenges with scheduling and lost some members due to competing demands and incompatible schedules.
The big plus in the experience is that it has revitalized how the library faculty and staff work together. We are trying new teaching approaches and forming new partnerships (both internal and external). It appears to pay off in benefits to students, while also helping to enhance our opportunities to be creative and innovative and to increase our visibility and accessibility.
Annotated Resources and References on Information Literacy
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