The Springboard Project Bolton sixth form college

 Introduction  Purpose of the session  The Springboard Project (SBP)  Q & A Welcome

InformationLiteracy Skills  Bolton Sixth Form College’s Information Literacy Skills programme  An initiative put together by the LRC team to re-introduce information literacy skills into the curriculum  It’s all about getting back to basics  It offers a solid foundation to help students in HE or employment What is the SBP?

Sprint, Leap, Soar and Present  (In it’s entirety) It consists of 4, 1 hour interactive workshops; Sprint, Leap, Soar and Present  It starts at the very beginning of the learner journey with an assignment/project/coursework  It works through it applying information literacy principles until the end result is a succinct academic report of high quality What does it involve?

There are 4 main reasons why the SBP was devised Why we have the SBP? To bridge the educational gap between school and sixth form To ensure information literacy becomes an accepted subject of study rather than an additional ‘add-on’ To put the LRC ‘back on the map’ To equip students with higher level skills that are fully transferable to university and employment SBP

 The SBP is fully inclusive – it’s been designed for learners at Entry level to Level 3  It caters for all types of learning styles;  Its also for anyone who wants to improve their learning strategies Why we have the SBP

 Better working relationships with subject staff and SMT  Independent learning  An information literate student population  The LRC staff skills set  The LRC and its resources  Higher level skills for life What does it promote?

Aims and Objectives AIMS (Staff)  Provide a range effective resources in different formats  Teach information handling skills  Equip students with the skills to become independent learners OBJECTIVES (Students)  Know when and why information is needed  Know where to find it and evaluate it  Know how to use the information and communicate it in an ethical, academic manner  To use and understand that different resources impact on the quality of the end product

 Lost identity  Rebrand  Updates  Networking & sharing best practice  Joining & attending focus groups  Ofsted  Impact Incentives

 Research;  Eureka! #  Eureka! The # Springboard Project… # Surviving the jump from school to sixth form then on to university or employment – the actions of a springboard leap; run (sprint), jump/bounce (leap), mid-air (soar) and land (present), hence the 4 workshops. Development

Content Thinking Skills Learning Styles Time Management  Before we deliver the workshops advice and guidance is offered on study skills  Students are given the opportunity to prepare to receive the new skills

Content  Define the information problem   Prompt students to think about what they already know   Think about what information is required   Break down the assignment brief   Definitions game   Create shopping list   Offer Research Skills  KEY:  Give information  Teach new skills  Give instructions  Activity

Activities

Content  Plan where to gather information   Think about what formats are available   Triangulate findings   Introduce paper-based and OLR   Offer Searching the Internet Effectively skills   Offer Citing, Referencing and Bibliography skills   The use of ILT   Think Before You Click activity  KEY:  Give information  Teach new skills  Give instructions  Activity

Activities

Content  Bringing the information back to the assignment brief – does it meet the criteria?   Assess and evaluate it – is it; Credible, Objective, Current and Accurate? Remember SQ3R!   Highlight, make notes, form opinions and conclusions   Consider interpretations and deduce facts   Organise it in a way that relates back to the assignment criteria  KEY:  Give information  Teach new skills  Give instructions  Activity

Content  What to do with the newly acquired information and knowledge   Teach Plagiarism Awareness Skills   Teach Academic Writing Skills   Teach the use of ILT/AV/Images/Data in presenting academic reports  KEY:  Give information  Teach new skills  Give instructions  Activity

Post-It!

Evaluation & Improvements Evaluation  Feedback – Post-It notes  Overall feedback was that the sessions were excellent the appropriate content  The impact speaks for itself… Improvements  Additional Survey Monkey  Ask students what they thought could be improved  Additional marketing of the workshops  More staff training

 50% increase in resources circulation  JISC Collections – E-books for FE league table increase; from 36 th to 1 st !  Deliver further sessions to L3 students  Deliver LRC induction  Deliver non-LRC related workshops  Invited into the classroom to offer bite-sized workshops  Referrals from teaching staff Impact

Q & A