Amite Sculpture On The Campus Of SUNY-Plattsburgh

Karen Volkman Division of Library and Information Services SUNY - Plattsburgh Ray Guydosh School of Business & Economics SUNY - Plattsburgh Teaching Information Literacy Transfer Through Free-Standing, Credit Bearing Courses

Challenges for College Students and Other Learners The past 10 years have witnessed an exponential growth in information Much of this information has little accountability Much of this information has little value Students lack a framework to analyze and apply information

Students Have Adapted Poorly to the New Information Environment Overabundance of information encourages students to focus on finding answers Students don’t know how to make an information framework and thus will accept the first information found

Strategies: two student assumptions: looking for answers Research involves looking for “answers” –Adapt question to the information available on Web –Accept information uncritically if it answers questions; do not sift judgmentally or consciously look for verification –“Answer mindset” encourages surfing, skimming vs. analysis, simplicity vs. ambiguity, superficiality over depth –Students find things, content, reinforcing Web’s value in their eyes The Web, Students, Research, and Libraries

Behaviors Scan sites quickly, rarely scroll to bottom of page Judge relevance by what’s on top of screen Let retrieved items determine relevance Non-linear searching – promote serendipity and distraction, wasted time, fruitless site hopping, poor concentration, thought Unable to limit results, increase relevance Too much material means students fail to continue investigations to logical end – use what comes first, regardless of how it shapes study. The Web, Students, Research, and Libraries

Information Literacy and Data Manipulation Course Perceptions Seen as skills based courses All you need to know is which button to press Easy courses without much thinking involved You can get by if you skim the computer manual

Information Literacy Combats Keyboarding Despite perceptions, information literacy helps develop knowledge frameworks Information literacy can develop legitimacy as an academic discipline Information literacy draws on communication, education, and management of information system (MIS) disciplines All these frameworks place emphasis on learning and critical thinking

Premise (from presenters and colleagues): Information Literacy is best acquired when integrated into other subject courses

Current Frameworks for Understanding Information Literacy Doyle Information Literate Person ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards Bruce Seven Faces of Information Literacy

Doyle Recognizes the need for information Recognizes that accurate and complete information is the basis for intelligent decision-making Identifies potential sources of information Develops successful search strategies Accesses sources of information, including computer- based and other technologies Evaluates information Organizes information for practical application Integrates new information into an existing body of knowledge Uses information in critical thinking and problem solving

ACRL Determines the nature and extent of the information needed Accesses needed information effectively and efficiently Evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose Understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally

Bruce One: Information literacy is seen as using information technology for information retrieval and communication Two: Information literacy is seen as finding information located in formation sources Three: Information literacy is seen as executing a process Four: Information literacy is seen as controlling information Five: Information literacy is seen as building up a personal knowledge base in a new area of interest Six: Information literacy is sees as working with knowledge and personal perspectives adopted in such a way that novel insights are gained Seven: Information literacy is seen as using information wisely for benefit of others

Integration Not Mentioned All frameworks point to information literacy as a serious course of study All imply that information literacy inherently has value as a discipline All frameworks link information literacy to an academic learning process not to be subsumed by another discipline All mention the importance of the creation of a knowledge base

Disadvantages of Course Integration Infrastructure Implies skill “check off” system Other faculty are unlikely to give sufficient time to integrate another discipline into their course Information literacy is compartmentalized into one subject Doesn’t lead to transfer across other subjects

Typical Scenario for Course Integration Integration into English101 or Com101 These are courses that are already marginalized Rarely seen as applicable to students in higher level courses Learn evaluation and analysis of material in the context of a basic required course

One Shot Course-Related Integration Teach to one specific assignment Information literacy very narrowly focused Major critical thinking involves facile topics such as database selection Little teaching of analysis Link to Course Related Example

Advantages of Credit-Bearing Course in Information Literacy and Data Manipulation Demonstrate that course is more than just keyboarding Transfers more broadly to other disciplines Information literacy and data manipulation aren’t just check off boxes on somebody else’s syllabus Starts the creation of a knowledge base in learning about information

Knowledge Base in Data Manipulation Courses (spreadsheets) Students learn data structure and data formation Students learn types of analysis that can be performed Students learn how to organize data Students learn how to manipulate data for analysis and problem solving

MGM 272 Tasks with Problem Solving Applications

Sample Problem Solving Assignment to Perform Breakeven Analysis for a Product

Knowledge Base in Information Literacy Courses Start learning information framework to critically evaluate Learn what information is available Learn when inform needs to be created Learn to recognize “garbage in garbage out” data Learn what questions need to be asked when using information that will lead to problem solving

Knowledge Base for Business Information Literacy Class

Data Literacy Knowledge Base Framework

Be Data Literate - Know What to Know Peter F. Drucker Wall Street Journal, 12/1/1992 Few executives yet know how to ask: What information do I need to do my job? When do I need it? In what form? And from whom should I be getting it? Fewer still ask: What new tasks can I tackle now the I get all these data? Which old tasks should I abandon? Which tasks should I do differently?

Knowledge Base for Quality and Quantity Information Framework “Garbage In Garbage Out”

Student Response to Knowledge Base

YES! They get it!

Statistical Considerations Knowledge Base

Critical Thinking to Create Information Drucker points out that often the most useful information is information that we’ve never considered gathering Students must be cognizant when they need to gather their own information for problem solving Students must understand that just because it isn’t on the Web or in some other available format doesn’t mean that the information isn’t relevant for analysis

Creation of a Survey and Putting Information in a Database Retrieval Framework

Database to Generate Consumer Data Profiles for a Product See the database Perform consumer queries on the database Link to MS Access worksheet p. 19 and 21

Link to Final Project Guidelines Using the Knowledge Base and Information Analysis Framework for Competitive Intelligence

Final Thoughts Integration of information literacy into courses is the latest trend Nothing in the most prominent information literacy frameworks specifies this integration It behooves us as a discipline to conduct more research in this area to determine if the loses outweigh the gains by giving up our own discipline of information literacy to other classes

Karen Volkman Ray Guydosh Teaching Information Literacy Transfer Through Free-Standing, Credit Bearing Courses