Learning Goals

 

By Samurai Gandhi (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

When I think about what I want students to know a year after my course is over, the main concept is to be an informed skeptic. I hope that students keep the underlying ideas of the six frames as a means to interact with information throughout their lifetimes.

Foundational Knowledge

Since the course is aligned with the six frames, it will be important for students to remember that authority is constructed and contextual, information has value, information creation is a process, searching is strategic exploration, research is inquiry, and scholarship is an ongoing conversation. All of these ideas will become the basis from which students will critically analyze complex issues and ideas.

Application Goals

Students in this class will need to be proficient in all three methods of thinking: critical thinking, creative thinking, and practical thinking. The course will focus on a semester-long project, from idea to research to annotated bibliography to creative project. Along the way, students will need to develop their analytical skills. Since the final project will be creative, students will need to know how to synthesize what they learn from their sources into their own thought process.

Integration Goals

Some connections that students should recognize in this course are aligned with authority. Each student will have the opportunity to consider what area they might be considered an authoritative voice in the scholarly conversation. Perhaps, a student has skills in gaming. It would be nice for that student to take a step back and see that not all authority is based on academic standing.

Human Dimensions Goals

Students should learn that incorporating informed skepticism into their worldview is not a bad thing. They should also consider if they are blind believers who don't bother to dig beneath the surface. In terms of interacting with others, students should learn to listen and consider an opposing view before automatically refuting it.

Caring Goals

I hope that students learn to see that there is another, deeper layer to their chosen topic. If someone is examining Game of Thrones, I hope that the underlying motivations of the characters come to the forefront, rather than just the sex and violence. I would also like for students to recognize that information has power and that there are problems with under-representation for some groups in terms of being recognized authorities.

"Learning-How-to-Learn" Goals

I would like student to learn to be more self-directed and to have an agenda before they start their research.

What's Up With The Teacher?

 

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons 

{{PD-1923}} – published before 1923 and public domain in the US.

I have three Master's degrees, so I guess you could say that I love learning and have made it a lifelong endeavor. I have been teaching since 1997; however, the venue has been completely different in terms of the subject matter from the course currently in development. Before becoming a librarian three years ago, I taught college-level composition, writing about literature, and business writing. I still teach critical reasoning and argumentative writing for a community college, and I deeply enjoy instructing first year students. It has always been my belief that students should take away knowledge and skills that translate into the real world. Every class hears me state at the beginning, "I am not here to show you what to think. I am here to show you how to think." I hope to bring that same tenet into this new course.

In terms of creating a Freshman Foundations course with a partner, this is a new experience. We are both passionate about introducing first year students to the elements of information literacy. To better prepare for using the ACRL Framework as the underpinning for the course, as part of our weekly instruction meetings, we have dedicated six meetings to discussing the ACRL frames, one frame per session. As concepts, I feel as if I have a good grasp on them. As the course continues to develop, I hope to create lesson plans that play to my strengths as a face-to-face instructor. I love to facilitate discussion among students, and this course promises to be one that demands a free exchange of ideas. I also enjoy playing the devil's advocate to provoke students to consider opposing viewpoints. Another strength is my use of the the Socratic method. Students know they can't get away with a weak explanation or an additional question is coming their way. No one wants to hear my, "Why?"

I am looking forward to bringing the concepts learned in this course to the development of the class.

Who Fills the Seats?

 

By MGB [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Anticipating the audience for this class is daunting and could result in some logical fallacies about millennials. To avoid this, we will need to be cognizant of preconceived ideas that may crop up. As first year students at a private university, the students in this class will be very focused on their education. They have defined goals, whether completing their undergraduate degrees or tackling post-graduate education once they leave the university. Many will not need to hold a part-time job to make ends meet since a majority of the student population come from affluent families. In addition, many come to the university from high schools that pride themselves on their ability to prepare student for the rigors of college. Most will have had some experience with information fluency, whether using Google, Wikipedia, or library databases, and they will have had some opportunity to write a research paper. Because they will be skilled with performing internet searches, there may be some resistance to learning how to evaluate information that they would normally consider credible.

In terms of preferred learning styles, in my experience, many students prefer discussion. Breaking into groups is also a popular choice; however, many do not like to perform group work outside of the classroom. I would like to think that students enrolling in this course would have learning goals that coincide with the proposed catalog description:

The truth is out there. . .and so are the lies. Every day, we are bombarded with information. We follow blogs, watch the news, scan Twitter feeds, and read books, magazines, and journals. Who can we trust to tell the truth? This course will help you better understand your role and responsibility in creating new knowledge, in understanding the changing dynamics of the world of information, and in using information, data, and scholarship ethically. We will explore your role as a consumer as well as a producer of information, using the Association of College & Research Libraries’ new Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education as a conceptual basis to think about the information that swirls around us. We’ll use informed skepticism to view how authority is constructed, we’ll examine the iterative process of asking increasingly complex questions to find answers, and we’ll discover how our own voices fit into the ongoing scholarly conversation. In this course, we’ll use the library as starting point as we satisfy our curiosity about the information ecosystem and where we fit in. 3 credits.

Theory? Practice? Combination!

 

By raider of gin from Traralgon, Australia (Book cat) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Hashtag Truth: Skepticism and Skills for Exploring the Information Ecosystem is a course that will attempt to combine practical skills with theoretical concepts. With the new conceptual ACRL Framework as its underlying structure, the course is ripe for a deeper examination of ideas rather than simply learning how to get from point A to point B. Yes. There will be skills-based exercises, but to meet the student learning outcome of critically analyzing complex issues and ideas and communicating that thinking effectively, it will be necessary to encourage students to look beyond the surface. To quote F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind and still retain the ability to function." This will be our goal, to show students that there is more than one possible answer and to encourage open minds when examining opposing views. It is hoped that students completing our class will pass Fitzgerald's test.

In regard to the subject, information fluency is both convergent and divergent. Right now, there are opposing factions even among library professionals regarding the new ACRL Framework. Some would like to hold fast to the ACRL standards, which had a more convergent approach to information literacy. Some would like to embrace the more conceptual ACRL Framework, which is more divergent. We would like to present the best of both worlds.

Great Expectations: The Context of the Learning Situation

 

By Jameslwoodward (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The title for the course under development is Hashtag Truth: Skepticism and Skills for Exploring the Information Ecosystem. In the previous post, the student learning outcomes from the university for the Freshman Foundations is: The student critically analyzes and communicates complex issues and ideas. This outcome is broad and open to many interpretations, so to narrow the focus for this course, a series of six course learning outcomes were developed that correspond to the six frames of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.  

• Ask increasingly complex questions and seek multiple perspectives while gathering and assessing information.
•  Identify and evaluate a range of information sources and maintain mental flexibility to pursue alternative avenues as understanding develops.
• Ask relevant questions about the origins, context, and authority of information while challenging the everyday acceptance of information quality.
• Recognize underlying processes of information creation and apply accepted processes in creating their own work.
• Articulate several dimensions of information value, including giving credit to the original ideas of others and making informed choices about the commodification of their personal information.
•  Develop familiarity with scholarly communication in a given discipline by analyzing how insights and discoveries reflect varied perspectives and interpretations.

    We hope that these action-based outcomes underscore the ideals of information fluency.

Defining the Teaching/Learning Situation

By Tomwsulcer (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

For the teaching/learning situation, the goal is to design a 16-week, for-credit credit course that aligns with the student learning outcomes for Freshman Foundations, a form of FYE instruction. The course will be delivered face-to-face to between 25 and 30 students and meet twice a week for one hour and fifteen minutes per session. This new course will use team-teaching with two librarians sharing duties. Because this course must align with the student learning outcome set by the university, it will not be restricted to just library instruction, but will cross over into critical thinking and writing. The current student learning outcome for Freshman Foundations is as follows: The student critically analyzes and communicates complex issues and ideas. Ideally, the course will incorporate the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education as the underlying structure.

Since there is no way of knowing what classroom will be assigned, it is unknown if there will be computers or if students would need to bring in their laptops, which can make designing class activities difficult. This would be especially true of class activities that require access to the internet or library databases. Most students have laptops, so problems may be negligible.

The Focus

 

By Leif Skandsen (Nikon F55 Uploaded by tm) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

My main focus for this workshop is on the course that I currently have in development: a 16-week Freshman Foundations class. The course is not a library course per se, but we intend to base it on the ACRL Framework. I also hope to use these design essentials in the critical reasoning course that I teach at a community college. The college is making a shift from the current LMS to Canvas, which grants me an opportunity to revamp.