Education Commons^™

Spectators Or Patriots? Citizens In The Information Age, Amrita Dhawan

Publications and Research

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In theory, a strong democracy rests on robust citizen participation. The practice in most democracies is quite different. This gap presents a challenge, which can be narrowed by augmenting civic education to bring it up to date with the current information environment and thus give citizens the opportunity to participate. Robert Dahl’s work on democracy provides a model that looks at this problem structurally. He writes about the ideals and the actual institutions necessary for a democracy and if we situate his model in the modern information environment we get a better idea of how to improve civic education. Successful …

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Teaching Students To Fish: Creating A Sustainable Student Peer Research Program, Mallory R. Jallas, Meggan D. Smith

All Musselman Library Staff Works

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A Peer Research Mentor (PRM) program was developed at Musselman Library, Gettysburg College to augment traditional reference services and expand library outreach. Goals included enhancing these students’ information literacy skills helping them become better researchers, as well as sharing that knowledge with peers. This poster will highlight the initial and on-going training, their involvement at the reference desk, and outreach projects to date.

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Library Instruction For First Year Students, Amrita Dhawan, Ching-Jung Chen

Publications and Research

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Purpose

– This paper aims to discuss the background, design and implementation of the new library instruction. When a new core curriculum for first-year students was adopted at the City College of New York in the fall of 2008, the City College Library took this opportunity to establish a new approach to teach library research to freshmen. Two library workshops were embedded into a six-credit combined content and writing course.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper documents the process by which the City College Library successfully transitioned to the new system and also reflects on the theory and practice of teaching information …

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Learning From Recent British Information Literacy Models: A Report To Acrl's Information Literacy Competency Standards For Higher Education Task Force, Justine Martin

Library Services Publications

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Information literacy is a fluid concept, shaped by our experiences, and changes in our information rich society. Guidelines articulating information literacy need modification to reflect the current form of this evolving concept. This report highlights the work of four groups in the United Kingdom to create innovative guidelines to assist practitioners in the promotion and teaching of information literacy.

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Refreshing Information Literacy: Learning From Recent British Information Literacy Models, Justine Martin

Library Services Publications

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Models play an important role in helping practitioners implement and promote information literacy. Over time models can lose relevance with the advances in technology, society, and learning theory. Practitioners and scholars often call for adaptations or transformations of these frameworks to articulate the learning needs in information literacy development. This study analyzes four recently published models from the United Kingdom. The initial findings were presented in a report for an ACRL taskforce reviewing the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. This article presents complementary, yet distinct findings from the same dataset that focus on reoccurring themes for information literacy …

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Connectivism And Information Literacy: Moving From Learning Theory To Pedagogical Practice, Beth M. Transue

Library Staff Presentations & Publications

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Connectivism is an emerging learning theory positing that knowledge comprises networked relationships and that learning comprises the ability to successfully navigate through these networks. Successful pedagogical strategies involve the instructor helping students to identify, navigate, and evaluate information from their learning networks. Many principles of connectivism align with the information literacy standards of the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Librarian educators should consider connectivism learning theory when implementing pedagogical strategies in the network domains of students.

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