Librarian role-playing as a method for assessing student information literacy skills

Researchers and practitioners alike have long investigated the effectiveness of information literacy instruction, addressing what to measure regarding student learning and how to measure it. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we review measures and methods that have been developed to assess student learning that results from information literacy instruction. We then present a study in which we employed a new research method of librarian role-playing to examine the extent to which college students are capable of demonstrating their information literacy skills while acting as an academic librarian. We also incorporated card-sorting exercises, asking about their perceived search difficulty before and after the role-playing exercise. Ten role-playing sessions were conducted by recruiting undergraduate students who had attended an information literacy instruction session 3-4-months prior as a part of their English writing course. Results showed that the librarian role-playing method provided opportunities for participants to recall and reflect upon what they learned from information literacy instruction effectively. Results also indicated that the role-playing method is potentially effective in developing students’ meta-cognition about their search behavior.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151962/1/pra218_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151962/2/pra218.pd

Adolescenti i vrednovanje kredibiliteta u digitalnom okruženju iz aspekta informirane odluke

Cilj. Rad donosi pregled dosadašnjih spoznaja o načinu na koji adolescenti procjenjuju kredibilitet informacija i izvora informacija te ih sagledava iz aspekta donošenja informiranih odluka. Radom se želi ukazati na važnost razvijanja vještina adolescenata za učinkovito vrednovanje informacija s obzirom na ulogu informacija u procesu donošenju informiranih odluka. Metodologija. Istraživanje je provedeno metodom analize sadržaja jedanaest oda- branih objavljenih znanstvenih članaka koji se bave načinom na koji adolescenti procjenjuju kredibilitet informacija i izvora informacija. Radovi su analizirani s obzirom na sljedeće kategorije: načini na koje adolescenti procjenjuju kredibilitet informacija i izvora informacija, pojave koje mogu umanjiti uspješnost vrednovanja kredibiliteta i uzrokovati korištenje informacija koje nisu kredibilne, utjecaj dobi na procjenu kredibiliteta i implikacije za obrazovne programe medijskog i informacijskog opismenjavanja Rezultati. Adolescenti često nemaju dovoljno razvijene vještine za učinkovitu pro- cjenu kredibiliteta informacija i izvora informacija. Iako u nekim slučajevima vode računa o glavnim aspektima kredibiliteta i primjenjuju odgovarajuće postupke potvrde kredibiliteta informacija, u pregledanim istraživanjima utvrđene su pojave koje mogu voditi lošim procjenama kredibiliteta i loše utjecati na proces donošenja informirane odluke. Programi za medijsko i informacijsko opismenjavanje trebaju se usmjeriti na razumijevanje svrhe vrednovanja informacija i razumijevanje procesa mišljenja te na razvoj sposobnosti kritičkog mišljenja adolescenata. Potrebno je provoditi daljnja istraživanja vrednovanja kredibiliteta među adolescentima usmjerena na posebne skupine korisnika te specifične kontekste stjecanja, vrednovanja i korištenja informacija. Ograničenja. Rezultati istraživanja ograničeni su na jedanaest radova pronađenih pretraživanjem baza WoS i Scopus i objavljenih 2001. – 2021. Praktična primjena. Dobivena saznanja usmjeravaju programe informacijskog opismenjavanja prema razumijevanju svrhe i procesa vrednovanja informacija te razvoju kritičnog mišljenja. Predložena daljnja istraživanja mogu dati rezultate koji će pomoći u osmišljavanju programa za medijsko i informacijsko opismenjavanje adolescenata. Vrijednost. Rad ukazuje na važnost učinkovitog vrednovanja informacija u procesu donošenja informiranih odluka. Donosi uvid u dosadašnje spoznaje, iznosi implikacije za poučavanje adolescenata informacijskoj pismenosti te nudi smjer za daljnja istraživanja

Assessing the Health Information Source Perceptions of Tweens Using Card-Sorting Exercises

As young people are increasingly turning to the Internet to meet their information needs, it is imperative to investigate their perceptions regarding various potential sources of health information. A series of card-sorting exercises were administered to new participants in an after-school programme (HackHealth) to find out which sources of health information these greater Washington DC metro area middle school students would turn to, which they would not and their reasons behind these judgements. The findings revealed that participants were very aware of the importance of trustworthiness when looking for health information and they valued both professional expertise based on formal education and expertise born of personal experience with a particular health condition. However, they also valued convenience, ease and speed, and sometimes sacrificed information quality. Some important implications of these findings for healthcare and information professionals are identified and suggestions for future research in this area are offered

Acculturation of immigrant students in a higher education learning environment: Assimilation as 'false consciousness'

Acculturation is the process of immigrant adaptation when a minority culture comes into contact with the dominant majority culture in a host society. While changes in values, beliefs and behaviours occur in both groups as a result of contact, these changes are more prominent in the minority group. The thesis explores the process of acculturation of a group of New Zealand higher education immigrant students from their initial learning environment to their current university learning environment. Acculturation theory is led by John Berry, whose 1997 model proposes that immigrants will select one of four adaptation strategies. These include assimilation into the mainstream with a loss of one’s own culture, and integration involving retention of one’s own culture (in the private domain) and adoption of mainstream culture (in the public domain, which includes the education sector). Extending this concept to its logical conclusion, integration in education contexts involves a process of assimilation into the mainstream education system. The purpose of this study was to explore and explain the nature of participants’ education acculturation in a higher education learning environment, drawing on the concept of assimilation as ‘false consciousness’. This key concept is used to uncover the acculturation belief that assimilation into the mainstream learning environment is required by the dominant group, expected by the immigrant group and then normalised through the socialisation process of education for social reproduction rather than social transformation. The contextual influences in New Zealand of a political commitment to biculturalism (dating from 1840 when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between indigenous Māori tribes and the British Crown) within a multicultural (multi-ethnic) society add complexity to the nature of the education system and the immigrant acculturation experience. The qualitative research approach was constructionist and interpretive, using two main theoretical lenses: Bronfenbrenner’s (1993) socio-ecological theory as a structuring and contextualising model; and Berry’s (1997) acculturation theory, against which the participant experiences were scrutinised and critiqued with a particular focus on the integration strategy. A rich data set was collected from eight immigrant student participants using a bricolage of four methods: rich pictures, questionnaire, interview and card sort. Data were analysed using Maxwell’s (2012) complementary contiguity-based and similarity-based analyses approaches. Findings revealed a set of contradictions between preferences and practices associated with acculturation in the higher education learning environment. While assimilation marked the participants’ experience, and assimilation as ‘false consciousness’ had been strongly internalised to the extent that participants had no expectations beyond the status quo, I make an argument for a multicultural and intercultural approach to replace the assimilationist approach within Berry’s (1997) integration strategy. A theoretical model of broader historico-political and sociocultural contexts is presented to reflect influences on the immigrant student in the learning environment. When applied to the New Zealand context, further contradictions and disconnections are revealed. The main contribution to practice centres on an argument to internationalise the curriculum at home. This would benefit immigrant students as well as all students in a higher education learning environment. At my university, such a proposal is well aligned with the strategic goal that all graduates will have an international experience. Through an internationalised curriculum, the university can provide multicultural practice and intercultural opportunities while also acknowledging the value of the currently invisible immigrant group

Youth digital culture co-creation: measuring social impact in Scotland

This thesis examines youth workers’ and young people’s perceptions of social impact and social impact evaluation of youth digital culture co-creation in Scotland. The analysis is made in relation to academic domains including (but not limited) to Human Computer Interaction, Information Science, Social Impact Assessment, Youth Studies, and Community Development. A sequential qualitative methodology was applied to gather data, underpinned by Charmaz’s (2014) Constructivist Grounded Theory. The methods utilised included interviews, a focus group, and youth participatory workshops.The findings provide new insights into how social impact is perceived by digital youth workers and young people, and into the associated challenges of social impact evaluation. It is evidenced that both groups struggle to strike a balance between following externally-imposed social impact definitions and facilitating authentic and meaningful analysis of the social impact of digital youth projects. Resultant tensions between targets and authenticity in the digital youth sector in Scotland might lead to a lack of critical understanding of the actual social impact, and thus young people's real digital needs, aspirations, and skills shortages.The contribution of this thesis is founded upon an analysis of youth workers’ and young people’s experiences of digital youth project evaluation. This thesis also provides a summary and analysis of digital youth related literature and policy activities since the year 2000 in Scotland. The findings are used to develop recommendations for academia and practice, policy makers, and digital youth project funders. Findings relating to young people’s and youth workers’ recommendations with regards to social impact evaluation of youth digital projects in Scotland are presented. It is posited that an improved evaluation approach should be (1) accessible, (2) anonymised, (3) digital, (4) encouraging of critical thinking, (5) independent of funding, (6) informed, (7) participatory, (8) playful, (9) serendipitous, and (10) well-timed