Loughborough University Library: Open Journals
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Distance learning as alterity: facilitating the experience of variation and professional information practice
Get PDFInformed learning (Bruce, 2008) is a pedagogic framework that aims to enable students to use information to learn through the experience of variation in the relational frame. The research described in this paper comes from a larger project called Stewarding and Power In Digital Educational Resources (SPIDER) and we describe how the mixing of campus based and distance students has been used to enhance informed learning within a postgraduate degree unit. The original contribution is to investigate the specific impact of ‘alterity’ (Linell, 2009) on the experience of variation. Online group tasks mixed campus and distance students together and we studied the various ways that students used information to learn. Evidence from discussion board posts supports our claims that discussion board activities enable dialogues and that diversity within the learning community enhances learning through alterity. We conclude that online learning has much to offer information literacy education, whether used alone or when campus based and distance students are given online tasks to do together. This paper brings new insight to the field of information literacy education by showing how distance learning brings a distinct quality to information literacy pedagogy, as it provides specific opportunities for learners to teach each other and then make critically-informed judgements about contexts, information and technology with which they are unfamiliar. We suggest that similar pedagogic approaches could be adopted in other disciplines and contexts. Given the increasing diversity present within higher education, such approaches are potentially very valuable. 
Silence
No full textI’m sure many will have experienced a similar situation. I was attending a conference, and – having queued up to register and collect the conference pack of goodies – was browsing through the programme of presentations to see what were the hot topics of the day and wondering what would catch my interest. One of the titles jumped out at me. It was about silence and specifically the value of silence for learning. One of the reasons that I was intrigued by it was the counterpoint that it provided to my own contribution to the conference – that was about discussion and the value of ‘design-talk’ as a design development tool. So I was immediately set speculating about how these two apparent opposites (talk and silence) could both be valuable in learning.The whole thing gets more complicated when we recognise that talking and thinking are so intimately connected
Design Literacy in General Education
No full textI had the pleasure of attending several sessions of the DRS2016 50th anniversary conference in Brighton this summer. Many of them were linked to the conference theme ‘Future-focused thinking’. In reflecting on the theme, I would argue that design education for the general public has never been more important. The challenges we face in the future will require responsible design-oriented thinking and acting by more than just professional designers and engineers. Global environmental challenges require the general public to act responsibly in their roles as decision makers, purchasers and consumers.
Using audience response systems to enhance student engagement and learning in information literacy teaching
Get PDFOne of the key challenges in Information Literacy (IL) teaching in higher education is ensuring student engagement. As such, active learning approaches are encouraged in order to maximise student participation and interaction with the teaching. The use of audience response systems (ARSs) is one active learning approach which is being used increasingly in IL teaching. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of ARSs in terms of increased engagement and student learning. Previous research has explored the use of ARSs as an active learning approach in comparison to traditional lectures, but this study aims to specifically examine the effectiveness of these tools as part of an active learning pedagogy. Most existing studies have looked at a single ARS, usually clickers. With an increase in availability and functionality of online tools, and discussions at a university level about moving to a single system which makes use of students’ own devices, this study also aims to compare the effectiveness of clickers and online ARSs. A controlled study was carried out on two cohorts of medical students at Queen Mary University of London comparing the use of clickers, online response tools, or a mixture of the two, to teaching without ARSs. Class observation and student evaluation were used to measure student engagement, and quizzes and student confidence levels to measure student learning. Results of the study showed that ARSs, when used as part of an active learning pedagogy, are an effective tool in terms of increasing student engagement, and have a generally positive impact on student learning, with online tools being slightly more effective than clickers. The study provides evidence which can be used by IL practitioners to help integrate ARSs into their teaching as well as inform institutional decisions on the use of these tools
A Dialogue Between Fashion Designer and Client
Get PDFThis paper describes the first of a series of case studies exploring the use of drawing as part of the dialogue between fashion designer and client, with this initial study focused on the creation of a bespoke garment for a client in the music industry. A significant aspect of this commission was that the designer and client were geographically separated and much of their communication for the design process was facilitated by scanned drawings sent via email. The use of drawing was recorded and analyzed through the various stages of communication between designer and client in the design process and both achieved a mutual confidence in their own use and understanding of drawing to an extent that collaboration almost entirely reliant on drawing could be envisaged for future work
Broussard, M. S. 2017. Reading, research, and writing: teaching information literacy with process-based research assignments
Get PDFInformation literacy and informed learning: conceptual innovations for IL research and practice futures.
Get PDFOur paper draws together conceptual innovations emerging from the work of a group of researchers focussed on the relational approach to information literacy, more recently labelled ‘informed learning’. Team members have been working together in various configurations for periods ranging from seven to seventeen years. Our collaborative approach continues to yield new concepts and constructs which we believe to be of value to ongoing research and practice. Some of the ideas discussed have been previouly published, while others are being put forward for the first time. All are significant in that they together form new constructs that have emerged from a focus on the relational approach to information literacy. In this paper, Christine Bruce introduces the background to this work and the contributing researchers. Then the individual authors present the key directions which they have developed and are leading, typically working with one or more of the wider network. The key ideas presented are: The expressive window for information literacy (Mandy Lupton); information experience design (Elham Sayyad Abdi); cross-contextuality and experienced identity (Andrew Demasson); informed learning design (Clarence Maybee); spaces for inclusive informed learning (Hilary Hughes); and informed systems (Mary Somerville and Anita Mirjamdotter). In each piece, authors reflect on what the idea is about, where it came from and what it might mean for research and practice.
Information literacy: conceptions, context and the formation of a discipline
Get PDFIn this article the authors argue that progress in the development of information literacy (IL) has been hindered by tendencies such as: denying that information literacy is even a subject, paying exclusive attention to forces outside the discipline and forming information literacy silos. The authors start by reflecting on formative developments in information literacy outside North America in the late 1990s-early 2000s, and noting that IL has not evolved from that period as much as one might expect. They identify hindrances to information literacy’s formation as a discipline, and relate their discussion to changing notions of disciplinarity. The authors present ‘Information Literacy in the lifecourse’ as an example focus which could stimulate engagement from researchers and practitioners who are currently situated in different information literacy silos. They conclude that taking a disciplinary and lifecourse approach to information literacy would open up opportunities for working in a collegiate way, both within the information literacy community and with those outside it, and provide a more robust foundation for influencing policy
