Loughborough University Library: Open Journals
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School libraries, political information and information literacy provision: findings from a Scottish study.
Get PDFThis paper presents the findings of research which explored Scottish school libraries’ information provision and information literacy (IL) support in the run-up to two major political events: the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum (SIR) and the 2015 General UK Parliamentary Election (GE). To do this, the project identified, through an online survey, what political information seeking secondary school students engaged in through school libraries, what information provision and IL support was available to students relating to political issues and events, and what barriers school libraries faced in providing these aspects of political education. It also identified what information seeking students engaged in, what levels of information provision and IL support relating to politics are provided by school libraries, and to explore the perceptions and experiences of library staff relating to work in this area. Analysis of the results indicates that there are mixed levels of provision across school libraries in Scotland and that this variation may be influenced by inconsistent policies from local councils and individual schools themselves, as well as variations in the experience and views of library staff. Key activities to support young people’s political education are identified, and several reasons library staff do not engage in political work are discussed. The findings are linked to previous research, with a discussion of the need to encourage and support school library staff to contribute to the political education of students alongside teaching staff. Several recommendations for schools and library staff are made, relating to a consideration of the role of school libraries, how they can provide relevant political information, the importance of clear policies around political information provision and the support required for school library workers.
The North Bank
Get PDFBefore Christmas I was interested to read that some of the
great champagne houses in France are starting to buy up
property in Kent and Sussex. “Champagne house Taittinger
buys Kent apple orchard” (BBC News 10th Dec 2015).
Apparently the south facing chalky hillsides are ideal for
growing Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines. I
have been mulling over this north bank issue for some
time, and Taittinger can be blamed for finally tipping the
balance and forcing me to formalise my thoughts
Using the I-LEARN model for information literacy instruction
Get PDFWith the increasing availability of information and the importance of lifelong information literacy (IL) skills, instructional designers, school media specialists, and librarians need to determine how to best design IL teaching in order to help students locate, evaluate, and use information more effectively. This paper describes the first experimental research study conducted to determine how teaching designed using the I-LEARN model could increase student understanding and application of IL concepts and offer recommendations for future implementations of the model. The experimental study described in this article examined whether IL skills teaching designed using the I-LEARN model increased student understanding and application of IL concepts. The experimental group received an instruction session and a library research guide designed using the I-LEARN model, and the control group received an instruction session and a library research guide designed using a systems model. While the analysis of the results of pre- and post-test scores and scores on a citation analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups, students in the experimental group used the I-LEARN-designed research guide more often than students in the control group and self-reported benefits of using the I-LEARN-designed research guide
Anticipative Drawing
Get PDFPresence and anticipation share from an etymological point of view a ‘previous to’ and ‘pre’ quality. As a result, presence and anticipation resonate with processes of continuous becoming. By means of Rosi Braidotti’s nomadic thinking, this paper explores continuous and multiple becomings in order to develop a creative reading from them. Firstly, nomadic thinking is explored from (and for) a drawer’s point of view, rather than articulating a review or critique on Braidotti’s work. Secondly, a reflection is assembled on the process of drawing and presence, through pairing nomadic thinking with the embodied encounter through drawing. Anticipative acts in drawing will therefore be considered as a specific type of encountering, sensing and connecting. Moreover, anticipative gestures will be presented as a tactic for continuous becoming. The underlying motive for writing this paper is an inquiry into what thoughts can be developed when accepting the invitation from drawings to think.
Student perspectives: redesigning a research assignment handout through the academic literacies model
Get PDFThis study explores student responses to a research assignment handout that was redesigned in light of the recommendations from a 2010 Project Information Literacy report. Framed through Lea and Street’s Academic Literacies model, which positions information literacy as a social and situated practice rather than as a generic skill set or a process of socialisation, this study uses a descriptive survey method (annotations and a questionnaire) to demonstrate that the addition of disciplinary context helped to scaffold students’ critical engagement with scholarly conventions as well as with the broader information landscape. The study concludes by calling for renewed librarian engagement with alternative theoretical frameworks of literacy as well as the inclusion of student perspectives into studies of academic learning.
Female Technology Education Teachers’ Experiences of Finnish Craft Education
Get PDFIn order to introduce a more equitable gender balance in
education and consequently in the labour market, it is
highly relevant to continue to expand our knowledge of
technology education and to give attention to gender
related issues. The ultimate purpose of this study was to
contribute to efforts to get more women to study
technology and pursue technological careers by
investigating their experiences. To approach this, the aim
was to offer an overview of the gendered processes that
girls and women may experience when studying and
working in the area of technical craft and technology
education.
The study was carried out using semi-structured theme
interviews, and the data were collected from November to
December 2014. The study group consisted of seven
female teachers of technical craft and technology
education working in basic education schools. A qualitative
theory-oriented thematic analysis was carried out through
the identification, coding, analysis and reporting of patterns
within the data. The findings revealed that all of the
participants had experienced gendered patterns in terms
of divisions of labour, construction of symbols and images
and interactions between women and men. It is hoped
that the findings of this study will facilitate the
implementation of supportive interventions in the future
Pre-service Teachers’ Conclusive Principles for Teaching Technology Education
Get PDFWhat enduring knowledge and understanding from tertiary
education study will learners remember most that will
contribute to their on-going performance and
understanding for effective teaching? This paper is based
on research undertaken to identify what third-year initial
teacher education students in a course including
Technology Education curriculum development conclude
as important principles for teaching that discipline
effectively in their classrooms. Their course-concluding
principles should be seen as first steps or thoughts as they
transition from university into their first appointments and
begin teaching. Literature on personal epistemologies
(Brownlee, Schraw & Berthelsen, 2011) identifies that preservice
teachers’ awareness will also be reflective of prior
experiences they have had in the community and from
teachers they have been exposed to and that their naïve
epistemologies will give way to more sophisticated beliefs
and practices as their confidence and understanding
develops. The students’ conclusive principles were
analysed to identify the nature of their understanding and
as a guide to what teaching in this discipline might look
like as they begin their teaching career
Book review of Secker, J. and Morrison, C. (eds). 2016. Copyright and E-learning: a guide for practitioners. 2nd ed., London: Facet.
Get PDFThe Listening Gaze
Get PDFA reflection on the impact of portrait sketching as a mode of active presence. 'Portrait Sketch Encounter' was a series of sketches and conversations undertaken by artist Victoria Evans with members of the public over a three-day residency at Pig Rock Bothy, Modern One, Edinburgh, in October 2014, leading on from a previous portraiture project undertaken in 2012, which together have provoked her to ask questions about the nature of the sitter/artist dynamic and how ideas around presence, becoming, and interaction might be used to reimagine the contested territory of the gaze in art
Blind Drawing
Get PDFBlind drawing is an exercise based in phenomenological and experiential pedagogy which I do with students in every architecture design Studio I teach no matter the year level of their education. It is drawing blindfolded with charcoal and dry pastel on large sheets of paper using a guided conversation to evoke sensory experiences and abstract thought. It is a transformative exercise that changes students’ perceptions of drawing, image-making, representation of concepts, and offers alternatives to how architecture design Studio can perform. Removing outward-looking visual connections turns the students’ attention to inward perception and the imagination. These poetic drawings are embodied energy drawn out from the subconscious. This style of blind drawing is a disruption of perfectionism and establishes an embodied attitude for the design Studio by breaking through the fear of mark making and the intellectual self-criticality of ‘getting it right’.