Re-Defining Information Literacy in a For-Credit Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar
Type of Presentation
Panel (1 hour and 15 minutes presentation total for two or more presenters)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Room 211
Abstract
In February 2014, ACRL released the first part of a more holistic information literacy framework in draft form. Developed partly in response to what ACRL calls the “limited, almost formulaic approach” of the previous standards, the draft framework emphasizes, among other things, “sense-making and metacognition” across disciplinary contexts. Grounded in this more nuanced, explicitly interdisciplinary view of information literacy, this presentation will focus on the presenters’ recent experience creating and teaching a 300-level honors seminar, “New Media and the Information Society.” This course explores the intellectual, cultural, and political impact of new media technologies and information systems, functioning as an advanced seminar on information literacy, broadly conceived. While our course predates the appearance of the new ACRL framework, we will argue that our pedagogical approach represents an initial attempt to come to terms with information literacy as a genuinely complex, holistic, and interdisciplinary concept. From this perspective, we will discuss various aspects of the course, including a final assignment that asks students to conduct primary and secondary research, as well as create a short digital story. We will show clips from student work, describing the assignment structure and the information literacy outcomes. As an exercise in “sense-making and metacognition,” this assignment requires students to serve as content producers, rather than just consumers, and to engage in higher order information literacy practices. Additionally, our presentation will explain how partnerships with our university’s Honors Program and Digital Media Suite were integral to the teaching of information literacy at this advanced level.
Presentation Description
In this presentation, we will discuss our attempt to come to terms with information literacy as a genuinely complex, holistic, and interdisciplinary concept in the context of a 300-level Honors Seminar. From this perspective, we will highlight various aspects of the course, including a final assignment that asks students to conduct primary and secondary research, as well as create a short digital story. We will show clips from student work, describing the assignment structure and the information literacy outcomes. As an exercise in “sense-making and metacognition,” this assignment requires students to serve as content producers, rather than just consumers, and to engage in higher order information literacy practices.
Keywords
interdisciplinary information literacy; for-credit information literacy; alternative research assignments; multi-modal research practices; technology; campus collaboration
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Detmering, Robert and Johnson, Anna Marie, "Re-Defining Information Literacy in a For-Credit Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar" (2014). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 3.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2014/2014/3
Re-Defining Information Literacy in a For-Credit Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar
Room 211
In February 2014, ACRL released the first part of a more holistic information literacy framework in draft form. Developed partly in response to what ACRL calls the “limited, almost formulaic approach” of the previous standards, the draft framework emphasizes, among other things, “sense-making and metacognition” across disciplinary contexts. Grounded in this more nuanced, explicitly interdisciplinary view of information literacy, this presentation will focus on the presenters’ recent experience creating and teaching a 300-level honors seminar, “New Media and the Information Society.” This course explores the intellectual, cultural, and political impact of new media technologies and information systems, functioning as an advanced seminar on information literacy, broadly conceived. While our course predates the appearance of the new ACRL framework, we will argue that our pedagogical approach represents an initial attempt to come to terms with information literacy as a genuinely complex, holistic, and interdisciplinary concept. From this perspective, we will discuss various aspects of the course, including a final assignment that asks students to conduct primary and secondary research, as well as create a short digital story. We will show clips from student work, describing the assignment structure and the information literacy outcomes. As an exercise in “sense-making and metacognition,” this assignment requires students to serve as content producers, rather than just consumers, and to engage in higher order information literacy practices. Additionally, our presentation will explain how partnerships with our university’s Honors Program and Digital Media Suite were integral to the teaching of information literacy at this advanced level.
