Information Literacy across Contexts: Situating Information Practices, Teaching for Transfer, and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy
Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Room 217
Proposal
The context-dependent nature of information practices, in combination with the multiple and complex ways in which individuals engage with and create information, make clear the importance of learning transfer to information literacy education. Research on learning transfer indicates that pedagogical practices that supports learning transfer include:
- the development of conceptual frameworks that enable students to recognize patterns and connections between ideas
- attention to affective dimensions of learning (such as dispositions and motivation), and
- opportunities for metacognitive thinking
The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education appears to apply many of the research findings on transfer to its proposed pedagogy. The document is structured around six interconnected conceptual understandings, which offer a vocabulary for articulating ideas central to information practices across numerous contexts, and the Framework’s attention to dispositions and to metacognitive thinking reflect the importance of the affective learning domain and of reflection. However, perhaps because of the document’s primary purposes and scope, its discussion of transfer is limited.
In this presentation an academic librarian will review educational research on learning transfer, will explore its connections to the ACRL Framework, and will consider the pedagogical implications of these intersections. Particular attention will be given to studies of transfer from English composition, which as librarian Rebecca Z. Kuglitsch points out, are especially useful for considering transfer in relation to information literacy (given that writing and information literacy are often considered generalizable skills that are relevant across the disciplines). After exploring the intersections between the Framework and these studies, the presenter will consider practical takeaways for librarians teaching in a range of contexts.
Short Description
The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education appears to apply many of the research findings on learning transfer to its proposed pedagogy, though the document provides limited explicit discussion of transfer. This presenter explores educational research on learning transfer (in particular that from English composition) and its pedagogical implications in relation to the ACRL Framework.
Keywords
learning transfer, ACRL Framework, composition studies
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Baer, Andrea, "Information Literacy across Contexts: Situating Information Practices, Teaching for Transfer, and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy" (2016). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 55.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2016/2016/55
Information Literacy across Contexts: Situating Information Practices, Teaching for Transfer, and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy
Room 217
The context-dependent nature of information practices, in combination with the multiple and complex ways in which individuals engage with and create information, make clear the importance of learning transfer to information literacy education. Research on learning transfer indicates that pedagogical practices that supports learning transfer include:
- the development of conceptual frameworks that enable students to recognize patterns and connections between ideas
- attention to affective dimensions of learning (such as dispositions and motivation), and
- opportunities for metacognitive thinking
The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education appears to apply many of the research findings on transfer to its proposed pedagogy. The document is structured around six interconnected conceptual understandings, which offer a vocabulary for articulating ideas central to information practices across numerous contexts, and the Framework’s attention to dispositions and to metacognitive thinking reflect the importance of the affective learning domain and of reflection. However, perhaps because of the document’s primary purposes and scope, its discussion of transfer is limited.
In this presentation an academic librarian will review educational research on learning transfer, will explore its connections to the ACRL Framework, and will consider the pedagogical implications of these intersections. Particular attention will be given to studies of transfer from English composition, which as librarian Rebecca Z. Kuglitsch points out, are especially useful for considering transfer in relation to information literacy (given that writing and information literacy are often considered generalizable skills that are relevant across the disciplines). After exploring the intersections between the Framework and these studies, the presenter will consider practical takeaways for librarians teaching in a range of contexts.
