LIS 5043 Information Literacy and Instruction Brenda Miner

March 13, 2015

LIS 5043 Information Literacy and Instruction

Schroeder, Robert and Ellysa Stern Cahoy. 2010. "Valuing Information Literacy: Affective Learning and the ACRL Standards." portal: Li-braries and the Academy, 10(2): 127-146.

Building project

Lengthy book processing

Lack of personnel

History

ACRL Standards developed

in January 2000

Focused on cognitive needs

Standards need to include

affective aspects

Affective deals with the in-

trinsic values

*Standards were revised in-

to Frameworks in 2015

*Recent Development

History

Background

Developed in 2000 by the American Library Association, ACRL

Standards changed the focus from the bibliographic instruction

to information literacy. These standards were revised into the

ACRL Frameworks in February 2015.

According to the article, ACRL Standards have focused on the

cognitive needs of students and have neglected the affective

needs of students.

There are various definitions for the affective domain, but all

definitions show that it is intrinsic. It includes one’s attitudes

and emotions, including motivation.

St. Edward’s University

Researchers

Information Search Process

Mellon

Students and anxiety about the library

Bostick

Library Anxiety Scale

“Affect and the Library”

Several researchers have analyzed the relationship between

students and their feelings about the research process and the

library.

Looking at computer anxiety within the library has been the

focus of Diane Nahl’s work. Her research has used affective

lead theory and coping skills. Marc Prensky’s research found

that computer anxiety continues to be a concern with the new

generation of college students even though they are known as

being “Digital Natives.”

Affect and the Library

Kuhlthau’s

Carol Kuhlthau developed the Information Search Process

where students go through different feelings when research-

ing. These feelings include both negative and positive emo-

tions.

In the 1980s, Constance Mellon conducted a study involving first-

year college students and the anxiety they have about the library.

Mellon’s work led to Sharon Bostick’s development of a Library

Anxiety Scale.

Nahl

Computer anxiety

Prensky

Computer anxiety and Digital Natives

Building project

Lengthy book processing

Lack of personnel

IL Standards

Institutional Effectiveness

Professional Values

Educational Role

Discovery

Collections

Space

Management/

Administration

Personnel

External Relations

Source: http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/

ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/slhe.pdf

ACRL Performance

Indicators

Information Literacy Standards

There are standards for both higher education and public

school as well as international standards. The Association of

College and Research Libraries (ACRL), American Association

of School Libraries (AASL), and the International Society for

Technology in Education (ISTE) have all produced information

literacy standards.

These standards have evolved from focusing on cognitive skills

acquired by the individual to teaching an entire body of stu-

dents through collective learning.

The AASL standards focus on “collaborative work, social net-

working, critical thinking, and creativity in learning how to use

information.” The emphasis is placed on inquiry and technolo-

gy and the relationship between behaviors and attitudes.

An ACRL task force created standards that are “cognitive, fo-

cusing intently competencies relevant to finding and using in-

formation effectively and ethically.”

Affective Dispositions and Infor-

mation Literacy

Inquisitive with regard to a range

of issues

Become and remain well-

informed

Aware of opportunities to use IL

Trust in purposeful and reliable

inquiry

Consider alternatives and opin-

ions

Reconsider and revise views when

needed

Seek relevant information

Persist through difficulties

“Affective Information Literacy Standards and Model

While the affective competencies are more difficult to meas-

ure, it should be a part of the information literacy standards.

This places an importance on the students’ learning and gives

a more complete representation of the information process.

Affective Information Literacy Standards

Barbara Stipling’s research has emphasized the importance

of “habits of mind” or internalization when learning.

ACRL standards emphasize the need for students to locate,

evaluate, and use information ethically, but these standards

need to add the affective aspect of learning. By including this

domain, students’ critical thinking skills would benefit, and it

would incorporate the research conducted by Kuhlthau,

Krathwohl, Bloom, and Masia. The goal is to have students

internalize their learning to become lifelong learners.

Instruction and Assessment

Apprehensive about the information

seeking process

Librarians

Aware of students’ apprehension and

try to alleviate it

Awareness

Students who were instructed in the

affective aspect of the ISP saw a re-

duction in anxiety

Affective Learning Outcomes, Instruction, and Assessment

Librarians currently try to alleviate students’ anxieties about the information seeking process through library orientations and various workshops. Since librarians are already aware of students’ anxiety when it come to information literacy, to in-clude affective learning outcomes would not create additional work.

To add an affective goal to incorporate the Information Seeking Process would acknowledge the students’ feelings. This would allow the students to understand their apprehension and work out a plan to overcome obstacles. Research has proven that through instruction on the emotions experienced during the information process, there is an increase in students’ confi-dence.

Continued efforts to lessen the anxiety and emotional distress that students feel during the information seeking process can be evaluated through questionnaires, surveys, logs, checklists, or observation.

Affective Learning Outcomes, Instruction, and Assessment

Students

Evaluate

Through questionnaires, surveys, logs,

checklists, and/or observations

The ACRL and AASL standards have created much

needed objectives for librarians when instructing

students in the information seeking process. How-

ever, these objectives did not take into account the

affective or emotional aspect of information seek-

ing. The affective learning is important in the crea-

tion of lifelong learners who are not only aware of

when and how to seek information, evaluate the re-

sults, and use the information ethically, but are also

aware of the anxiety and apprehensions that are

considered a part of the process. It is only through

instruction and in understanding the information

seeking process that students will gain confidence

and experience success.

SUMMARY

LIS 5503 Information Literacy and Instruction

Brenda Miner

March 13, 2015

Schroeder, Robert and Ellysa Stern Cahoy. 2010. "Valuing Information Literacy: Affective Learning and the ACRL Standards." portal: Libraries and the Academy, 10(2): 127-146.

Note: The new ACRL Frameworks were published February 2015 include “ways in which to address the affective, attitudinal, or valuing dimension of learn-ing.” The Frameworks can be found at http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework..

http://issuu.com/brendaminer/docs/