Embedding

Information Literacy

into Second Level

School Curriculum: experiences of

Maynooth University

Elaine BeanThe Library

email: elaine.bean@nuim.ie

Tel: 00 353 1 708 6445

I will discuss

• Why we designed the programme

• How we selected schools

• The content

• How it has progressed

• Going forward

Why we designed the programme

• Aware that first year students at third level education face

significant challenges in adapting to a new information

environment

• Students are more familiar with rote learning

• Critical thinking or evaluating resources is new for most

• Opens people’s minds to coming to University

• Maynooth University Strategic Plan 2012-2017“To strengthen its engagement with all stakeholders through sustained partnerships with enterprises, communities, civil society and public bodies, to build support for the mission of the university, to serve the needs of society, and to open new opportunities for research and learning.”

Previous involvement with Schools

• Delivered an information literacy programme a number of

years ago to our local secondary school. Aimed at 2nd year

and 5th year students

• 1 double class – once-off training session

• Delivered by two members of staff

• Content needed more than one session, however, teachers were not in a position to give up class time

Designing a programme

• What were others doing?

• Universities were getting involved with schools

• Involvement varied

• Visits to the Library mostly

• What time of year suited us best?

• What school should we approach?

• What contact had Maynooth University already

made with schools – could we tie in with that?

What could we do?

• Designed a working outline including content for

each session and a proposal to present to a school

• Our programme was designed to go out to the

school to deliver the programme

• Designed and delivered by two members of staff

Our proposal

• Deliver the programme to transition year students• In a classroom setting

• Four weeks in the classroom ending with a visit to the Library

• Expose transition year students to the skills and techniques of information literacy to support them in their future transition to university or the world of work. • As such the programme goals include preparing transition year students for

experiences with information use beyond the classroom, towards continuing education, self-development and lifelong learning.

Transition Year is an optional one-year school programme that can be taken in the year after the Junior Certificate in Ireland and is intended to make the senior cycle a three-year

programme encompassing both Transition Year and Leaving Certificate. (Wikipedia)

How to select the schools

• Met with Assistant Registrar of Maynooth University to

discuss how to select the school – really valuable

meeting

• Gave details of schools in the surrounding area

• Alerted us to think about where there was more

than one school in the area – how/should you

select one?

• Approaching a school

• Look to meet with the Principal

The Content

Session 1: Preparing for your Assignment

• Searching V Researching

• Building your search

• Planning

• Top tips

Session 3: Using and Evaluating Resources

• Avoiding plagiarism

• Fake websites

Session 2: Accessing Resources & Social Media

• Searching public library catalogues

• Journal/books/newspapers

• Location numbers – various formats of material

• Digital footprint

• Job screening with social media

Visit to the Library

What works reflected in the feedback forms

• Lots of involvement

• Group and individual work

• Keep examples current

• Be prepared to debate your points

Engaging with games/hands on

activitiesBoolean Logic – stand up if you have brown

hair, stay up if you have brown hair and blue

eyes, stay standing if you have brown hair,

blue eyes and not wearing a watch

They could visually see searches

change as the search options changed

Avoiding Plagiarism – find current topics or

music they can relate to, have to look it up

themselves and tell you why – discuss in class

Trusting what they find – White house

website, look it up for themselves – CRAAP

checklist, Currency, Reliability, Accuracy,

Authority, Purpose

Feedback

• Very positive feedback from teachers and students – as the programme progressed, some

teachers asked to sit in on sessions and said they would use relevant components in their

project work

• Tour of Maynooth University Library and campus very positively received

• Highlighted the University’s role in civic engagement and our role in recruiting students and student

retention.

• Quotes from participants: Very informative and gave me great tips to help with school work. I

thought I knew everything about the internet, but I don't so everything was new, thanks. I

learned new ways of researching today which I will use in the future. Can't wait to go to the

Library. I learned a lot from talking about social media. I think people should talk about it more

often. Introduced to a whole new part of the internet which I really enjoy working with. Thanks

to this training session I will never see social media the same way again.

• Quote from teacher:The course provided very good active learning techniques that students

could take away and apply directly to their own learning.

• Who wants to be Information Literate?

• Brought prizes

Information Literate

Evaluating Feedback

Visit to the Library

• Very engaged when on

the visit

• Opportunity to put some

of the props we used in

the school in context

• For some they had never

been inside a library or

on a university campus

How it has progressed

One school = four classes of transition year students

• Had to deliver to all (each session required 3 double classes delivered 4 times)

In March we started with another school

• Six classes of transition year students

Started as four sessions in the classroom – now three

Keep topics current

• Amend the sessions based on feedback, what is in the news

Support material

Going forward

• Working with the students didn’t just benefit the

schools, it helped appreciate how students are

learning, what resources they are using

• Initially thought we needed to have more advanced training

for LIST (Library Information Skills Tutorials)

• Can we continue going out to schools?

• Do we take on more or continue with the ones we have

worked with

• Plan to continue working with schools

Thank you!

elaine.bean@nuim.ie

Tel: 00 353 1 708 6445

www.maynoothuniversity.ie/library