"Beating the Bounds": An Inquiry into Information Literacy and Student Learning Ecologies in the Library and the English Department Writing Program
"Beating the Bounds": An Inquiry into Information Literacy and Student Learning Ecologies in the Library and the English Department Writing Program
Academic Year:
2012 - 2013 (June 1, 2012 through May 31, 2013)
Funding Requested:
$4,000.00
Project Dates:
-
Overview of the Project:
Our project is designed to develop a common working language in the library and in the English Department -- to "map the territory" -- for micro-level tasks that blur the line between writing and research. We call this set of tasks "information use behaviors," a term inspired by the third aspect of the ACRL definition of information literacy: "to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information" (ACRL, 2000). Such "information use behaviors" include: • Evaluating whether one source is better suited to a student's writing purpose than another. • Identifying general information sources and synthesizing sources' ideas as a form of invention for a student's own writing. • Summarizing and quoting from outside sources in a way that contributes to a specific purpose in a student's own writing, such as developing an original argument. Our key research questions: • What are the key breakdowns in student understanding of how to effectively use sources in writing? • How do instructors characterize both breakdowns and model processes in working with sources in first-year composition? • What heuristics have instructors developed for teaching source engagement or "information use"? To investigate these questions, we conducted interviews with 9 first-year composition (FYC) instructors, producing 69 pages of coded transcripts. We also surveyed FYC students and a wider population of FYC instructors to identify gaps between students' and instructors' perception of successful research practices in the writing classroom.