Search For
Repositories
Tools
Reserve
Support
Instruction
Research
Contact
Resources
Policies
Who We Are
Visiting
From the Dean
Know the Libraries
Academics
Michael Flierl, Learning Design Specialist, and Clarence Maybee, Information Literacy Specialist, presented at the fall meeting of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) on October 4, 2017 in Washington, DC. Their presentation was part of a panel on the library impact on student success chaired by Damon Jaggers from Ohio State University. The panel also included presenters from the University of Minnesota and the Greater Western Library Association. Flierl and Maybee’s presentation, “Information Literacy, Motivation, and Learning,” shared initial findings from research they are conducting with Rachel Fundator, Information Literacy Instructional Designer, and Emily Bonem, an instructional developer with Purdue’s Center for Instructional Excellence. The research explores the relationship between information literacy, student motivation, and student grades in courses that were redesigned through the Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation (IMPACT) program. The study examined data from over 3,000 students in 102 course sections from courses from across several colleges. The results suggest that activities such as searching or formatting citations may be demotivating, while other information literacy activities, such as synthesizing information and communicating the results, are positively related to student motivation and grades. The findings have implications for the Libraries work with instructors to integrate information literacy into Purdue courses.
Wenjie Wu, Mingchu Cong, and their fellow group members worked in the HIKS Undergraduate Library to design a health app for a computer graphics course. They used one of the Libraries’ white boards to map out ideas and elements of their app design using a methodology introduced in class.
On August 29th, the Libraries Seminar Committee hosted a presentation by Dr. Andrew Whitworth, Director of Teaching Strategy for the Manchester Institute of Education and the University of Manchester. Dr. Whitworth’s presentation “Xenophilia: The Love of Difference is Essential for Information Literacy” argued that a diversification and openness to different perspectives can positively influence learning through engagement with information. Drawing from theories of learning, networking, technology, and more, Dr. Whitworth described how xenophilia—a love and openness to difference—can help people broker between different information landscapes to learn and take action. He proposed that educators develop their teaching around the principle of xenophilia, where students encounter and navigate different perspectives of information landscapes, in order to help them learn through dialog.
Following the presentation, Dr. Whitworth facilitated two workshops introducing participants to a concept mapping process to uncover different perspectives on an institutional issue. In the first workshop, participants engaged with different types of maps to uncover how we rely on and interpret maps, as well as how they can be powerful tools for helping us make sense of our own information landscapes. In the second workshop, participants put these ideas into practice using Ketso, a specific mapping tool. In small groups, participants collectively discussed and mapped out the goals, assets, challenges, and strategies related to how the new Wilmeth Active Learning Center will change our activities as librarians.
Librarians worked in groups to map ideas related to how they can use the Wilmeth Active Learning Center to advance their practice as librarians.