Teaching reflection: information seeking and evaluation in a digital library environment - includes appendices on assignments, book catalogs, World Wide Web sources and encyclopedia guides - Children and the Digital Library

Library Trends, Spring, 1997 by Frances F. Jacobson, Emily N. Ignacio

Abstract

In this article, we explore influences of electronic information systems on teaching methods. Data are analyzed from the information literacy portion of an introductory computer science course. This curriculum was taught by the first author, whose pedagogical goal was to teach students to search for and evaluate information using a variety of systems. Her teaching methods were informed by three complementary theories: Kuhlthau's (1993a) process model, cognitive flexibility theory, and situated cognition. She also employed Schon's (1983) reflective practitioner model, which stipulates that teachers evaluate their pedagogical methods as a course is in session. Although this work is far from being completed, we have confirmed that teachers must be able to reflect on specific incidents and adjust their teaching methods according to individual situations rather than strictly follow prescribed models. Even though the new information systems encourage interaction and offer user-friendly interfaces, the ability to search effectively across systems and critically evaluate retrieved information still needs to be taught. In other words, the digital library environment demands instructional intervention which is flexible and responsive to the situation. Thus we perceive digital libraries as systems comprised of the user, digitized information and software tools, and human mediators.

Introduction

Finding information in libraries has never been particularly easy for young people, even in a library world dominated by print. Can we expect the process to be any easier in an electronic library world? Familiar models have been supplanted by new ones which represent entirely new paradigms. Information systems now have interactive potential -- they are dynamic entities disengaged from earlier limiting parameters. How do we teach students to recognize the cues necessary for survival in digital library environments, What do they need to understand in order to negotiate these spaces with purpose and skill?

Our discussion is based on an examination of the first author's experiences teaching the information literacy portion of a required secondary level introductory computer science course. The purpose was to teach students to be effective seekers and users of information in an electronic environment and to understand the relationship of these skills to searching for information in other contexts. Jacobson also introduced online communication netiquitte and broader Internet-related ethical topics such as privacy, and censorship.

Jacobson's goal was to teach search processes (the traditional focus of much bibliographic instruction and library and information science research) and to focus on evaluation of information beyond basic determination of relevance. As other researchers have emphasized (e.g., Jacobson & Martin, 1993), the librarian's job is to teach students to critically evaluate and know what to do with information as well as to find it. hroughout their coursework, Jacobson's students were asked to pass judgment on the quality of various information items using a rather specific, yet flexible, set of teacher-suggested criteria that would be tailored to their evolving needs.

Jacobson employed teaching methods that she hoped would "scaffold" (i.e., support and structure student learning), prompt, and enable students to self-regulate in an unpredictable environment. Simultaneously, she followed the reflective practitioner tradition described by Schon (1983) to scrutinize her own teaching. Schon stated that practitioners have a tacit knowledge of their field and often reflect on their own experiences "to cope with the unique, uncertain, and conflicted situations of practice" (Schon, 1983, p. ix.). This approach has been consciously adapted as a technique to improve practice, particularly in the field of education (see, for example, Nelson & Smith, 1995). Jacobson engaged her students in classroom activities that would be revealing of their thought processes, and therefore would be more informative of the efficacy of her teaching.

Although two semesters were spent gathering and analyzing data. this project is far from being complete. This article is therefore exploratory and does not represent a comprehensive description of what occurs in a digital library environment. However, our preliminary research has shown us that traditional teaching methods must be flexible, not only because of individual differences among students, but because the electronic environment changes the structure, practices, and culture of information seeking. Further observations and interviews need to be conducted to more fully understand how digital library environments affect the cognitive processes of both students and teachers as well as the classroom culture.

Theories which Informed the Teaching Methods

Jacobson's teaching and these subsequent analyses were heavily influenced by three areas of research: Kuhlthau's process model, cognitive flexibility theory, and situated cognition or situated learning. All three theoretical frameworks share a constructivist outlook on learning; they agree that it is possible to view an event from many perspectives, that meaning and experience are inextricably, linked. and that learners "construct" rather than "receive" knowledge.