Reflecting on the cultivation of Information Literacy skills in the FE classroom

Bridge 21 Problem Based Learning Experience
 involving the cultivation of
 Information Literacy Skills
in
Marino College of Further Education

Adapted from Rolfe et al.'s (2001) model for Reflection in Nursing

What?

Heading into our second Bridge21 Project Based Learning (PBL) experience with Beauty Year 2, I felt better equipped (practically) for what was to follow, yet anxious regarding the workload ahead. 

On a number of occasions this year, we have had to approach the subject of plagiarism and accessing suitably academic websites for class work. I had been asking my students to research topics and assuming that they would research in the way that I do myself (Grimes and Boening, 2001). When completed work was submitted, I realised that this was definitely not the case! Therefore, introducing Information Literacy as a "topic" contextualised within the subject under consideration was a welcome and timely inclusion. 

Students discussing both individual and societal 
problems on Day 1

Sendag and Odabas (2009) assert that PBL involves students have an active role in solving a real-life problem. Typically, "the problem is vague and presented at the beginning of the event in order to drive the subsequent learning" (Ross as cited in Robinson, Harris and Burton, 2015). In this case, small teams were presented with the completely open ended, real life problem "Can Problems be Solved?". Lively discussion and debate followed, requiring higher order and critical thinking skills. Choosing a good question is crucial.... open ended with endless possibilities! Selection of team members and the group dynamics that result, are also crucial factors in the success of a PBL lesson.

So What?

The anxiety didn't prevent me from enjoying and valuing the experience! I was particularly impressed by The Sugar Dolls when they used the Post It note idea from the Divergent Thinking Activity, and implemented it into their Multi Media presentation! 



The hope is that divergent thinking will become the norm in our classrooms, and increase the effectiveness of our activities (Kalargiros and Manning, 2015).

Video produced by our Sugar Dolls!

The drive to produce a multimedia representation of their findings seemed to suffocate the IL element of the lesson. Was the presentation enhanced or informed by what they had researched? Were there too many elements within one overall Project, that meant a surface level of understanding on many different levels, without in depth knowledge on any?

Collaborative work by the Session Moths

In 1999, Candela (as cited in Sendag and Odabas, 2009) carried out a study with undergraduate students taking part in a PBL learning experience. They also had a control group who were taught the same content via traditional teaching methods. He tested the pre and post knowledge of each group and following the learning experience there was no difference between knowledge acquired by either group. The aforementioned paper suggests that because the students were older, they did not necessarily benefit as much from PBL as a teaching method; that PBL could be more effective with younger learners. This adds to my curiosity in ascertaining if PBL works as well for our Post Leaving Certificate and Adult learners as at Post Primary level. (Van der Linden et al., 2000 as cited in Dolmans and Schmidt, 2004) have identified that collaborative learning takes place when participants have 

(1) a common goal, 

(2) shared responsibilities 

(3) are mutually dependent 

(4) need to reach agreement through open interaction

It was therefore imperative that, as a facilitator, I aimed to select groups whereby collaborative learning would flourish. 

Students collaborating on the script for their presentation

Progression in team-work; increased awareness of research skills; heightened attunement to specific individual and societal problems ..... Check. Indepth knowledge of the topic under consideration? I am not 100% certain. Prior learning experiences have not sufficiently prepared Beauty students for PBL and I am not wholly convinced that they have learned more than they would have in a different, less time and resource intensive way. I am also not entirely confident that they always accessed the correct information- despite the emphasis on developing IL skills. Dolman and Schmidt (2006) report that studies conducted on the cognitive aspects of PBL demonstrate that the activation of prior knowledge, recall of information, cumulative reasoning, theory building, cognitive conflicts leading to conceptual change, and collaborative learning construction take place in small groups specifically put together in the PBL lesson. 

Within personal and team reflections, Information Literacy was not identified as a skill learned, even though the students were getting 2% (of the overall 10% allocated for this whole LO) for merely filling in a handout with the 5 criteria used for evaluating websites. The end goal of the presentation was more important to them.

Now What?

Chaffee (1998) asserts that critical thinking demands critical implication and discussion, should we wish to stimulate and activate creative problem solving and decision making processes. When the occasion arose for a whole class discussion, we embraced it, despite it running considerably over the time allocation I had previously considered for this element. It is important to allow and encourage ample opportunity for discussion and deeper learning.

Despite the advantages mentioned previously, the time factor is an overwhelming challenge. Gardner (1993) asserts that good learning requires a large time investment and with this I have no argument. However, over a four week period before the Christmas holidays, we would be together for only 7 hours, with two subjects to cover.... and I wanted to complete LO 4 in its entirety, the topic of IL, use a PBL learning approach AND get it completed and graded before the students went on their break...The panic was immense. The girls have been somewhat deprived of opportunities to develop their practical skills in massage as we were under a time constraint to get this project covered.... Their sense of panic has been incredible! 

Within team feedback, students reported a certain amount of intolerance for lateness and absenteeism, very much in keeping with previous studies on group dynamics in PBL lessons. This visibly impacted on how I saw the group interact with each other following individual absenteeism or lateness to classes (Mpofu, Das, Stewart, Dun and Schmidt, 1998).  Dolmans and Schmidt (2006) assert that the cognitive effects of group learning in PBL are strongly related to motivational processes taking place within the team. It is therefore imperative that the group would be present in its entirety for all elements, and that punctuality would be paramount. 

However, it is difficult under the current marking scheme for QQI to insist that students are present for classes or to penalise them for not being present for team work sessions. How can I fairly grade students for attendance? I have made it part of the criteria for their collection of work, but it necessitates a larger debate regarding the assessment of group projects within QQI modules..... At the very least, consensus within our college on absenteeism in group projects and the marking schemes that follow.

Regarding Information Literacy, as a college we are in the process of reviewing our policies, protocols and procedures around plagiarism and good practice. The tips and the handouts used to evaluate websites using 5 criteria will be of great value to other teachers in the college and we are currently discussing a whole college approach to contextualising IL within each course.  

Personally, I must allow students increased opportunities for creativity. Producing work for assessment which is not written is refreshing and pushing students considerably beyond their comfort zones is both rewarding and valuable. They have achieved more than they themselves thought possible and it is encouraging to witness their pride in their presentations.

References:

Chaffee, J. (1998). The thinker's way: 8 steps to a richer life. Boston: Little Brown.

Dolman, D. J. H. M. and Schmidt, H. G. (2006). What Do We Know About Cognitive and Motivational Effects of Small Group Tutorials in Problem-Based Learning? Advances in Health Sciences Education, 11, 321–336 DOI 10.1007/s10459-006-9012-8 

Gardner, H., Siegel, J., & Shaughnessy, M. F. (1994). An Interview with Howard Gardner: Educating for Understanding. The Phi Delta Kappan, 75(7), 563–566. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.dcu.idm.oclc.org/stable/20405169

Grimes, D. J. and Boening, C. H. (2001). Worries with the Web: A Look at Students Use of Web Resources. College and Research Libraries. 62(1) 11-22. doi:10.5860/crl.62.1.11

Kalargiros, E. M. and Manning, M. R. in Research in Organizational Change and Development, Shani, A. B. and Noumair, D. A. eds. (2015). Emerald Group Publishing; U.K., 23, 293-338

Mpoufu, D. J. S., Das, M., Stewart,T., Dunn, E. and Schmidt, H. (1998). Perceptions of group dynamics in problem-based learning sessions: a time to reflect on group issues. Medical Teacher, 20 (5), 421-427. 

Pawson, E., Fournier, E., Haight, M., Muniz, O., Trafford, J., and Vajoczki, S. (2006). Problem-based learning in geography: Towards a critical assessment of its purposes, benefits and risks. Journal of Geography in Higher Education. 30 (1) 103–16.

Robinson, L., Harris, A., Burton, R. Saving face: Managing rapport in a Problem-Based Learning group. Active Learning in Higher Education, 16(1), 11–24 doi: 10.1177/1469787415573355

Rolfe et al. as cited in Morrisey J., Callaghan P. (2011). Communication Skills for Mental Health Nursing. Open University Press McGraw-Hill, Berkshire.


Ruiz-Gallardo, J-R., Gonzalez Geraldo, J. L. and Castaño, S. (2016). What are our students doing? Workload, time allocation and time management in PBL instruction. A case study in Science Education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 53, 51–62. doi:10.1016/j.tate.10.005

Serkan Sendag, S. and Ferhan Odabas, H. (2009). Effects of an online problem based learning course on content knowledge acquisition and critical thinking skills. Computers & Education 53: pp 132–141.