New articles in: International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education

This open access journal has a new issue, including:
- Yager, Z., Salisbury, F., and Kirkman, L. (2013) "Assessment of information literacy skills among first year students." The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 4(1). 59-71. The authors are from La Trobe University, Australia "The development of research and information literacy skills in first year students is essential, but challenging. Approaches to developing these skills that are embedded within subject design, and use a blended approach between online and face-to-face delivery are considered best practice in this area. However research has yet to identify the most appropriate form of assessment of these skills. We used constructive alignment to embed research skills in a first year subject. Students were assessed on their research skills using a diagnostic online quiz in week one, and then in week six, their application of their skills in their assignment was assessed using a rubric. We created a matched sample of the results on these two forms of assessment that included 227 students. Our main aim was to determine whether there was a relationship between quiz and rubric scores, and to assess the practical relevance of the quiz in terms of identifying students who might be in need of additional support. We found a small, but significant, positive correlation between quiz and rubric results and conclude that both the quiz and the rubric are useful forms of assessment, and that there are benefits to using both within an embedded curriculum."

The following aren't specifically about information literacy, but caught my eye.
- Willis, E., Abery, E. and Leiman, T. (2013). "Interrogating education of the heart." The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 4(1). 21-32. (Developing alternative assessments for health students, focusing on creative responses to the lived experience of patients etc.)
- Bone, E., and Reid, R. (2013). "First course at university: Assessing the impact of student age, nationality and learning style." The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 4(1). 95 - 107. (In fact they were looking at students' approach to learning, rather than learning style, and found that students with a surface approach to learning were still getting good marks: they note this as a stimulus to changing how they teach "... the general finding that most students were using reproducing strategies in MGC [the module] suggests that learning activities within the course may not encourage independent learning." (p105).
Go to https://fyhejournal.com/issue/view/7/showToc

Also there is a new issue of open-access journal Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, including:
- Murtagh, P., Morris, K., and Thorpe, P. (2013) "'A fish in water’ - Supporting transition to Higher Education and Initial Teacher Training." Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 8(1). (Describes and evaluates a pre-entry module for part time trainee teachers: it doesn't mention IL as such, but problems with citation and synthesis are mentioned).
- Cunningham, S. (2013) "Teaching a diverse student body – a proposed tool for lecturers to self-evaluate their approach to inclusive teaching." Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 8(1). (Includes "a Self Reflective Tool which ... is mapped with the UK Professional Standards for teaching and supporting learning dimensions and encourages consideration of the context, preparation, evaluation, strategies for promoting learning and affective and sensory elements of learning.")
Go to:  http://www.pestlhe.org.uk/index.php/pestlhe/issue/view/23
Photo by Sheila Webber: budding bluebells, April 2013