Friday, December 31, 2021

Transition and information literacy

As we leave behind 2021 and move to 2022, here are some articles on transition:
- Bent, M. (2008). Perceptions of Information Literacy in the Transition to Higher Education. National Teaching Fellowship Project Report. Newcastle University. https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/55850 open access (research carried out in the UK as part of a National Teaching Fellowship. The aim was "to investigate the conflicts and congruencies between staff and student perceptions of information literacy in the transition to higher education, particularly in Chemistry and English" and data was gathered through interviews, focus groups, survey and also workshops developing findings with professionals. It includes some discussion of Threshold Concepts and information literacy - well before ACRL addressed this connection).
- Hicks, A. (2020). Negotiating change: Transition as a central concept for information literacy. Journal of Information Science. (early online publication - open access) https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0165551520949159
- Salisbury, F. & Karasmanis, S. (2011) Are they Ready? Exploring Student Information Literacy Skills in the Transition from Secondary to Tertiary Education. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 42(1), 43-58. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048623.2011.10722203 (reports on a results of questionnaire/test of 1029 first year health science students: one of the most useful recommendations identifies the value of inderstanding more about the existing skill/knowledge of the students, so you can develop a programme that builds on this).
- Varlejs, J. & Stec, E. (2014). Factors Affecting Students' Information Literacy as They Transition from High School to College. School Library Research, 17. Open access at https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1022549 (interesting study in which they assessed information literacy through a few different means in a first year university course, then identified the schools the students had previously attended, and interviewed librarians in schools where students had either scored very well or poorly. They identify a number of factors that appear to influence the information literacy of new university students, but in particular identify an aspect that wasn't talked about (i.e. the administration and culture of the schools) as being an important hidden factor)
Photo by Sheila Webber: the wreath at number 31, December 2021

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