This conference had speakers inlcuding Susie Andretta, Sheila Webber, Mark Hepworth and me! I gave a paper entitled Developing a community of practice : the Newcastle Information Literacy Project. Papers have now been published – I have a couple of copies of the whole book if anyone is interested in reading any of it.
Secondary school teachers’ conceptions, Dorothy Williams and Caroline Wavell, Aberdeen Business School, 2006.
Very interesting report on this research which suggests different conceptions of IL.
Just brightening up the page with this pic of orchids in Thailand
This week and next I am running a series of focus groups with year 13 students at Durham High School for Girls. They will be talking about what information literacy means to them, how they use and look for information for their school work and whether they consider themselves to be information literate.
So far response have been quite varied and interesting!
This National Teaching Fellowship project is looking at the conflicts and congruencies between staff and student perceptions of information literacy in the transition into higher education, particularly in Chemistry and English. It is developing 3 main strands: Strand one: How people perceive IL and how it fits into teaching and learning. Strand two: A pragmatic view of the transition into HE, information related issues which students face and where the university library fits into the picture. Strand three: Visits and networking – opportunities to make contacts in the IL field and discover what is happening elsewhere.
I was very fortunate to be awarded one of the 50 NTFs from the Higher Education Academy in 2005. As well as awarding me £50,000, the Fellowship has been an excellent way for me to make new contacts and expand my horizons a little. The money is enabling me to take a period of research leave from work in order to carry out a research project and also to travel to meet information literacy experts elsewhere (particlularly in Australia and New Zealand!!) The photo shows me accepting the award from Bill Rammell, Minister for Higher Education.