scholarly journals Using “threshold concepts” as a framework for teaching information literacy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Alfredsson ◽  
Tobias Pernler
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Round Table ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Threshold Concepts ◽  
Information Economy ◽  
Systems Research ◽  
Free Resource ◽  
Form Part

We would like to explore the idea of threshold concepts as a framework for information literacy (IL) instruction in a higher education setting. Threshold concepts are central to a discipline; difficult to learn, but once understood, impossible to “unlearn”. They are implicitly incorporated in practitioners’ day-to-day work, and form part of the tacit knowledge in a profession. Threshold concepts are thus both taken for granted and difficult to teach; they have become so internalized by the expert that it is easy to forget that they were actually learned at some point. This could lead to a failure in appreciating how hard the concepts can be to master for the novice.  According to Hofer, Hanick & Townsend (2018), possible threshold concepts relevant to IL-instruction are: authority; format; information commodities; organizing systems; research process. As we came across these ideas, we asked ourselves how teaching librarians could utilize this approach when helping students cross the IL thresholds. For example, when teaching how to check the authority of a source, how do we help students handle the distinction between trust and truth? When promoting the library as a free resource, how can students understand the information economy?  Starting with a brief presentation of the idea of threshold concepts, and an introduction to the IL-specific concepts, we would like to invite the round table participants to reflect upon their own approaches when teaching IL. The discussion will be structured around questions such as: What concepts do you normally find students have difficulties grasping? When did you yourself master those concepts? How did that happen? How can that understanding help you as a teacher to facilitate your students’ learning of the concepts?  Possible outcomes of the discussion may entail new didactic ideas, as well as tentative new IL-related threshold concepts. 

scholarly journals Book Review: The Fun of Motivation: Crossing the Threshold Concepts

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Magen Bednar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
Threshold Concepts ◽  
Information Research ◽  
New Curricula ◽  
New Framework ◽  
Student Instructor

When ACRL officially adopted the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education in 2016, fun was not a word many librarians would associate with this new Framework, as it required new ways of incorporating information literacy concepts and skills into library instruction sessions. Instead of strict standards, the Framework interconnects ideas and concepts about information, research, and scholarship that will allow the student, instructor, and librarian greater flexibility in developing new curricula.

scholarly journals Loaded questions: The Framework for Information Literacy through a DEI lens

2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (8) ◽  
pp. 382
Author(s):  
Karin Heffernan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Strategic Plan ◽  
Threshold Concepts ◽  
Knowledge Practices ◽  
Diverse Individual

Just after our university published its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Strategic Plan, I found myself driving home from the “Engaging with the ACRL Framework” Roadshow. My head was full of converting knowledge practices into learning outcomes when the frames began to emerge through a DEI lens, and threshold concepts became questions. The very asking of a question inherently invites diverse, individual perspectives. Published before current higher education DEI efforts, the Framework prompts us to ask questions and pursue answers, especially from unheard or systemically silenced voices. It encourages us to challenge elitism, racism, sexism, ableism, and biases within the entire information ecosystem.

scholarly journals Applying the Framework as a reflective tool: A teacher learner perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 79 (8) ◽  
pp. 416
Author(s):  
Ethan Pullman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Threshold Concepts ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Knowledge Practices ◽  
Learner Perspective ◽  
Troublesome Knowledge

If you teach information literacy (IL) according to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education,1 then you have been introduced to terms like knowledge practices, dispositions, and troublesome knowledge. You may have also read several articles debating the Framework (for a quick overview, read Lane Wilkinson’s “The Problem with Threshold Concepts”).2 Regardless of where teaching librarians stand on the Framework, the discourse surrounding it doesn’t adequately address its potential as a reflective tool (as opposed to addressing student learning alone). This is ironic when considering that, at its core, the Framework’s foundation is based in “critical self-reflection, as crucial to becoming more self-directed in [a] rapidly changing ecosystem.”3

scholarly journals Book Review: Teaching Information Literacy Threshold Concepts: Lesson Plans for Librarians

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 172
Author(s):  
Ann Agee
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Lesson Plans ◽  
Threshold Concepts ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
Teaching Information

Finalized in early 2015, the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education was created by ACRL to provide a roadmap for librarians working to reimagine their approach to information literacy. The Framework seeks to move what librarians teach from the “how” of information literacy skills to the “why” of information creation and use. This is where “threshold concepts” enter in as the six core concepts identified in the Framework as the key to students’ information literacy: Scholarship as Conversation; Research as Inquiry; Authority is Constructed and Contextual; Information Creation as a Process; Searching as Strategic Exploration; and Information has Value.

VECTORS OF HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR TRANSFORMATION IN CONDITIONS OF THE INFORMATION ECONOMY FORMATION

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (4(12)) ◽  
pp. 44-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nataliia Valeriivna Tkalenko ◽  
◽  
Natalia Ivanivna Kholіavko ◽  
Kateryna Volodymyrivna Hnedina ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Information Economy

Tshivenda Female Attire: A Socio-cultural Significance

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matodzi Rebecca Raphalalani ◽  
Mashudu Churchill Mashige
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Dress Codes ◽  
Verbal Meaning

This study investigated, through observation of the Tshivenḓa female dress codes, the socio-cultural significance of such dress codes as a means of non-verbal communication. The non-verbal meaning embedded in different items of dresses conveys messages from the wearers to observers. The study adopted  a qualitative  design, since it used  document analysis and literature review as a means to adduce evidence that Tshivenḓa dress codes not only communicate socio-cultural meanings to the observer, but also signify gender, age group, rank, authority, status, and identity, as well as power relations—including the supernatural and the sacred. The study also revealed that there are dress codes that are specifically worn during initiation ceremonies among the Vhavenḓa people. In conclusion, we recommend that knowledge of Tshivenḓa dress codes should form part of the overall indigenous knowledge that needs to be studied in institutions of basic and higher education, and that for the sake of preserving this valuable information, communities need to be proactive in disseminating it to the younger generation.

scholarly journals FILL for Future (F4F) – Framework Information Literacy Lessons digital

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 394-415
Author(s):  
Tessa Sauerwein
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Literacy

Zusammenfassung Das Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education macht einfallsreich und erfinderisch – gerade in Coronazeiten und darüber hinaus. Der Beitrag berichtet über die aktuellen Fortschritte des preisgekrönten Konzeptes FILL (Framework Information Literacy Lessons), das sich in seiner digitalen Weiterentwicklung als FILL for Future (F4F) präsentiert. Mit innovativen und spielerischen Impulsen aus dem Framework reichert es bibliothekarische Schulungspraxis an. Damit gilt F4F als beispielhaftes Projekt in der globalisierten Informationswelt. Es präsentiert sich offen und vernetzt, wie etwa Teaching Libraries mit ihren Zielgruppen. Ganzheitlich gestaltet tragen die vielfältigen Aktivitäten von F4F zur Verbreitung des US-amerikanischen Frameworks weiter und nachhaltig bei.

scholarly journals Relegating expertise: The outward and inward positioning of librarians in information literacy education

2021 ◽  
pp. 096100062110201
Author(s):  
Alison Hicks ◽  
Annemaree Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
English Language ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Literacy Education ◽  
Language Models ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Practice Of Teaching

Previous research has demonstrated that professional narratives reference discourses that shape the practice of information literacy within higher education. This article uses discourse analysis method to identify how information literacy discourses construct and position teaching librarians within higher education. Texts analysed include four recent English-language models of information literacy and 16 textbooks. Analysis suggests the existence of two distinct narratives related to the role, expertise and professional practice of teaching librarians. In the outward-facing narrative librarian work is typically absent from guidelines for practice. In contrast, book introductions, which constitute the inward-facing narrative, centre professional librarians yet simultaneously position them as incompetent, or as lacking the skills and understandings that they need to be effective in this setting. These narratives constitute a form of othering that threatens professional practice at a time when the professionalisation of librarianship is being drawn into question. This article represents the second in a research programme that interrogates the epistemological premises and discourses of information literacy within higher education.

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