Reflection Sheet 2

1. Take some time to think about your topic.

Inquiry Based Learning and Information Literacy.
Now write down what you know about it.

IBL has multiple forms and models that can be modified to suit an educator. Information literacy is not automatically linked to inquiry-based learning as it needs to be modelled and taught explicitly in some cases. Inquiry-based learning becomes most powerful when students are able to build or create "artefacts" that are linked to or are a result of the construction of knowledge.

2. How interseted are you in this topic?
A great deal.

3. How much do you know about this topic?

I now have a better understanding of the models associated with inquiry-based learning. Kuhlthau's model with 7 stages that highlight the emotional involvement withthe research process has clarified the research process for me. Other interseting models include -  the Big 6, action learning, problem-based learning and much more...

4.When you do research, what do you generally find easy to do?

I now find it easier to find more relevant information as I have now learnt to use other "expert tools". Since starting this unit I have learnt more about boolean phrases, wonderwheels and timelines. I have learnt how to bookmark (still working through Delicious) and capture screen images of the information I am searching for. I have also learnt how to create a blog to track the research process. Even finding programs that are compatible with the programs I am working with is now much easier to do.

5. When you research, what do you generally find difficult to do?


I still find the most difficult element in the research process is my lack of knowledge with specific tools and techniques. I spent hours researching techniques required to simply upload an image onto the blog. Living in regional Queensland is also frustrating at times as the internet at home is often unreliable and keeps dropping out!!

Eric data base and ProQuest

Using  EBSCO host and the ERIC data base was not as productive as I had hoped. After typing in inquiry-based learning AND projects AND social studies I was able to view the abstracts of 5 articles that were relevant to my topic - 2 were more suitable than the rest.

Alisa Bates' 'Learning to Design Webquests: An Exploration in Preservice Social Studies Education' was helpful but didn't really offer any theoretical explanations. I moved on to the second article only to find that there was no electronic copy available!! Frustrated, I went back to more trusted sources such as ProQuest.

Here I found an article an American article that discussed the use of technology in the classroom and specificaly the use of wikis.

Collaborative Learning the Wiki Way

Mary E Engstrom, Dusty Jewett. TechTrends. Washington: Nov/Dec 2005. Vol. 49, Iss. 6; pg. 12, 5 pgs.

The article highlighted the nature of the 21st Century learner and their preference for using technology to complete a research task. This was helpful as I intend to use technology with my Cultural Studies class. although they won't be constructing a wiki, they will be using Word or Publisher to construct a tourist information sheet. This information sheet will then be used by the rest of the class to decide which country they would like to visit. I have learned through my readings that I should be calling the assessment piece an "artefact" - it sounds so much more exciting!!

I am finding that my research is rather messy now - jumps all over the place depending on which link I click on. I think this model below reflects the messy nature of research. I prefer the neat and orderly. This one which I found in Google, follows the cyclic model displayed in Callison's Blue book on information age inquiry, instruction and literacy. The spiral in this diagram effectively highlights the important process of questioning and how new questions lead to new theories and the need for more research. Much like this model and Callison's, I'm finding that the questions are important for the refining process.If I find a dead then I ask myself what other combinations of search terms can I use to find relevant articles?

Using Boolify.org

My ever helpful TL and fellow Nexus Learners suggested boolify.org, so I had a go at this search tool.

I really enjoyed playing with this search tool and imagine that the junior secondary grades would find it helpful. The interactive nature of the program and the use of bright colours are attractive features. I will endeavour to use this with my Year 8 Cultural Studies class and the information-learning activity!

www.boolify.org 

This will be another show and tell for the next staff meeting!!

Using better search processes

Searching with Boolean operators and using Wonderwheel narrowed the search to just under 3 million items but also uncovered more relevant articles linked to the topic of inquiry-based learning in a social studies/science context. I typed in a combination of search phrases - 

• inquiry-based learning AND models. 
• Inquiry-based learning AND cultural studies NOT science, 
• guided inquiry AND social science, 
• I swaped   the 'i' for an 'e' to see if that made much difference (it didn't)
• i clicked on the wonderwheel button and surfed through many more articles that popped out on the mind map

On the whole, I spent several hours clicking through articles, saving some to my computer to read in full later or summarising key ideas on paper.      

A site called Project Based Learning Space by Haughton Mifflin presented a number of ideas about engaging students with the process and claims that "Projects can thus serve as bridges between phenomena in the classroom and real-life experiences. Questions and answers that arise in daily enterprise are given value and are proven open to systematic inquiry.

• Project-based education requires active engagement of students' effort over an extended period of time.
• Project-based learning also promotes links among subject matter disciplines and presents an expanded, rather than narrow, view of subject matter.
• Projects are adaptable to different types of learners and learning situations (Blumenfeld et al., 1991)."
 

The site also emphasized for me the importance of students being able to generate "artefacts " in their development of knowledge."Students' freedom to generate artifacts is critical, because it is through this process of generation that students construct their own knowledge. Because artifacts are concrete and explicit (e.g., a model, report, consequential task, videotape, or film) they can be shared and critiqued. This allows others to provide feedback, makes the activity authentic, and permits learners to reflect on and extend their knowledge and revise their artifacts."

  http://college.cengage.com/education/pbl/background.html#Students

Further searching uncovered another useful site that summarised a number inquiry models. This site looked promising!!

http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/models.htm

Gathering information for the both the project and the report became overwhelming at this stage. I was clearly moving through Kuhltau's stages at a rapid pace and found myself bogged down in the "selection" phase even though I was still "exploring".  I needed to move away from the computer and into the library where I could touch real things!!

I spoke to our dedicated TL who referred me to some wonderful resources. She, of course, a most valuable resource herself! I also came back to the CMD list and read through each article.

 

Liz the librarian!!

After a lengthy break I returned to the internet and began searching again. Using Google Images to hunt for models turned up some wonderful resources. One such gem was the model below.

I liked the personal reflective steps identified by the model. The list of reflective questions at each stage are useful for clarify the search process and were just what I needed to keep me on task. As I hadn't found specific information on cultural studies I shifted my focus back to inquiry-based learning in general as I felt the content and the context were not as important as the process the students would be working through.

Sources for this compilation

Branch, Jennifer, and Dianne Oberg. "Focus on Inquiry." IASL. 2005. 6 May 2007 <http://education.alberta.ca/media/313361/focusoninquiry.pdf>.
Murdoch, Kath. Classroom Connections: Strategies for Integrated Learning. Armadale, Vic: Eleanor Curtain Pub, 1998.
Stripling, Barbara K. "Inquiry-Based Learning." In Curriculum Connections through the Library, ed. Barbara K. Stripling and Sandra Hughes-Hassell,
3-39. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited, 2003.

A link on this page took me to the Kentucky Library which contained another excellent poster for the inquiry process:-

http://www.kyvl.org/kids/homebase.html

This poster is colourful and eye-catching and lower secondary (as well as the visual upper school learners) will find it useful for tracking the stages of the research process. This is one of many American products that I have found in my search for Inquiry Based Learning information and highlights for me that progress that American libraries and schools have made in this field of education. I saved it to my computer and used it in class. The students loved the colour and the interactive nature of the website. They could click on each phase and identify with the questions being posed. I think this really helped them think about their task.

 

 

The processs continues

After typing in Inquiry based learning, Google offered over 7 million sites - way too many to read but the first site looked interseting so I took a look.

Concept to Classroom published by 13 ed online was an informative site that offered a range of definitions and explanations of the benefits associated with enquiry learning and it also contained a number of diagrams that showed visually the transfer of knowledge from the known to unknown contexts.

As this was currently the phase I was operating in, it made perfect sense to me.
The original google site also contained links to other useful sites and included suggestions for alternative search phrases such as project based learning and problem based learning.

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/index.html

I decided to test my information gathering skills further by refining the search and adding some boolean operators to the search phrase. Using AND social science narrowed the hits by 4 million and delivered some scholarly articles for further reflection.

Scholarly articles for inquiry based learning AND social science
	A critical theory of adult learning and education - Mezirow - Cited by 984 Addressing the challenges of inquiry-based learning … - Edelson - Cited by 384 Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery … - Duffy - Cited by 1020 Further hunting found information on IBL by Michael B. Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz who identified the Big 6 and Super 3 as productive steps in the research process. Big 6 The Big 6 is an information problem-solving approach developed by Michael B. Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz. It is the most popular model for information skills. It includes the following steps: Task definition Information seeking strategies Location and access Use of information Synthesis Evaluation Super 3 Although The Big 6 only includes six steps, some primary teachers find it overwhelming for their young learners. As a result, teachers have developed modified versions to meet their needs. Eisenberg and Berkowitz have developed a version called the Super 3 for very young children. It includes three steps: Plan Do Review http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/big6.htm  These 2 model have been referred to in a number of articles that I have come across and are effective because of their simplicity. The super 3 are probably useful for the 2 ESL students in my Year 8 Cultural studies class as the steps are very clear. In terms of research for my assignment, these models are helpful and reinforce the need to evaluate the task when completed. I am clearly in the sythesis phase according to the BIG 6 model and am finding that the overwhelming number of articles requires careful synthesis in order to formulate a clearly structured response to the assignment topic. On the following link I found useful "noodle tools" for researching as outlined by DebbieAbilock.                                                                                            http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/1over/infolit1.html  This model is practical and clearly articulates what skills and outcomes are achieveable using the process. I liked the detail outlined on the site for strategies to use and noticed that Boolean operators were refered to ensure the search is analytical. Something that I need to take on board as at the moment I am searching broadly - I need to narrow my focus and be far more analytical in my approach!!

The process begins!!

Documenting the research process in a blog is a new and interesting way to follow my steps and reflect on how I'm feeling during the journey. Being one who likes to really understand a task before starting, I have found that getting my head around "blogging" has taken some time. Before I have even started on documenting my research on IBL and IL it's taken some time to view the different blog sites and the tools they offer.

After settling on Blogger, the process began.

I decided I would work from the known to the unknown and began my search using Google.

Reflection Sheet

1. Take some time to think about your topic.

Inquiry Based Learning and Information Literacy.
Now write down what you know about it.

IBL and IL are linked in that they allow both processes to develop when active engagement in the research process occurs. I have used IBL in the teaching areas of SOSE and Geography. Both curriculum areas require students to actively engage in the inquiry process.

2. How interseted are you in this topic?
A great deal

3. How much do you know about this topic?

I know about Geographical inquiry as I have taught senior Geography for over 10 years. Other models of IBL and IL are not as familiar.

4.When you do research, what do you generally find easy to do?

I find it easy to locate abundant information and organise my key questions.

5. When you research, what do you generally find difficult to do?


It's difficult to get started if the task is overwhelming and the topic is unfamiliar. Quite often it is the amount of time required to sift through the loads of information that becomes frustrating.

Professional Readings

'Saving Black Mountain' was an inspirational read.

I was trapped at the airport with all the weekly readings in my hand bag. Having had a bad start to this unit of work - I was behind and feeling the pressure to catch up - I set about reading each article. (I know this sounds terribly "un-green" of me, printing each article but I was desperate to catch up!)

I'm commenting on 'Saving Black Mountain' first because it made an impression on me. Stories like this often make me question whether life as a primary school teacher with ONE class all year would be better than the 6 classes of 25 students that I have.  This article certainly emphasized the power of literacy and its links to democracy - something I hadn't really considered before - and it became clear that as educators, we can influence the world in which our students live. To be able to spend time with one class and achieve such outcomes would be so rewarding!!

The teachers' devotion to the inquiry process is to be commended and the article highlighted a number of key ideas that rang true for me.

1. Critical literacy is "not only for literacy instruction, but also for individual empowerment." (p. 773)
2. Purposeful literacy activities will engage students, especially the reluctant learners.

Reflections

A most amazing thing happened in my staffroom today. I was chatting with my wonderful colleagues about my studies in Information Learning Nexus and told them about the "wonder wheel" tool on Google. After demonstrating how the feature actually worked, there were loud exclamations of amazement and 'wonder'. "How did we not know about this?" they exclaimed. I too shared my amazement as well. Had it not been for this unit both myself and my fellow teachers would never have found out about 'wonder wheel' and the 'timeline' buttons in Google.

If I take nothing more away from this unit of study than this, I am still much more knowledgeable and appreciated by my colleagues than I was a month ago. They have asked me to share this knowledge with the rest of the staff so that all may benefit. Information sharing is truly a powerful thing!!

The Research Task!

When you are 13 with a social life that demands more attention than your homework tasks, then it is highly likely that you are not going to be keen to spend hours trawling through internet sites, or even worse, reading through an old text book to complete a research task! Today's teens are not interested in wasting their "precious" time on an activity that they don't find interesting or relevant. With this in mind, I had the job of creating a unit of work for a small group of Year 8 students who had opted out of studying Japanese or French. These girls signed up for Cultural Studies and in doing so, began a journey of exploration into the world of cultures, rituals and customs.