Week 4 Reflections

In class last week we discussed the concept of "information literacy." Even after reading the articles I was still unclear on what it was, and I guess for a good reason. Definitions tend to be very general and abstract, with words that don't really mean anything (like "use"). It was very helpful for me when we got into groups to create our own definitions. One of my group members had a teaching background and her view of "information literacy" was much more general than mine. She saw the "information" part as literally ALL types of information, while I was focusing on just information about researching (like finding and evaluating sources, connecting facts...) which doesn't take into account most of what students learn in school. Our final definition was "the ability to take information learned in a theoretical environment, evaluate its relevance and usefulness, use critical thinking skills to decide whether to employ or disregard it, and then implement it into practical situations." By looking at it from this point of view, "information literacy" really fits a lot more with our past classes about teaching so that students can make connections and gain more of an "expert" type of knowledge. 

I found the readings for this week pretty interesting. The Sadler article dealt with various forms of feedback and formative assessment. I mostly agreed with what was said. I think feedback is much more useful for students when it comes regularly and is in the form of comments, rather than just grades. I also liked that Sadler discouraged feedback and grades that are based on curves and giving a certain percentage of students high grades or low grades. Although I felt this extreme pride whenever I knew that I got the highest grade in a class, I still think that competition in school should be discouraged and more emphasis should be placed on improvement and learning. The only thing I really disagreed with in the article was how much importance was placed on students' being able to do self-assessment. Sadler makes it seem like the ability to accurately evaluate your own work will then improve it. I do not agree with this. I know when I have done a good job on an assignment, and I am usually (painfully) aware of just how bad certain other assignments are. Now, I know it seems silly that I  would knowingly turn in a bad assignment, but sometimes I really just don't know how to make it better. I know what needs to be fixed but I can't seem to get it. In cases like this, the ability to evaluate my own work accurately is of no help to me.

Chapter 6 of How People Learn discussed the different types of learning environments (learner, knowledge, assessment, and community centered) and how they all must be included and work together to create a successful learning environment. I had never thought of the different types, but they all seem extremely important, and it seems almost obvious that you would need a balance of the different environments. The way I see it, learner and knowledge centered environments are about the actual teaching. Learner centered takes into account the students' backgrounds, while knowledge centered focuses on the methods and activities that help students understand what is being taught. Assessment centered (very similar to the Sadler article) is about the feedback the teachers give. It is sometimes separate from the teaching (like in summative assessment), or very much a part of it (like in formative assessment). Community centered environments seem to have less to do with teaching and more to do with the feel of the class. This environment seems to be less of its own type, and more of a combination of the other three interacting (which is maybe why the diagram shows it as surrounding/including the other environments). The form of assessment will greatly affect the community, as will the degree to which the environment is learner and knowledge centered. I thought it was interesting that outside communities (and television) were included in the community centered environment, since there is little teachers can do to affect it. I guess teachers really just need to acknowledge it is there, it has an affect on students, and it can potentially be used to help students.

I'm not completely sure how the readings will relate to public libraries, where learning situations tend to be short, and on a one-time bases. The learning environments seemed pretty similar to the readings for our first class (chapters one and two) and probably relate in a similar way. It will be important as a teaching librarian for me to take into account my students'/patrons' past knowledge and find ways to teach to all learning types. I don't know how I will bring assessment into it, however. Hopefully class will relate it to libraries a bit.