Category Archives: assessment

From the Literature

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We will periodically highlight an article or other resource that proposes methods for using metaliteracy in practice, or the theory connected with metaliteracy. This initial From the Literature post brings to your attention a 2021 article by Kristen Schuster and Kristine N, Stewart, “Using Constructive Alignment to Support Metaliteracy,” published in the Journal of Education for Library and Information Science.

This article provides a case study that allows the authors to highlight key pedagogical suggestions and insights that have the potential to impact teaching and learning. The course that is the subject of the study focuses on XML and theories of knowledge organization in which many international postgraduate students were enrolled. Schuster and Stewart examine course assessment-related components and how metaliteracy, particularly metacognition, may be integrated to enhance student success. The pedagogical elements that they raise might be used in a wide variety of courses to meet the same goal of student success.

The authors consider the interplay between metaliteracy, constructive alignment, and learning-oriented assessments. They define constructive alignment as “a model of curriculum design in which teaching/learning activities and assessment tasks are systematically aligned” (p. 4) with the learning outcomes that an instructor has identified. Learning oriented assessment (LOA) supports the use of a range of assessment types that provide learners with “regular and applicable feedback” (p. 5) and that lends itself to instructors and students co-constructing assessments and feedback mechanisms.

Schuster and Stewart write,

This process of co-construction offers opportunities to scaffold curriculum and encourage students to actively acquire, transfer, and enhance their understanding(s) of the abilities and theories taught during a module. This approach shifts students’ focus away from performing certain study abilities and shifts it toward measuring their success against abstract frameworks for success. (p. 5)

They continue, drawing together constructive alignment and LOA with metaliteracy,

This shift has the potential to empower them to collaboratively and dynamically use curricular content to actively integrate their knowledge and experiences into teaching and assessment frameworks. This, in turn, enhances the types of work and feedback students are willing to engage in and has the potential to expand their metaliteracy practices beause they are able to synthesize new, taught abilities with their pre-existing skills. (p. 5)

Schuster and Stewart were working with international and English as a Foreign Language students during the fall 2017 and spring 2019 semesters. Toward the end of their article, they discuss how the course instructor used metaliteracy to make significant revisions to the course, including assessments, lectures, and seminar activities (p. 5).

The assessment techniques and strategies that the authors outline are transferable to a wide range of courses. Their insight that led to the incorporation of metaliteracy is noted in one in the Key Points they highlight on the first page of the article, “Metaliteracy can be adapted and used to develop innovative forms of assessment” (p.1).

We encourage you to read this important article, as this brief overview can not hope to capture the full impact of the authors’ work.

Citation:

Schuster, Kristen, and Kristine N. Stewart. 2021. ‘Using Constructive Alignment to Support Metaliteracy in International Classrooms’. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 62 (1): 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis.62.1-2019-0077

Metaliteracy, Self-Directed Learning, and Assessment

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Trudi Jacobson, Tom Mackey and Jako Olivier (UNESCO Chair on Multi-Modal Learning and Open Educational Resources, and Professor at North-West University) co-authored a chapter in a recent open-access volume, Learning Through Assessment: An Approach Towards Self-Directed Learning. The book was edited by Elsa Mentz and Anitia Lubbe, and is a part of the NWU Self-directed Learning Series.

Cover for Learning through assessment: An approach towards self-directed learning
Learning Through Assessment (2021)

The chapter by Trudi, Tom and Jako is entitled “Aligning Metaliteracy with Self-directed Learning to Expand Assessment Opportunities,”

The chapter’s abstract:

Metaliteracy is a holistic model that emphasises information-related knowledge attainment whilst challenging individuals to take charge of their learning strategies and goals. It prepares learners to become informed consumers and responsible producers of information. Metacognition is a core concept in metaliteracy, just as it is in self-directed learning (SDL) and in methods of assessment appropriate to SDL, such as Assessment as Learning (AaL) and Assessment for Learning (AfL). This congruence provides clear avenues for using metaliteracy’s framework in ways that support SDL. The first part of the chapter explores metaliteracy and its connections with SDL and assessment. The remainder of the chapter provides two examples of how the intersection of metaliteracy, SDL and assessment might be addressed in practice. These case studies provide additional and practical connections that might suggest applications in other settings. The first section explores a comprehensive metaliteracy digital badging system that is designed to advance SDL, with a focus on how the self-directed unit from this system was adapted for use in an open textbook. The final section of the chapter provides an example of how an online undergraduate course intertwines metaliteracy, information literacyand editing on Wikipedia, exemplifying principles of SDL and providingexamples of AaL and AfL. (p. 72)

We look forward to furthering our investigations into the connections between metaliteracy and self-directed learning.