From the Literature No. 2

This second From the Literature post brings to your attention a 2022 article by Alison Hicks and Annemaree Lloyd, “Reaching into the basket of doom: Learning outcomes, discourse and information literacy,” published in the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science.

Hicks’ and Lloyd’s article, the third in a series, “employs the theory of practice architectures and a discourse analytical approach to examine the learning goals of five recent English-language models of information literacy” (p.1). The five models, all developed since 2010, include two from the UK: ANCIL and SCONUL’s Seven Pillars, and three from the US: AACU, the ACRL Framework, and Metaliteracy. Table 1 provides an illuminating overview of the origins and characteristics of each of the models, which is then explored in more detail in the literature review section. The authors compare these new models from the “second wave of constructivist-focussed information literacy models (Hicks and Lloyd, 2016)” with first wave models, including the ACRL Standards. [Hicks A and Lloyd A (2016) It takes a community to build a framework: Information literacy within intercultural settings. Journal of Information Science 42(3): 334–343.]

The authors state that

“Since their creation, these models have been widely implemented within North American and UK systems of higher education and have been welcomed by teaching librarians…and teaching faculty, particularly in the area of writing and composition studies…. However, somewhat surprisingly, given the role that models play within teaching librarianship, there have been few attempts to examine and critique these guidelines” (p.4)

(Please see their article for the authors they cite in connection with these statements.) Grounding their work in the theory of practice architecture, they use discourse analysis to examine the learning goals and outcomes of the five models.

This analysis suggests that there are 12 common dimensions across the five models, and the authors provide details of these dimensions in Appendix 1. Hicks and Lloyd assert that the 12 dimensions can be grouped into two categories, Mappying and Applying (p. 6).

The Mapping category encompasses learning outcomes that introduce the learner to accepted ways of knowing or what is valued by and how things work within higher education. Comprised of seven dimensions, including Access, Comply, Disseminate, Evaluate, Identify, Manage and Search, this category inculcates induction into the ways in which information is understood, interpreted and organised within new or specific academic cultures. One of the most prominent emphases within this category is on the mapping of information systems that will contribute to academic success, whether this is the information tools or the information sources that will be useful for academic study. (p. 6)

They continue,

The Applying category encompasses learning outcomes that encourage the learner to implement or integrate ideas into their own practice, including to their own questions, to themselves or to their experience. Forming a more personally focussed approach to learning, this category comprises five dimensions including Analyse, Determine need, Maintain, Reflect and Transfer. (p. 7)

The discussion section not only examines these findings, but also touches upon those aspects of information literacy from the first wave that were not found in the analysis of the five models.

The implications from the authors’ research have a potential major impact on information literacy in higher education:

Beyond helping to demonstrate areas of practice that have been overlooked, this research provides insight into how the writing of learning outcomes could be improved, including by making the language more specific. This research also calls for the broadening of research methods that are used to create institutional models and guidelines…. (p. 9)

As with our first look into the literature, we encourage you to read this critically important article, as this brief overview can not hope to capture the full impact of the authors’ work. It will also afford you the opportunity to understand the article’s title.

Citation:

Hicks, Alison, and Annemaree Lloyd. 2022. “Reaching Into the Basket of Doom: Learning Outcomes, Discourse and Information Literacy.” Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 0(0). 10.1177/09610006211067216

Metaliteracy Presentation at OLC Accelerate Explores Online Courses in the Digital Media Arts

How does metaliteracy support creative and collaborative learning in fully online courses? This year’s Online Learning Consortium’s Accelerate 2022 conference featured a presentation by Tom Mackey about applying metaliteracy in Digital Media Arts courses at SUNY Empire State College. The presentation, entitled Effective Strategies in the Digital Media Arts to Inspire Creativity and Collaboration examines how metaliteracy influenced the development of several online courses that envision learners as knowledge producers. According to the abstract for this presentation:

Online courses in the Digital Media Arts offer effective models for designing innovative learning activities in a wide range of disciplinary settings. Several courses in the Digital Media Arts at SUNY Empire State College, such as Digital Storytelling, Ethics of Digital Art and Design, and Information Design have been developed to include open educational resources (OER) to replace textbooks. In addition, openly-available digital resources have been curated in these courses to support individual and collaborative learning activities for producing original and remixed information. 

As part of this presentation, the learning outcomes for each course are shared along with specific pedagogical strategies that have proven to be effective in each class. These techniques are transferrable to a wide range of modalities and disciplinary settings beyond those described. The presentation includes several digital media projects produced by students as well as feedback from learners about the experience.

If you have questions about these fully online courses taught by Tom Mackey at SUNY Empire State College, feel free to reach out any time.

Metaliteracy Featured at the Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL) Global program

The application of metaliteracy in a Digital Arts course at SUNY Empire State College about Ethics of Digital Art & Design was featured at the 2022 Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL) Global program. IELOL Global is a leadership development program that is facilitated by the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) and features narratives about collaborative work in relation to both local and global digital learning initiatives. Tom Mackey was invited to share a story about his teaching of metaliteracy in relation to one of the the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He presented Reflections on Quality Education: From Cyprus to Online to the 2022 cohort during the “Discovery Phase” of the program. The presentation explores the translation of a blended, international residency about Ethics of Digital Art and Design into a fully online course in the Digital Arts. He wrote about this course previously in an essay entitled “Translating a Blended Cyprus Residency Study in the Digital Arts to Online” for All About Mentoring, a SUNY Empire State college publication.

Mackey, T. P., “Translating a Blended Cyprus Residency Study in the Digital Arts to Online” All About Mentoring Issue 55 Autumn 2021, (pp. 37-42).

From the Literature

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 Book Reviewed in College & Research Libraries (C&RL)

How do practitioners in the field respond to our latest book Metaliteracy in a Connected World: Developing Learners as Producers? To find out, read a book review by Cal Murgu, Instructional Design Librarian at Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada in College & Research Libraries Vol 83, No 5 (2022).

According to the author of this newest review:

In Metaliteracy in a Connected World, Thomas Mackey and Trudi Jacobson make a strong case for the adoption of the metaliteracy framework, a pedagogical model that seeks to empower learners to be reflective and informed consumers and producers of information in an increasingly connected (digital) world. This monograph builds on Mackey and Jacobson’s previous efforts, spanning two decades, to normalize metaliteracy as the framework for teaching and learning in libraries.

(MURGU, 2022, P. 863)

Murgu highlights the theoretical chapters (1,2 and 6) as well as those focused on practice (3, 4, and 5). He is especially interested in the way the book applies the metaliteracy model to open pedagogical settings as defined in chapters 3 and 4. This latest review joins the insights offered by Jodie R Heap from Staffordshire University in a review in the Journal of Information Literacy.

We appreciate this interest in our latest book and welcome your insights about how metaliteracy is applied in a wide range of disciplines and pedagogical settings.

Tom and Trudi

MURGU, Cal. Metaliteracy in a Connected World: Developing Learners as Producers. Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi E. Jacobson, eds. Chicago, IL: ALA Neal-Schuman, 2022. 232p. $64.99 (ISBN: 978-0-8389-4944-3). Special issue of C&RL, edited by Nicole Pagowsky, [S.l.], v. 83, n. 5, p. 863, Sep. 2022. ISSN 2150-6701. Available at: <https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/article/view/25597/33504>. Date accessed: 18 Sep. 2022. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.83.5.863.

Metaliteracy Virtual Presentation at the “National level Symposium on Skilling for Higher Education” in India 

A new presentation by Trudi Jacobson and Tom Mackey entitled Developing a Metaliteracy Mindset: Benefits for Yourself, Employers, and Society was featured as part of an invited talk at the “National level Symposium on Skilling for Higher Education” in India. Tom and Trudi were invited to present at the symposium by Dr. Tessy Thadathil, Vice Principal, Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, Pune. This event was organized by the Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce in cooperation with the Symbiosis Centre for Skill Development. The Symposium was funded by Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), which was launched in 2013 to provide strategic funding to eligible State Higher Educational Institutions and supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. 

The metaliteracy session focused on shifting mindsets for a connected world:

How do you shift mindsets for today’s complex information environment? The opportunities for producing and sharing informative content today are myriad, collaborative, far-reaching, and fluid. In today’s global society, businesses need ethical information producers and self-directed learners who are able to keep up with dramatic changes to the work environment. In your personal life and communities, you may face the same change-related challenges. Regardless of the setting, you need to consider how you contribute to a connected world as an effective information evaluator and reflective information producer.

Explore the slides for this presentation and note the survey response to two questions about the metaliterate learner roles:

Interactive Metaliteracy Workshop for Developing Learners as Producers

Trudi Jacobson and Tom Mackey facilitated an interactive webinar entitled Teaching with Metaliteracy: Developing Learners as Producers for the American Library Association (ALA) eLearning Solutions continuing education program on July 14, 2022. The webinar was based on Tom and Trudi’s latest book for ALA Neal-Schuman, Metaliteracy in a Connected World: Developing Learners as Producers.

You may want to walk through the slide show asynchronously to gain new insights about the content presented. All of the interactive components are still available so feel free to jump in and contribute to the following:

Feel free to explore the ideas generated, contribute your own, and/or develop your own metaliteracy workshop based on this model!

New Metaliteracy Book Reviewed in the Latest Journal of Information Literacy

Now that Metaliteracy in a Connected World: Developing Learners as Producers has been published, what do the critics think? We were thrilled to read this review of our new book written by Jodie R Heap from Staffordshire University in the latest issue of Journal of Information Literacy, one of the premiere journals in the field!

According to Heap’s book review of Metaliteracy in a Connected World:

The flow of the text works well to introduce the reader to the concepts surrounding metaliteracy and then proceeds to provide evidence and a variety of examples of metaliteracy in action within Higher Education settings. The reader is supported in their understanding of how application of the metaliteracy framework and concepts could vary depending on the course. The activity section deserves particular appreciation —it provides various examples through which the framework could be applied, a useful scaffolding tool which not many texts offer.

(Heap, 2022, p. 131)

The reviewer provides an analysis of all six of the book’s chapters and argues that “It offers a useful jumping off point for both teachers and librarians in exploring the application of metaliteracy in the classroom” (Heap, 2022, p. 132).

We appreciate this review of our latest metaliteracy book published by ALA Neal-Schuman and look forward to seeing how it is received by authors and practitioners in the field and beyond. If you are aware of other reviews, feel free to send them our way!

Tom and Trudi

HEAP, Jodie R. Book review of Mackey, T., and Jacobson, T. 2022. Metaliteracy in a connected world: Developing learners as producers. Journal of Information Literacy, [S.l.], v. 16, n. 1, p. 131-132, june 2022. ISSN 1750-5968. Available at: <https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/JIL/article/view/BR-V16-11-1>. Date accessed: 20 june 2022. doi: https://doi.org/10.11645/16.1.3217.

Metaliteracy Explored in New Open Praxis Article about Digital Storytelling

Circular diagram of the metaliteracy model.

What is the connection between the metaliteracy model and digital storytelling? Read the new article entitled Integrating Metaliteracy into the Design of a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Course in Digital Storytelling (Mackey & Aird, 2022) just published in Open Praxis.

According to the new article co-authored by Dr. Thomas Mackey and Dr. Sheila Aird:

This paper describes the redesign of Digital Storytelling as a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) course that was taught in fall 2020 and spring 2021 at SUNY Empire State College. Metaliteracy is integrated into the learning design of this fully online course to enhance the virtual international experience. This pedagogical model encourages metacognitive reflection and the production of digital narratives as individuals and in collaboration with peers.

(Mackey & Aird, 2022)

An earlier version of this paper was presented by Mackey & Aird at the ICDE Virtual Global Conference Week 2021: Upskilling and upscaling for quality Open, Flexible and Distance Learning (OFDL) in October 2021. The paper was then preselected for publication in Open Praxis, the peer-reviewed journal published by the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). To learn more about this digital storytelling collaboration, explore the Global Digital Stories blog managed by the two authors.

Mackey, T. P., & Aird, S. M. (2022). Integrating Metaliteracy into the Design of a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Course in Digital Storytelling. Open Praxis13(4), 397–403. DOI: http://doi.org/10.55982/openpraxis.13.4.442

There Is Now a Wikipedia Article for Metaliteracy!

On May 11, 2022, the Metaliteracy article was accepted for publication in the English language version of Wikipedia! It will now be easy for those interested in the framework to find out more about it via one of the most common sources of information in the world.

This move from draft status to published article has been a number of years in the making. Two previous drafts were not approved. However, Gina Barrett of Canada, an experienced Wikipedia editor (Redwidgeon), took on the effort of addressing the issues with the latest draft. These attempts centered on Wikipedia’s notability requirement. As a part of this work, she identified a number of substantive works about metaliteracy beyond those of Tom’s and Trudi’s to be incorporated into the article. She also offered to work with a group of dedicated students from an international course last fall, Intercultural Perspectives on Information Literacy and Metaliteracy (offered by the University of Hildesheim, Germany and several global partners). These students, from the USA, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and India, had chosen to work on the Wikipedia metaliteracy draft article as their course project. While they had to wait some months to see if their work was ultimately successful on the Wikipedia platform, they now have the satisfaction of knowing that they met their goal of article approval. We would like to thank Feda Kulenovic, Ellen Ballato, Chris Jose, Goutami Rane, Luka Boskovic, and Rabea Schoershusen for their most professional work, as well as the international perspectives they brought to the project.

Just a little bit about the process of adding information to Wikipedia: While it is true that anyone can contribute, that does not mean that everything that is added remains. There are vigilant volunteer editors (contributors to Wikipedia are known as editors) and bots that do clean-up work, both minor and more substantive. As a part of this content checking, articles can be flagged for deletion if particular issues connected with Wikipedia expectations aren’t addressed. Beyond notability, another Wikipedia requirement relates to conflict of interest, meaning that Trudi and Tom are not able to work on the article themselves. For more information about editing on Wikipedia, this guide provides an overview.

Like all Wikipedia articles, the metaliteracy article is subject to revisions and additions. It will be interesting to follow both its Talk and History pages over time. While the article currently appears only in the English language version of Wikipedia, perhaps we will be able to celebrate new or translated metaliteracy articles in additional Wikipedias in the future!