Firstly an explanation of the name of the blog: the IMS Files
As part of my research, I was reading a great article by Daniel Callison, Information Inquiry: Concepts and Elements and in it he says, "the role of school library media specialist is revised... to that of instructional media specialist..." and I thought that was a pretty cool title, so here I am, the learner IM specialist taking another step on the journey of my Master of Learning Innovation...
And here she is… Meet Carol Kuhlthau, Professor Emerita of Library and Information Science at Rutgers University, Guided Inquiry guru and developer of the (drum roll please)
Kuhlthau model of Information Search Process
Many apologies for the quality of the table but it was the best I could do - for a clearer version go straight to the source...
After numerous attempts to load a clearer copy of the following rubrix from the article, Lifelong Learning - How literate do people need to be? by Jan Partridge, I have given up and resorted to guiding you to the source - it is well worth a look and I have referred to it often in my own searching process! (It is Figure 1 on Page 210)
Lifelong Learning Conference : Rockhampton, Qld. : 2000
The development of this model apparently took over two decades! It kind of makes you wonder how many times Carol went through the ISP herself?
Also relevant is the following product description of Carol’s latest Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st century, which she wrote in collaboration with two of her daughters Leslie K. Maniotes and Ann K. Caspari
Noted researcher Kuhlthau has teamed up with a curriculum specialist and museum educator to create this foundational text on Guided Inquiry, a dynamic, integrated approach to teaching curriculum content, information literacy, and strategies for learning. Grounded in Kuhlthau's Information Search Process from her classic text Seeking Meaning and built on solid professional practice, this innovative team approach inspires students to gain deeper understandings and higher order thinking using the rich resources of the school library, the community and the wider world. This book provides the vital tools for educators to create collaborative environments where students experience school learning and real life meshed in integral ways - learning in the 21st century.
And this is our illustrious leader,
Dr Mandy Lupton without whose guidance I would never have come across Carol's model, (I hope it’s ok that I call her Carol – she has such a friendly face I think it would be ok) nor experienced the rollercoaster that is the ISP…
And this is me
(looking very glamorous all dressed up for a wedding) believe me that it not how I usually look as I sit here in my scary, baggy tracksuit pants and hair in a Britney style top knot!)
So to my personal ISP for Information Nexus (great name for a subject by the way). I plan to follow Carol’s ISP model and check in with her along the way to see how I am going…
Starting at the very beginning (which according to Julie Andrews is a very good a place to start) I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself in for… and for once I was not at all organised…
Analysing the way that I search/research is a really interesting exercise and actually not very easy, especially when you spend the first few weeks or so of the semester having the completely wrong idea about what it is you are actually supposed to be doing and then you lose your home internet connection for a week, then you have sick kids and sadly your husband’s 99 year-old and much loved Gran passes away in Melbourne. But finally I got somewhere back on track and recommenced my efforts.
Stage One - Initiation
Wrong turn and family life aside, I turned to the Study Guide and read through the suggested readings to try and get a handle on the broad context of the subject. To say that I experienced feelings of uncertainty is perhaps stating the obvious. I don’t work in a school and never have, and my closest experience of teaching has been bits and pieces of corporate training and mentoring. I did my Graduate Diploma in Education more than ten years ago and then kind of fell into marketing without teaching a class outside of teaching rounds, so when reading the information and trying to sort out the education-speak was a huge challenge. So far in the MLI-TL (three subjects completed) I hadn’t experienced this before, so I was feeling very thrown. In her model though, Carol identifies Zones of Intervention – where “information seekers (me) can be helped by mediation or instruction” – excellent suggestion!
So I emailed Mandy for clarification and also did some “thinking about the problem” (see Fig 1 above) and it started to make a little more sense.
Stage Two Selection
After sorting out what exactly it was that I was going to focus on, I used the Study Guide to direct my searches. I realised that even though I am working in the public library system, as a Program Development Officer it is part of my job to create learning experiences for our customers, the majority of whom are adults. Thus whilst the critical starting point would be the ISP’s and methods of learning discussed for school and university environments, it would be necessary for me to also explore adult learning environments.
Before starting to search, I at least had in mind a range of search terms that I had gleaned from the reading that I had completed to date and because I’d had prior experience searching (will expand later on this point) I knew it was vital to have selected at least the primary search terms and be open to looking at more terms as the search expands.
Primary search terms
Note: In some cases I used Boolean operators, ‘and’ and ‘or’ to narrow the search field and I also experimented with the Advanced Search option which I hadn’t tried previously
Information search process
Guided inquiry
Guided enquiry
Information literacy
Adult learning process
Lifelong learning
From these initial terms, as I searched, I followed leads such as going to the websites of well known authors/commentators on the subjects, looking at conference papers,
Stage Three – Exploration/Stage Four – Formulation/Stage Five Collection
I feel that these three stages not only follow on from one another, but with each new piece of information, or new tangent followed, the information seeker experiences this process several times over.
The search process…
Because it is often the first point of reference for so many of our library customers and is often where I go for a quick overview of what might be ‘out there’ I started with good old Google, which actually provided some good basic information – this really reinforces the idea that if you can identify early in the process what your search terms are likely to be, it really assists the searching process.
I then ventured to Google Scholar, which I actually like as sometimes I have found some great sources – it just can take a bit of tracking down.
I then headed over the to QUT library and searched articles – I find that sticking to articles gives a broader search and if an article (or QUT e-print) proves valuable, I can track down the book if necessary.
I had a play on ProQuest and then got a little bit off track and got really into the adult learning/lifelong information – and had my lightbulb moment…
and I was able to start to formulate (Stage Five - Formulation) my topic and develop my contention and point of view on the subject.
When I felt that I had as much information as I could cope with (i.e. read in this lifetime) I then headed into Stage Six – Collection and when I referred back to Carol’s model, I noted that of course she was right on track and knew I would be feeling increased interest and understanding – spot on!
My own 'model' of my ISP experience
Some further thoughts
“Engagement and reflection are two fundamental components of Guided Inquiry…” Kuhlthau (2007)
I think for me one of the most illuminating parts of the process was the recognition that even though I was not in a classroom environment, I could still play a vital teaching role in the public library arena by developing programs that not only engaged adult learners, but gave them an opportunity for reflection and deeper learning.
The Six Principles of Guided Inquiry set out by Kuhlthau et al (see below) are based on basic premises of motivation and ownership, which are also fundamentals of adult learning.
I would argue (and plan to in my essay on this topic) that although these principles are framed with children in mind, they equally apply to adult learners;
- Children learn by being actively engaged and reflecting on an experience
- Children learn by building on what they already know (this is so relevant to adult learners)
- Children develop higher-order thinking through guidance at critical points in the learning process
- Children have different ways and modes of learning
- Children learn through social interaction with others
- Children learn through instruction and experience in accord with their cognitive development
Discovering that I could apply the principles of guided inquiry in my own work, gave the topic particular relevance and encouraged greater reflection on my part on what I had learned. Thus I attained a deeper understanding, which is the core aim of the Guided Inquiry process.
End note 14/9/08
I had thought that my search process for Assignment One was complete, however when putting together the introduction for my essay I went to Google to have a look for a quick definition for inquiry based learning and entered the search terms;
inquiry based learning definition
and came up with a whole range of new articles so of course I spent a while looking through and one in particular which I thought pertinent to share
I came across this recent article in The Australian by academic and education commentator, Kevin Donnelly who presents a different point of view to the majority of the reading that I had done so far. It is actually something that I had pondered myself, but as I don’t have classroom experience I had not felt confident to comment on.
Donnelly presents the argument that while inquiry based pedagogy does have much to recommend it, his contention is that students also need some ‘chalk and talk’ to provide the foundation for the IBL.
Reading though this article and subsequently hunting around the net for further comments questioning IBL methods (of which there are a number) I came to the conclusion that the guided inquiry model had even more to recommend it as it allows for teacher/instructor input in the Zones of Intervention and states explicitly that;
Children learn through instruction and experience in accord with their cognitive development
as someone who believes that no matter how thinly you slice something, there are always two sides to it, so it was good to find some opposing points of view, so I could make a considered and reasoned judgement for myself.
References
Callison, D (2006) The blue book on information age inquiry, instruction and literacy, Libraries Unlimited, Westport, Conn. Pp 3 – 16, Accessed from CMD for CLN650
Kuhlthau, C; Maniotes, L & Caspari, A (2007) Guided inquiry: learning in the 21st century, Libraries Unlimited, Westport, Conn. pp13 – 28, Accessed from CMD for CLN650
