LIM504 Information Literacy as a Core Competency

INFORMATION LITERACY AS A CORE COMPETENCY 1




















Information Literacy as a Core Competency

LIM504 – Research Methods in Library and Information Management

Karine Parry



Information Literacy as a Core Competency
Information literacy is a skill that allows people to evaluate information objectively, and mediate the possibility of information overload. This concept of finding, identifying, locating and evaluating information necessary and applicable to our research process is known as information literacy, or the skill to locate peer reviewed scholarship. The American Library Association (ALA) defines an information literate person as someone able to recognize when information is needed, and when they are able to effectively locate, evaluate and utilize the information required. (Iannuzzi, 1998) As our generations progress, we have unfortunately experienced a loss of this once overly emphasized skill. An example, according to an "investigation into the effectiveness of information literacy instruction for undergraduates" (Scharf, Elliot, Huey, Briller & Joshi, 2007), found that some significant student learning deficiencies existed as a result of a decreased emphasis on this essential skill. Despite this choice to allow for the diminishment of this essential academic ability, ALA still maintains that information literacy is essential,' indicating that the free-flow of information, and the knowledge to access and interpret that information, is imperative to American society." (Saunders, 2008) Often the argument is made that information literacy is "librarians turf" (Ratteray, 2002) and that emphasizing the lessons in a classroom are not necessary because the librarian can locate the material and/or show patrons where to find the sources. However, the ability to differentiate information relevant to a research process is a skill that students, faculty and professionals are better off practicing, knowing, understanding and obtaining.
Librarians are individuals who are capable of searching and finding information, as well as cataloging that material. They are the professionals focused on improving the user experience, by providing service that meets the needs of patrons, and helps them find the material they are looking for. Therefore, information literacy represents a skill that business professionals may be better off knowing and understanding. The ability to decipher important data research, collect appropriate resources and consolidate that information into a format that is recognizable for others, represents information literacy. Universities that continue to emphasize the importance of this skill experience an overall average increase in reading comprehension and research skills. "Content analysis of regional accrediting organizations web-based resources reveals support for information literacy as an important student learning outcome and encouragement of partnerships between librarians and faculty in instruction and assessment," (Saunders, 2007) further suggesting that this skill is valuable and beneficial for an improved higher educational experience. Students who develop their information literacy skills at an early age and progressively develop them, become professionals with a stronger foundational basis of support. The skill to identify, access, evaluate and interpret relevant information for making informed decisions is invaluable. (Sharma, 2007)
Good instructional programs for information literacy can be evaluated based on their ability to increase student performance, specifically in the area of STAR CST English-Language Arts mean test score performances. In an effort to identify the benchmarked benefits of incorporating information literacy courses in high schools and higher educational systems on student academic performance, a few case study examples that have been successful will be reviewed. A good instruction program should offer "multiple outlets for students to learn and practice information literacy skills," (Sharma, 2007) including tests and quizzes that challenge students to apply their memory and strategic reasoning abilities. Incorporating information literacy into course offerings and curriculum options is perhaps the ideal way to reach a maximum number of students in a university setting. One example of a tool that has been reviewed and incorporated into curriculum offerings, still in the pilot phases, is the Information and Communication Technology Literacy Assessment that may provide qualitative data on how students use their critical thinking skills, as well as their search-and-find skills through organizational methods. (Sharma, 2007) Another example, that was less technology base and more field-study based, was a one unit stand-alone course offering in the spring 2005 that observed student learning behavior, gaps in their retention abilities, and modes of thinking over an extended period of time. (Sharma, 2007) A course similar to this case study showcased how students performance improved as a result of taking a course focused on their information literacy skills; helping them to become better researchers and literate professionals. ETS also offers a specific information literacy course called ICT Literacy, established in 2006, as an effort to analyze student's ability to define, evaluate, access, manage, integrate, create and communicate. (ETS Preliminary Findings, n.d.) Overall, the ability to decipher information and evaluate material effectively, represents beneficial skills for students and professionals to achieve and maintain.
Other methods to evaluate information literacy skills in universities have been developed to assess the progress, development and overall short-term and longer-term benefit of maintaining this skill. While information literacy as a skill-set may be declining, the importance of maintaining the skill has increased. Academic librarians have taken a lead in emphasizing the importance of maintaining this ability for the benefit of a more literate society. Authentic assessment models are needed to evaluate just how effective this information literacy ability is, as well as to determine the overall positive impact on students. Improvement plans are also implemented in universities to identify the best options for teaching students the importance of information literacy and preparing them with the necessary skills. Surveys and multiple choice tests have been used to identify the effectiveness of information literacy course offerings. An example of a test question asked a student to distinguish between a book and journal article, or to search optimal search terms for a given topic, through multiple choice format. (Scharf, Elliot, Huey, Briller, & Joshi, 2007) Within this particular study, parallels were identified between information literacy skills and the ability to write well. An assessment tool and strategy observed "student writing portfolios, vehicles that capture student work on a longitudinal basis, allow[ing] inside into the process and product," (Scharf, Elliot, Huey, Briller & Joshi, 2007) and how they represent relevant work product related to information literacy. A writing portfolio overcame negative attitudes towards assessment, and effectively measured a baseline assessment of the information literacy skills of students in relation to instructional issues. By evaluating student literacy performances through a writing portfolio, the university became stronger developers of information literacy skills, alongside their skilled librarians that spent a lot of their time emphasizing this essential ability.
Assessment strategies that focused on learning outcomes of randomly selected students have also been utilized to review overall information literacy skills, and students performance in relation. As argued, the "critical need for students to be knowledgeable about finding, retrieving, analyzing, and effectively using information, has become a campus-wide issue fostered by libraries and underscored by regional accreditation standards," (Samson, 2010) as a result of this diminished ability each generation. While the skill and ability continues to diminish among the average adult, the need to develop the skill and provide options for improving information literacy abilities continues to be emphasized in universities of higher learning. The ALA defines accreditation for information literacy to include learning outcomes, and an emphasis on the importance of student faculty collaborative relationships. (Samson, 2010) Hence, student work has been evaluated directly to determine its overall significance based on ACRL five standards in student portfolios, in relation to information literacy. Studies similar to this one utilize the information and data to find significant patterns that influence learning outcomes and information literacy curriculum course options. (Samson, 2010) Overall, finding ways to incorporate assessments and curriculum course offerings to develop information literacy skills are important considerations for institutions of higher learning.
In this paper, a review of the Orange County Capistrano Unified school district 7 high schools and their STAR CST mean exit exam scores, will be introduced and analyzed. Following the initial review of literature on the topic of information literacy with included case studies, a data sampling of STAR CST mean exam scores (2008 – 2013), for Capistrano Unified school district, will be compared to information literacy instruction and/or programs offered at each of these high schools. The data results are obtained from the Department of Education site, as well as the schools main websites. Once collected, these data samples will run through SPSS correlations in order to assess their overall significance in relation to each other. The objective is to discover whether there is a correlation between schools with libraries that have incorporated information literacy programs and lessons into their curriculums, and the STAR CST English-Language Arts mean test scores of these same high school student samplings. Ideally, a significant positive correlation will be discovered between universities offering information literacy course options and increased STAR CST English-Language Arts mean test score performance. Hence, while information literacy may be viewed as a necessary skill for librarians, analysis will show that improved STAR CST English-Language Arts mean test scores will have at least a tendency to be influenced by information literacy course offerings made available by the high schools.
Literature Review
UC San Diego (UCSD) began holding an annual librarian shadow day that offers library students the unique opportunity to view the different Geisel library departments, meet mentors in the field and obtain information unique to their intended library career direction. For the event held on April 8, 2014, the 1 hour mentorship discussion with Dominique Turnbow, Instructional Design Coordinator, involved reviewing the incorporation of information literacy instruction into a course classroom lesson plan, as well as a review of the lesson plan that included the 4-days of specific information literacy course instruction in a Geisel library computer lab. Overall, the full extent of offering information literacy instruction at the university level involved incorporation of the lessons into a 4-day computer lab instructional course offering. Dominique was interested in feedback, and expressed her concern with the short limited course timeframe to really teach students these valuable library lessons. She also gathered feedback from a survey sent out after the shadow day. During this session, students were: introduced to the UC San Diego library research databases, including LibGuide, JSTOR and Boolean operators; the tools and resources they could use to locate and find their resources of information, including the AskALibrarian chat reference service; the tutorial videos that review the materials and step-by-step process to locate and find information; and the answers to commonly asked questions relevant for their course of study. Specifically, students were given a hands-on lesson that asked them to select a database, write why they selected the particular database to locate their information, and then describe their technique used to locate the information. The final question asked students to locate a full-text article, and describe the process. (MMW 13 Library Workshop Handout, 2014) The students were also provided with an instructional paper to write their answers down, where they could share the results with the professor at the end. This course is a great opportunity for undergraduate students to learn the important information literacy skills they would need throughout their chosen degrees to conduct research and evaluate results. Unfortunately, this 4-day incorporation of information literacy instruction is the full extent of course offerings pertaining to this topic at UCSD. After going through these 4-days of information literacy instruction, students at UCSD are left to their own needs and discretion regarding how often or frequently they use these skills and the library databases of materials for their research purposes. (Interview with Dominique Turnbow, 2014) At the college undergraduate level, many universities already assume that students have acquired these necessary skills through their primary and/or secondary school instructional years. Additionally, due to the fact that the university structure is based on research rather than instruction, they do not necessarily emphasize this skill as a necessity for their students past the 4-day learning course of instruction. (Interview with Dominique Turnbow, 2014) UCSD incorporates information literacy instruction in their writing programs.
Through further research obtained regarding Capistrano Unified school district's high school STAR CST English-Language Arts mean test scores, in relation to their information literacy course offerings, it became clear that high schools in this district have at least found ways to indirectly emphasize an incorporation of information literacy instruction. In their mission and vision statements on school websites, they provide information regarding their objectives and goals for students; however, they have not necessarily discussed how they have set aside actual course time and instruction to teach this necessary skill. While universities, similar to UCSD, consider information literacy a lesson to learn at the primary and secondary educational level, high schools in the Capistrano Unified school district may not incorporate lessons on the topic. These schools in this district indirectly discuss information literacy, but may not officially incorporate the material into course instruction on the topic; this disconnect between university expectations and high school lessons causes some concern later, with respect to information literacy. At Aliso Niguel High School in Aliso Viejo, CA and Dana Hills High School, in Dana Point, CA, for example, responses from students and previous students indicate that they either were never taught this skill during instruction, or they did not remember having learned the skill through instruction. This meant that information literacy was either taught in an abbreviated version, and/or by a librarian briefly, during one of the other courses taken; or these students were never taught the instruction. While outside programs in the district are offered, including: the Early Literacy Program (ELP) that reaches Orange County's young children and families, helping them to achieve literacy in listening, speaking, reading and writing and ETT Enhancing Student and Teacher Learning, the high schools themselves have unfortunately been unproductive in offering a structured well-developed course on the topic. Tustin Unified school district has incorporated information literacy instruction in their technology plan, from July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2016, to include the process of acquiring information literacy competency and technology skills, based on measurable objectives, benchmarks and NET-S standards. (Tustin Technology Plan, n.d.) According to the plan, "students will become proficient at locating, accessing, and evaluating information and resources" and acquire appropriate search strategies per grade level, with an "emphasis on website evaluation and safety and ethics issues." (Tustin Technology Plan, n.d.) Additionally, the plan mentions providing staff development opportunities "in technology and information literacy for teachers to assist their students in meeting the goals of this plan." (Tustin Technology Plan, n.d.) While Tustin Unified mentions its efforts to incorporate information literacy instruction, it is still not clear how exactly they have or when the courses are offered. Overall, it appears that information literacy is a lesson taught briefly during class instruction time by a librarian and/or it is unfortunately never taught to high school students.
While observing and collecting written information on information literacy instruction from a university, high schools in the Capistrano Unified school district and neighboring districts, helped to support some of the initial observations and create a literature review on the topic, quantifying the actual STAR CST English-Language Arts mean test results between 2008 – 2013 in a stratified sampling format and comparing the results to information instruction offered at each of the individual schools selected, became the best way to observe the overall possible information literacy influence each school had on students STAR CST English-Language Arts mean test score performance. Basically, collecting STAR CST English-Language Arts mean test scores between 2008 – 2013, and compiling the results into SPSS, between 9th grade to 11th grade from star.cde.ca.gov/star20_ _, became the method by which observing information literacy influence was analyzed. These STAR CST English-Language Arts mean test score results could be found by going to the star.ca.gov/star20_ _ website, clicking on the year to observe, clicking on Test Results Search, and then categorizing the reports for each school. For example, if you wanted to review the STAR CST results for Aliso Niguel High School in 2012, you would select on the star.ca.gov/star2012/SearchPanel.aspx website CST for test, Orange for county, Capistrano Unified for school district, Aliso Niguel High School for the school, and then view report. The resulting page provides the mean 2012 STAR Test Results under English-Language Arts. (Standardized testing and reporting (STAR) results (CA dept of education), n.d.)These are the values representative in the chart displayed in the appendix of this paper; all the test score results were collected from this government website for this study. The selected schools included: Aliso Niguel, Capistrano Valley, Dana Hills, Junipero Serra, San Clemente, San Juan Hills and Tesoro high school. Finally, the total results included 7 schools, tracking the sample student results between the grades of 9th grade – 11th grade, between 2008 - 2013. These results are representative of a collected random sampling of high school students that attended and completed the STAR CST English-Language Arts test at the selected high schools reviewed, in the Capistrano Unified school district system.
After collecting STAR CST English-Language Arts test results and narrowing down the schools to 7 within the specified Capistrano Unified school district, further research and information was collected from entirely online sources regarding each of these 7 schools information literacy instruction options, based on the information provided from each of the 7 schools main school websites. To keep the results simpler, the schools were coded just for 2013, with either a 1 for "the school offered information literacy instruction", a 2 for "the school neither offered information instruction or it was unclear if the school offered information literacy instruction from the website," or a 3 for "the school did not offer information literacy instruction". Results for the information literacy portion of the data collected, as well as the coding dictionary, could be found in the appendix.
In an expansion of this research paper, further information may be collected via survey responses, from school officials located at each of these 7 school sites and/or a moderated focus group to collect responses from selected participants for the current 2014 school year, or prior years 2008 – 2012 when they attended and/or were present. Students, teachers, librarians, and/or administrators at these schools may be questioned for voluntary responses. Current students could be asked between the grades of 9th – 11th to determine their experience with information literacy instruction through listserv format, or any additional social networking means, including: Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Additionally, the researcher may observe instructional formats, including auditing a class, to determine the overall quality and standards of the information literacy instruction, and include the experience in their results; similar to the way the results were collected from UCSD Librarian Shadow Day observation. Finally, responses may be collected through a series of multiple or consistent channels, including: phone, in-person interviews, and/or via email format, either anonymously or selectively. This additional research is outside the scope of this paper.
Each of the 7 schools observed were evaluated based on their website information; specifically their mission and vision statements. The general ethnic composition for Capistrano Unified school district includes: 60.2% white, 25.1% Hispanic, 5.4% Asian, 1.6% Filipino and 7.2% of another background. (Capistrano unified school district: Ethnic composition, n.d.) The result from each of these schools is representative of the high school population in this school district, for 2013. Ideally, possible bias is also eliminated for this sampling, since it is based on information provided from each schools website. For example, Aliso Niguel High School's core values, mixed with the above ethnic composition, emphasizes learning, respect, safety and observation, as well as "to provide a safe and challenging learning environment that helps students realize their academic and personal potential". (Aliso niguel high school: Mission statement, n.d.) The school also focuses on academic leadership, instructional best practices, school spirit and providing various opportunities. (Aliso niguel high school: Mission statement, n.d.) Unfortunately, there is no specific mention of information literacy instruction on the website, in the core competency values and/or in the mission and vision statement. According to responses collected from previous students at this school, the average response was that students did not remember having had an information literacy instructional course during their educational years taught by the librarian, Jyoti Potnis. Some mentioned that they might have remembered some basic brief instruction during 9th grade, but were unsure. Therefore, schools were coded with a 2 for uncertainty where it existed. While students utilized the library to check out books for classes, as well as the computers for computer instruction, they were not specifically taught to navigate the databases and/or search-and-find the materials available in the school library. A 10th grade student from Dana Hills high school mentioned that she had never heard of information literacy and any instructional service provided, related to this topic. (Phone Interview with 10th grade, 2014) Reasons for this lack of instruction are outside of the scope of this paper.
The additional coded results for the remaining 6 schools were collected and observed in the same format that the results were observed for Aliso Niguel High School. Where the test score results were separated for the STAR CST results, between 9th grade to 11th grade, the information literacy results were collected together for 1 result between all years: whether there was an information literacy program or not. For example, for Junipero Serra, the school website suggested that "assessment ha[d] already been added to JSerra's information literacy instruction program. The librarian grade[ed] research portions of student papers," (JSerra catholic high school, 2014) without a specific mention of whether this program was offered in grade 9 or grade 11. Since the distinction was unclear, the coded result was representative of the school offering a program; not the year it did so. Results, based on website information, suggested that while the schools may offer this instruction, they did not necessarily emphasize it on their websites. As the results indicated, only Junipero Serra recognized an information literacy instructional program. The fact that Junipero Serra was and is a Catholic high school, may or may not be relevant in determining why it was the only high school in this district to mention information literacy instruction on their website. Overall, there was identified room for improvement and further development of information literacy instruction in the high schools located in the Capistrano Unified school district. Perhaps a technology plan similar to Tustin Unified school district would also be a good option to better incorporate and include information literacy instruction.
When comparing the STAR CST test scores in 2008 for Capistrano Unified school district students with the coded results for information literacy instruction, a resulting correlation found that information literacy instruction, or lack thereof, had at least a tendency to influence student test score performances.
Correlations

MDate2008
LDate20132
MDate2008
Pearson Correlation
1
.751

Sig. (2-tailed)

.052

N
18
7
LDate20132
Pearson Correlation
.751
1

Sig. (2-tailed)
.052


N
7
7

Analysis revealed that for the 7 schools studied, there was a non-significant, but very close to being significant, relationship between high schools offering information literacy instruction and student STAR CTS English-Language Arts test score results (r = .75, p = .052). Somewhere in this relationship, based also on the coding structure established for information literacy instruction in this study, stronger information literacy skills have been identified to at least have a strong tendency to influence test score performances, in the area of STAR CTS English-Language Arts test score results. Very similar results were found for the remaining years 2009 – 2013 (p values ranged between .055 – .070); these correlational results could be found in the appendix. Overall, incorporating information literacy instruction into high school curriculum may lead to positive results in student test score performances. Since information in general has been steadily increasing in its incorporation in high schools, it is also interesting to recognize that the mean test score performances have generally risen anyways, regardless of their relationship to information literacy (2008 – 2013); as evidence by the line-chart shown in the appendix. Additional analysis regarding the results of the STAR CTS English-Language Arts mean test scores and information literacy instructional offerings at each school, could be reviewed in a further developed research paper.
Conclusion
Overall, a general tendency for information literacy instruction to influence student STAR CTS English-Language Arts mean test score performance has been identified as a result of this paper. Information literacy is a method to effectively search, find and identify scholarly relevant material; it has been introduced and addressed, with case examples that showcase librarians efforts to incorporate the necessary skill into instructional programs and course offerings. Some schools have recognized information literacy in their technology plans, and/or have incorporated it in the context of other related course offerings. It is important that high schools, secondary institutional bodies that many universities and higher-educational learning programs expect have taught at least a basic foundation of information literacy, continue to emphasize the importance of this skill and actually teach it in their programs and instructional offerings. High schools, in specifically the Capistrano Unified school district, could improve their programs by incorporating more information literacy instructional programs, and at least continuing to emphasize its importance. Without recognition, the identified necessary skill by ALA will diminish. Every effort to mitigate information literacy's diminishment possibility is important for high schools to consider.





References
Aliso niguel high school: Mission statement. Retrieved 4/24/2014, 2014, from http://anhs-capousd-ca.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1354187588127
Capistrano unified school district: Ethnic composition. Retrieved 4/24/2014, 2014, from http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1232963502621
JSerra catholic high school. Retrieved 4/24/2014, 2014, from http://www.jserra.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=72747&type=d
Saunders, L. (2008). Perspectives on accreditation and information literacy as reflected in the literature of library and information science. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34(4), 305-313. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.usc.edu/10.1016/j.acalib.2008.05.003
Scharf, D., Elliot, N., Huey, H. A., Briller, V., & Joshi, K. (2007). Direct assessment of information literacy using writing portfolios. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 33(4), 462-477. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.usc.edu/10.1016/j.acalib.2007.03.005
Standardized testing and reporting (STAR) results (CA dept of education). Retrieved 4/24/2014, 2014, from http://star.cde.ca.gov/
 
http://dailytrojan.com/2011/10/04/lowest-ever-sat-reading-scores-are-cause-for-concern/

(July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2016) Tustin Unified School District Technology Plan. Retrieved from: http://www.tustin.k12.ca.us/cms/lib02/CA01001904/Centricity/Domain/52/FINAL%20Tech%20Plan%206-3-13.pdf
(April 8, 2014) UC San Diego Librarian Shadow Day. Interview with Dominique Turnbow, Instructional Design Coordinator. Information literacy instruction in MMW 13 course.
(April 8, 2014) MMW 13 Library Workshop Handout.
(April 24, 2014) Phone interview with a Dana Hills 10th grader.


Appendix
Orange County Schools (CST English Language Mean Test Scores Arts) vs. Information Literacy Scores
http://star.cde.ca.gov/


Coding Dictionary for Information Literacy Instruction 2013:
1 - The school offered information literacy instruction.
2 - The school neither offered information instruction or it was unclear if the school offered information literacy instruction from the website.
3 – The school did not offer information literacy instruction.



Manifest (objective) variables: (M) Date 2008 – Date 2013
1 = Aliso Niguel High School – Grade 9
2 = Aliso Niguel High School – Grade 10
3 = Aliso Niguel High School – Grade 11
4 = Capistrano Valley High School – Grade 9
5 = Capistrano Valley High School – Grade 10
6 = Capistrano Valley High School – Grade 11
7 = Dana Hills High School – Grade 9
8 = Dana Hills High School – Grade 10
9 = Dana Hills High School – Grade 11
10 = Junipero Serra High School (Catholic) – Grade 10
11 = Junipero Serra High School (Catholic) – Grade 11
12 = San Clemente High School – Grade 9
13 = San Clemente High School – Grade 10
14 = San Clemente High School – Grade 11
15 = San Juan Hills High School – Grade 9
16 = San Juan Hills High School – Grade 10
17 = San Juan Hills High School – Grade 11
18 = Tesoro High School – Grade 9
19 = Tesoro High School – Grade 10
20 = Tesoro High School – Grade 11
Latent (subjective) variables: (L) Date 20132
1 = Aliso Niguel High School
4 = Capistrano Valley High School
7 = Dana Hills High School
10 = Junipero Serra High School
12 = San Clemente High School
15 = San Juan Hills High School
18 = Tesoro High School
Additional Correlation Results:

Correlations

MDate2009
LDate20132
MDate2009
Pearson Correlation
1
.742

Sig. (2-tailed)

.056

N
19
7
LDate20132
Pearson Correlation
.742
1

Sig. (2-tailed)
.056


N
7
7


Correlations

LDate20132
MDate2010
LDate20132
Pearson Correlation
1
.717

Sig. (2-tailed)

.070

N
7
7
MDate2010
Pearson Correlation
.717
1

Sig. (2-tailed)
.070


N
7
20


Correlations

LDate20132
MDate2011
LDate20132
Pearson Correlation
1
.744

Sig. (2-tailed)

.055

N
7
7
MDate2011
Pearson Correlation
.744
1

Sig. (2-tailed)
.055


N
7
20


Correlations

LDate20132
MDate2012
LDate20132
Pearson Correlation
1
.704

Sig. (2-tailed)

.077

N
7
7
MDate2012
Pearson Correlation
.704
1

Sig. (2-tailed)
.077


N
7
20


Correlations

LDate20132
MDate2013
LDate20132
Pearson Correlation
1
.745

Sig. (2-tailed)

.055

N
7
7
MDate2013
Pearson Correlation
.745
1

Sig. (2-tailed)
.055


N
7
20


INFORMATION LITERACY AS A CORE COMPETENCY


STAR CST Test Results 2008 - 2013
Capistrano Unified High Schools
Mean (Average) CST Scores Per Year