Title: Communities of Inquiry: A Shift to Inquiry-Based Learning in LIS Education?
1Communities of Inquiry A Shift to Inquiry-Based
Learning in LIS Education?
- Muzhgan Nazarova, Ph.D Student
- Ann Peterson Bishop, Associate Professor
- Bertram C. Bruce, Professor
- Graduate School of Library and Information
Science - U. Of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2Presentation Overview
- Community Inquiry (CI) track in LIS
- Why and how it emerged?
- Theoretical background
- Mechanisms of implementation
- Perceptions of the students.
3Librarianship and information services is
experiencing a radical redefinition of the task
and nature of both the profession and preparation
for entering it. Overwhelmed by new waves of
technology and an information explosion, the
profession is almost drowning in the sea of
change.
Stueart,1989
4Core Competencies for Librarians and Information
Professionals
- Technical skills (e.g., knowledge of sources in
all formats, collection management skills,
application of critical thinking skills to
library problems) - Skills related to communication and human
relations (e.g., conducting reference interviews,
producing reports and presentation, effective
management of group processes). -
- Lois Buttlar and Rosemary Du Mont, 1996
5Core Competencies for Librarians and Information
Professionals
- Knowledge of the conduct of research and of
information resources, management, access,
systems and technology, and policy. - Tenopir, 2000
6Core competenciesWhat is missing?
- Audiences and communities the librarians and
information specialists work with and serve - Libraries become increasingly service-oriented
- Role of a librarian in a collaborative knowledge
construction
7Changes in Library Education NeededThe KALIPER
Project
- Library education as a vibrant, dynamic, changing
field that is undertaking an array of initiatives
8The KALIPER ReportSix Trends
- 1. Broad-based information environments and
- information problems.
- 2. User-centered core
- 3. Infusion of information technology into
curriculum - 4. Experimenting with specialization
- 5. Instruction in different formats with more
- flexibility
- 6. Offering related degrees at the
- undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels.
9Communities of Inquiry
- Community of Inquiry theory understands
knowledge as communally constructed and emergent,
proceeding through the interaction of critical
and creative thinking - Kennedy, 1996
10Community Inquiry Track
- 391LIA Literacy in the Information Age
- 450IBL Inquiry-Based Learning
- 450PT Pragmatic Technology
- 450SJ Social Justice
- 450PAR Participatory Action Research
- 450CIS Community Information
- Systems.
11CI Track and KALIPER Trends
- 1. By implementing the CI track, GSLIS addressed
much broader information environments including
different communities and address their needs - 2. While faculty members working on CI track have
joint appointments and are actively engaged in a
community service and work with diverse
communities, a main focus is on understanding the
users representing different communities and
meeting their needs
12CI Track and KALIPER Trends
- 3. Along with increasing infusion of
information technology into the curricula, as a
part of a CI track, a main focus is on
communication and collaboration technologies and
how these technologies can bring communities
together - 4. CI as an informal track in GSLIS curriculum
has already passed its experimentation phase. It
attracted the students from the other subject
areas to engage in a dialogue with the students
in LIS join in a community of inquiry
13CI Track and KALIPER Trends
- 5. Inquiry-based learning as an innovative
method of instruction in LIS found its place in a
field where dealing with inquiries on a daily
basis is a major part of your work, providing
more flexibility and developing and engaging in
different communities of inquiry with people from
all walks of life - 6. Some Community Inquiry track courses open to
Undergraduates and PHDs
14American Pragmatism and Theory of Inquiry
- They all believed that ideas are not out
there waiting to be discovered, but are tools -
like folks and knives and microchips-that people
devise to cope with the world in which they find
themselves. They believed that the ideas are not
produced by the individuals - that ideas are
social. - Louis Menand, 2001
-
15American Pragmatism
-
- William James (1675-1749)
- Charles Sanders Pierce (1839-1914)
- John Dewey (1859-1952)
- Jane Adams (1860-1935).
16Charles S. Pierce and Theory of Inquiry
- All inquiry requires a cooperative community
of minds and stresses the fact that notions of
such a community of minds. Such a community is
involved in the philosophic definition of the
real. - Goudge, 1950
17John Dewey and Communities of Inquiry
- Inquiry is the life-blood of every science
and is constantly engaged in every art, craft and
profession (Dewey, 1938). - Men live in a community in virtue of the
things which they have in common and
communication is the way in which they come to
possess things in common. What they must have in
common in order to form a community or society
are aims, beliefs, aspirations. (Dewey, 1916).
18Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL)
- Inquiry-Based Learning is often described as a
cycle or spiral, involving the formulation of a
question, investigation, creation of an
appropriate solution or answer, discussion and
reflection on the outcome but in practice not all
the steps I this cycle are necessary to be
followed in sequence.
19Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL)
The Cycle of Inquiry
20Communities of Inquiry
- A group (a social setting) of individuals who
use dialogue (interaction among participants) to
search out the problematic borders of a puzzling
concept (inquiry as philosophical) - Turgeon, 1998
21Characteristics of the CIs
- Coming to understand, and to build upon, a range
of different perspectives and points of view - Thinking which is self-correcting, and thinkers
who care for the procedures of inquiry - Developing an environment in which all ideas are
listened to and respected as potential sources of
truth
22Online Environment for CI CILs
- Community Inquiry Lab (CIL) is a place where
members of a community come together to develop a
shared capacity and work on common problems.
23Community Inquiry Labs
- Community
- A collaborative activity and for creating
knowledge that is connected to peoples values,
history and lived experiences. - Inquiry
- An open-ended, democratic, participatory
engagement. - Laboratory
- A space and resources to bring theory and
- action together in an experimental and
critical manner. - CIL is most importantly a concept.
-
-
24Community Inquiry Labs
- Web-based suite of Open Source software tools to
support collaboration and communication (e.g.,
bulletin board, document uploading, calendar,
inquiry units) - People create CILs (websites) on their own, to
support their activities within and among groups - Inquiry units lesson plans, action plans,
meeting minutes, research reports, journals,
policy statements, etc.
25Community, Content and Collaboration Management
Systems (C3MS)
- C3MS systems are considered a form of Web
portals, gathering a variety of useful
information and communication resources into a
single, one stop web page -
- Looney Lyman, 2000
26Community, Content and Collaboration Management
Systems (C3MS)
- C3MS consist of a collection of objects called
information bricks and services operation on
these bricks that can be accessed from a portal.
27Community Inquiry Lab
- Is based on a C3MS model and consists of
different bricks performing different functions
28CIL Features Software
- Open software model (1) users can mix-and-match
bricks, (2) bricks are open source - A brick maker, which allows non-programmers to
make their own bricks - Community development collaborations with a
diverse group of people working in education,
e-government, and other areas - Inquiry development model (use -gt build -gt
design) (1) participatory design, (2)
development as research on community inquiry
29CIL Features Relation to Community
- Open participation start open and then create
private spaces, vetting, etc as needed - Universal design an emphasis on accessibility,
not only in terms of disabilities, but in terms
of bandwidth, screen size, local support - Community work first situating the technology
within ongoing communities, rather than seeing it
as a replacement or complete in itself
30Community Inquiry Track
- 391LIA Literacy in the Information Age
- 450IBL Inquiry-Based Learning
- 450PT Pragmatic Technology
- 450SJ Social Justice
- 450PAR Participatory Action Research
- 450CIS Community Information
- Systems.
31(No Transcript)
32Paseo Boricua Street Academyhttp//inquiry.uiuc.e
du/cil/out.php?cilid112
33SisterNets CIL in Action Taking Action for Water
Quality
34Pilot Study Perceptions of Students
- It seems to me to be more appropriate to the
type of work that LIS represents. It is also
much more responsive to the various learning
styles that people come bring? to LIS. At
least it does represent some form or model of
learning upon which LIS can grow
35Pilot Study Perceptions of Students
- In addition, the CIL allows for distant people
to come together around the shared interest of a
topic. Also, the CIL encourages the involvement
by allowing for different interpretation of the
information and its evolution by the members of
the CIL
36Pilot Study Perceptions of Students
- Learning is not linear, the inquiry cycle
allows me to perfect my work, and allow others to
input - I think the inquiry cycle is in general the
learning cycle for me. To have the structure
lets you feel through the part of the process you
are currently in, and enable the focus of
attention to the part of the cycle
37Pilot Study Perceptions of Students
-
- The topics have a strong connection to LIS, but
also have an appeal to other fields of study.
To see that there are strong connections across
disciplines in a valuable learning opportunity.
I also think the topics in the track are ones
that are often lost between the technical and
traditional branches of LIS
38Pilot Study Perceptions of Students
-
- I think the biggest potential issue might be
the practicality of not recognizing or
understanding a more commercial, corporate,
conservative arena within which we all have to
exist and hopefully thrive in this world. It is
wonderful to put forth social issues, concerns
and agendas but doing that with students and not
giving them an understanding of what real world
is can be very disconcerting for the student once
they are out on their own.
39Conclusion
- CI is
- Response to a complex array of
- changes in LIS
- Building bridges in LIS knowledge
- Much work to do!
-
40Resources
41Contacts