Where am I? Where am I?

Searching, searching, sick of searching! Throughout the whole search and find process so far I have kept in mind some of the stages I have been going through and thought it was about time I documented some of it. When I had a serious read of Kuhlthau et al’s information search process (ISP) (Figure 1) I could immediately identify with some of the stages and have documented some of it below:



Figure 1. Kuhlthau ISP model

Initiation: I was definitely feeling very uncertain at the beginning because my school context fell through, time kept moving on, and I was starting to think I might have to drop out due to a lack of a learning experience to document. Fortunately, Mandy came to my rescue which took me along the continuum into the Selection and Exploration stage. I found the lines between the two stages blurred for me and that I could not really identify moving from one to the other. However, I most certainly did experience the frustration, confusion and doubt of the Exploration stage of the Kuhlthau et al. ISP.

My context, because I am using Youth, Popular Culture and Texts, is tertiary or adult education. I found it quite difficult to find research material on this specific context. Eventually, through perseverance, wine and foul language I eventually came up with a good body of research. I used Google Scholar, ProQuest Education database and Education A+ database. Normally I search with only one or two parameters first and just see what I find. This time round, however, I was getting fairly desperate and panicked about my workload and decided I really needed to search smarter, instead of longer. I always use Boolean operators such as AND but this time I decided to use OR to a fuller extent. My past searching efforts had yielded some good results but I had serious gaps in my information. On reviewing what I had already found I had moved into Kuhlthau’s Formulation and Clarity phases, where I now had a vague sense of direction and had formed enough of an understanding on my topic to know what I was missing in the line of research. As a result of ProQuest’s suggested related topics on my last round of searches I decided to use the following search parameters in all three of the abovementioned database:

Inquiry + tertiary OR higher education OR adult education

Literacy + inquiry OR tertiary OR higher education OR adult education

Inquiry + literacy

Because I was being so specific I didn’t get huge amounts of results, but frankly I didn’t want huge amounts to weigh me down and confuse me. In the end I came up with ten really good results that have seen me move on to Presentation. My draft, which went on Blackboard today, has me hovering somewhere in between Kuhlthau’s Satisfaction or Disappointment that he lists as the affective domain of this stage.

To some extent I have found the ISP model a little confusing for me. Because I am studying full time I have an enormous amount of research going on at the moment and I have found it difficult to separate my place in the ISP for this subject, from my place in the ISP overall. I am in completely different stages depending on how I look at it. When just considering this mini essay task I have moved along and reached Presentation quite happily, however, if I look at the subject in its entirety, or even worse the whole course workload, I am I still wavering back and forth between Initiation and Exploration. Not a good sign, obviously. I find myself more comfortable with Callison’s model of Information Inquiry with its circular pattern and emphasis on questioning (Figure 2).

In the process of my searching around I found a great website that outlines about 10 different models of searching and inquiry. It is well worth a look at

http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/models.htm

Figure 2. Callison cycle of Information Inquiry elements

Callison’s model is circular in nature, rather than the linear layout of the Kuhlthau et al. model, and I am certainly going round in circles. I don’t necessarily mean that in a negative manner, but I most certainly agree with Callison: that questioning is central to inquiry and that every question ‘answered’ raises more questions. My search processes have moved me back and forth between Callison’s stages and this is in keeping with his model. After each search session, and then analysis of my findings, I moved through all his phases: from Questioning to Exploration to Assimilation to Inference and to Reflection. However, as Callison purports, the Assimilation and Reflection has then raised issues that I felt needed more exploration and more evidence, so I went back to Questioning to frame what it was I still needed to know. Personally, whilst I was clearly positioned, at times, in the stages of the Kuhlthau et al. ISP, Callison’s framework actually fits better with how I work and how I think. It is the ever fluid nature of the Callison framework that I find so applicable to my study processes.

References

Kuhlthau, C. Maniotes, L. & Caspari, A. (2007). Guided inquiry: learning in the 21st century. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited.

Callison, D. (2006). Chapter 1: Information Inquiry: concepts and elements. [Electronic format] In D. Callison & L Preddy (Ed.), The blue book on information age inquiry, instruction and literacy. Westport: Libraries Unlimited. Retrieved August 9, 2010 from Queensland University of Technology Course Materials Database.

Reflection and Questionnaire

Search Reflection sheet
1. Take some time to think about your topic. Now write down what you know about it.
The following is a very brief summary of my personal opinion on the nature of Information Literacy (IL) and Inquiry Learning. These opinions are based on uni study, professional development and personal experiences and observations. My understanding of both of these is an ever changing and developing thing.

Information Literacy: a set of skills, attitudes and aptitudes that allow users to make sense of a wide range of texts. It is not just decoding but being able to look at books, adds, TV, internet etc and understand the messages/themes of the texts as well as the content. Even though the work of Luke and Freebody (1999) is getting old, I still find it valuable in the context of IL. Their Four Roles for Effective Readers form a good basis for an information literacy program or element within a unit:

Code breaker: decoding the codes and conventions of written, spoken and visual text.
Text participant: comprehending written, spoken and visual texts by making meaning based on students’ own experiences and prior knowledge of similar texts.
Text user: understanding the purposes of different written, spoken and visual texts for different
cultural and social functions.
Text analyst: understanding how texts position readers, viewers and listeners through an awareness that texts are not ideologically neutral but represent the views and interests of the writer.
(Shaddock, T. (2006). Researching Effective Teaching and Learning Practices for Students with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities in the Australian Capital Territory. Accessed August 1, 2020 on A+ Education database)

Students need all the above skills to be able to successfully participate in inquiry based, self directed learning.

Inquiry learning: a style of teaching and learning that puts onus on the students to explore, discover and create knowledge and understanding in a range of curriculum areas. Personal experience and observation of other teachers has shown me that, over time, teachers generally move from fully self directed inquiry learning to structured Guided Inquiry to ensure curriculum requirements are met and a desired set of understandings are developed. GI generally involves research tasks based around core questions aimed at developing understanding in a curriculum area. Rather than a fully free flowing student driven affair GI is scaffolded and semi teacher driven, with clear curriculum goals

From what I have observed inquiry learning is extremely difficult for students with poor information literacy skills, so one needs to go with the other. There would appear to be little point implementing GI units if an extensive focus on IL is not included in the unit, and the curriculum overall.

2. How interested are you in this topic? Circle the answer that best matches your interest.
Not at all not much quite a bit a great deal

3. How much do you know about this topic? Nothing not much quite a bit a great deal

4. When you do research, what do you generally find easy to do?

I love doing research and ultimately would love to be a research librarian. I find locating information relatively easy using the university databases, but I am not sure how I would go without that facility. I need to experiment more with finding high quality information via Google or Google scholar.

5. When you do research, what do you generally find difficult to do?

I find it hard to stop myself. I tend to just keep saying “Oh that looks good, I’ll keep that.” I end up with far too much information and use hours of time that I can’t afford. I need to learn to find a little, then do a thorough assessment of its worth, and then go back to fill identified gaps instead of overloading myself. I also have difficulty letting go of my family’s needs and devoting time to my research.