Situated information literacy: history instruction at a high school early college

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the question “how would professors teach information literacy to prepare high school students for college?” by observing two history professors at a high school early college during routine classroom instruction.

Design/methodology/approach

The research took a case study approach to studying information literacy instruction, drawing from multiple data types but relying primarily on classroom observations and teaching artifacts.

Findings

This research found that subjects taught information literacy by situating students as legitimate peripheral participants in the discipline of history. They did so as part of the daily fabric of classroom instruction, using pedagogical techniques such as dialogical reading, spending time with texts, writing to think and thinking historically.

Research limitations/implications

This research focuses on history instruction. Future studies could include additional disciplines and directly examine the impact of teaching practices on student cognition.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that taking a disciplinary approach is one way to apply insights from the field of situated information literacy to the high school to college transition. It also suggests that information literacy instruction need not be confined to research assignments, and that information literacy educators consider the possibilities these teaching techniques offer for enhancing instruction.

Originality/value

This paper offers a rich description of information literacy pedagogy in an unusual but intriguing context of use to instruction librarians and educators at both high school and college levels. It also offers a bridge between situated information literacy rooted in workplace research and academic information literacy instruction.

Citation

Walk, M. (2015), "Situated information literacy: history instruction at a high school early college", Reference Services Review, Vol. 43 No. 2, pp. 292-308. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-08-2014-0036