“Sounds good in theory,” a common phrase that implies (but rarely articulates) the second half of the thought – “but not in practice.” Putting something into practice can be eye-opening. Ideas that sounded great initially may prove difficult to apply to the situation for which they were created, and sometimes you simply can’t see an issue until you use it.
Last year, the Upper School library team embarked on adapting ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education for use in our 9-12 school. We liked how the new framework addressed information literacy as a complete content area by asking students to consider authority as a means of power and view information as a valuable commodity. We also appreciated its focus on habits of mind. As a result, we spent considerable time last year crafting a version of the framework that fit our situation. It took a lot of time, energy, and reflection, but we felt that we had a list of skills and habits of mind that worked for our classes and students.
There were some parts, however, that only worked in theory. Once I began applying them to the topics we covered in our classes last year, I realized that the repetition of ideas across the six major concepts that seemed authentic actually made using the framework difficult and confusing. For example, evaluation and credibility of sources appears throughout the framework because it appears throughout the research process, but in practice, it became confusing and overwhelming to have this concept spread throughout, especially since we’re hoping that other departments and even students will begin to use them. If we want this document to be utilized by others, we have to make the concepts and the language accessible to our colleagues and to students. (To see our current version, click here.)
The difference between theory and practice doesn’t surprise me, but it might surprise some of our students. The trial and error that is expected and embraced in realms like video games does not often translate for students to the classroom. Video games are set-up for this with multiple lives and online walk-throughs. How are we infusing the elements of trial, error, and practice into the research process for our students?