Building a Professional Learning Community at the University Level: A Case Study of an Information Fluency Initiative

An examination of the research regarding the problems associated with student academic writing indicated that two abilities, writing abilities and information literacy skills, intersect, and that an accepted term for this intersection is information literacy. The University of Central Florida’s Info...

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Main Author: Slavicz, Susan Bennett
Format: Others
Published: UNF Digital Commons 2014
Subjects:
UNF
Online Access:http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/486
http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1531&context=etd
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spelling ndltd-unf.edu-oai-digitalcommons.unf.edu-etd-15312016-10-18T05:03:44Z Building a Professional Learning Community at the University Level: A Case Study of an Information Fluency Initiative Slavicz, Susan Bennett An examination of the research regarding the problems associated with student academic writing indicated that two abilities, writing abilities and information literacy skills, intersect, and that an accepted term for this intersection is information literacy. The University of Central Florida’s Information Fluency Initiative recognized information literacy as a key component in developing students’ information fluency skills. This qualitative case study of the initiative used semi-structured interviews, study of documents, and observations to gather data in order to describe how the university planned, developed, and implemented the initiative. Study of relevant literature, narrative analysis (Tierney & Lincoln, 1997), inductive analysis (Hatch, 2002) and the elements of educational criticism (Eisner, 1998) informed the analysis of data. Participants in the Information Fluency Initiative identified as successful the creation of online information literacy modules by librarians and faculty, program-wide efforts to embed information fluency into curriculum, and individual faculty projects. Additionally, the initiative encouraged a scholarly approach to the study of information fluency with the implementation of an annual Information Fluency Conference held at the University of Central Florida and publication of a peer-reviewed Information Fluency Journal. Results from the study suggested that administrative support for the initiative and the leadership’s empowerment of faculty and librarians to undertake leadership roles were important factors in the initiative’s success. Results also suggested that collaboration between faculty, librarians, and instructional technologists to construct curriculum produced a professional learning community that proved valuable to participants both professionally and personally. 2014-01-01T08:00:00Z text application/pdf http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/486 http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1531&context=etd UNF Theses and Dissertations UNF Digital Commons Thesis University of North Florida UNF Dissertations Academic -- UNF-- Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations Academic -- UNF-- Education Information literacy Plagiarism Information Fluency Learning Organization Professional Learning Community Professional learning communities -- Florida -- Case studies Information literacy -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Florida -- Case studies University of Central Florida -- Case studies Education Educational Leadership Higher Education Administration Information Literacy
collection NDLTD
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Thesis
University of North Florida
UNF
Dissertations
Academic -- UNF-- Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership
Dissertations
Academic -- UNF-- Education
Information literacy
Plagiarism
Information Fluency
Learning Organization
Professional Learning Community
Professional learning communities -- Florida -- Case studies
Information literacy -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Florida -- Case studies
University of Central Florida -- Case studies
Education
Educational Leadership
Higher Education Administration
Information Literacy
spellingShingle Thesis
University of North Florida
UNF
Dissertations
Academic -- UNF-- Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership
Dissertations
Academic -- UNF-- Education
Information literacy
Plagiarism
Information Fluency
Learning Organization
Professional Learning Community
Professional learning communities -- Florida -- Case studies
Information literacy -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Florida -- Case studies
University of Central Florida -- Case studies
Education
Educational Leadership
Higher Education Administration
Information Literacy
Slavicz, Susan Bennett
Building a Professional Learning Community at the University Level: A Case Study of an Information Fluency Initiative
description An examination of the research regarding the problems associated with student academic writing indicated that two abilities, writing abilities and information literacy skills, intersect, and that an accepted term for this intersection is information literacy. The University of Central Florida’s Information Fluency Initiative recognized information literacy as a key component in developing students’ information fluency skills. This qualitative case study of the initiative used semi-structured interviews, study of documents, and observations to gather data in order to describe how the university planned, developed, and implemented the initiative. Study of relevant literature, narrative analysis (Tierney & Lincoln, 1997), inductive analysis (Hatch, 2002) and the elements of educational criticism (Eisner, 1998) informed the analysis of data. Participants in the Information Fluency Initiative identified as successful the creation of online information literacy modules by librarians and faculty, program-wide efforts to embed information fluency into curriculum, and individual faculty projects. Additionally, the initiative encouraged a scholarly approach to the study of information fluency with the implementation of an annual Information Fluency Conference held at the University of Central Florida and publication of a peer-reviewed Information Fluency Journal. Results from the study suggested that administrative support for the initiative and the leadership’s empowerment of faculty and librarians to undertake leadership roles were important factors in the initiative’s success. Results also suggested that collaboration between faculty, librarians, and instructional technologists to construct curriculum produced a professional learning community that proved valuable to participants both professionally and personally.
author Slavicz, Susan Bennett
author_facet Slavicz, Susan Bennett
author_sort Slavicz, Susan Bennett
title Building a Professional Learning Community at the University Level: A Case Study of an Information Fluency Initiative
title_short Building a Professional Learning Community at the University Level: A Case Study of an Information Fluency Initiative
title_full Building a Professional Learning Community at the University Level: A Case Study of an Information Fluency Initiative
title_fullStr Building a Professional Learning Community at the University Level: A Case Study of an Information Fluency Initiative
title_full_unstemmed Building a Professional Learning Community at the University Level: A Case Study of an Information Fluency Initiative
title_sort building a professional learning community at the university level: a case study of an information fluency initiative
publisher UNF Digital Commons
publishDate 2014
url http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/486
http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1531&context=etd
work_keys_str_mv AT slaviczsusanbennett buildingaprofessionallearningcommunityattheuniversitylevelacasestudyofaninformationfluencyinitiative
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