Information Fluency
What? Why? How?
David G. Brown
VP, Dean (ICCEL), Professor (Economics)
Wake Forest University
Information Literacy Symposium
Associated Colleges of the South
Georgetown, Texas November 19, 1999
Thought Starters
•WHAT?
–Your Answers
–My Answer
–My Own First Year Seminar Class
–Wake Forest Students in General
•WHY?
–College Answer
–Faculty Answer
•HOW?
–Who Does What?
–Where’s the Funding?
–What’s the Role for the Consortium?
•YOUR CHARGE FOR TOMORROW!
Metaphors for Achieving
Information Fluency
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Use a library--23
Drive a car--13
Write an essay--10
Speak French--8
Give a speech--6
• Play tennis--4
• Program a VCR--3
• Name State Capitals--3
• Pass drivers’ exam--1
• Understand tennis--0
Check the two that
for you come closest!
Components of Information
Fluency
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Evaluate materials on the web & in print--40
Know where to get help when stumped--39
Find materials on the web & in print--39
Recognize the perishability of information--35
Organize information against hypotheses--35
Place information on the web & in print--26
Create a Spreadsheet--18
Create a Web Page in html--9
Check all that apply & add others.
Group Ideas: Our students will graduate with
“information fluency” when they can...
• Critically recognize, use, and present quality
information.
• Use and present material on the Web critically and
efficiently.
• Ethically find, synthesize, evaluate and present
information effectively.
• Identify and communicate to create new
knowledge using all available technologies.
Group Ideas: Our students will graduate with
“information fluency” when they can…
• Find, evaluate, utilize, and present information in
various formats.
• Identify a problem, find essential information, and
solve the problem.
• Use scholarly methodologies and personal and
professional encounters with information.
• Transform information into knowledge for their
own purposes
Group Ideas: Our students will graduate with
“information fluency” when they can…
• View technology as transparent because of its
familiarity and ease of use.
• Find, comprehend, evaluate, and disseminate
relevant and reliable information concerning an
issue.
• Evaluate their own evolution as information users
and generators.
• Select, evaluate, analyze, and present information
effectively from multiple formats.
Group Ideas: Our students will graduate with
“information fluency” when they can...
• Locate, evaluate, organize, and interpret
information from various sources.
• Apply information to tasks.
• Present the results of an interdisciplinary project
using multiple strategies.
• Use information to provide value.
• Identify a problem, find essential information, and
solve the problem.
Our students will graduate with
“information fluency” when they can
•Find
•Evaluate
•Organize &
•Use Data
These goals are achieved in liberal arts
colleges by nurturing students with-•Concepts--relevant, useful
•Resources--reliable information
•Skills-- finding, analyzing, presenting
Accessing and sorting skills
are as important as knowledge!
FIRST YEAR SEMINAR
The Economists’
Way of Thinking
A Course Required of All Freshmen
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University
Brown’s First Year Seminar
• Before Class
– Students Find URLs &
Identify Criteria
– Interactive exercises
– Lecture Notes
– E-mail dialogue
– Cybershows
• During Class
– One Minute Quiz
– Computer Tip Talk
– Class Polls
• After Class
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Edit Drafts by Team
Guest Editors
Hyperlinks & Pictures
Access Previous Papers
• Other
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Daily Announcements
Team Web Page
Personal Web Pages
Exams include Computer
Materials Forever
Wake Forest University
Results in My Own Course:
Compared to Other
First Year Courses
More
Same Less
How much did you learn?
2/3
1/3
--
How much time did you spend?
--
2/3
1/3
--
--
How much did you enjoy the course? 3/3
Wake Forest University
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3600 undergrads
92% residential
$850M endowment
Winston-Salem NC
500 each: Med, Law, MBA, PhD
#1 Wired College (USA--most recent survey)
#3 Wired University (USA--most recent survey)
#28 Research University (USA)
1300 SAT Average
Wake Forest University
THE WAKE FOREST PLAN
F96: IBM 365XD, 16RAM, 100Mhz, 810MB, CD-ROM, 14.4 modem
F97: IBM 380D, 32 RAM, 130Mhz, 1.35GB, CD-ROM, 33.6 modem
F98: IBM 380XD, 64 RAM, 233 Mhz, 4.1GB, CD-ROM, 56 modem
F99: IBM 390, 128RAM, 333 Mhz, 6 GB, CD-ROM, 56 modem
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Laptops for all
New Every 2 Years
Own @ Graduation
Standard Template
IGN for Faculty
Keep Old Computers
• 75% CEI Users
• +15% Tuition
• 4 Year Phase In
1999 Software Load
Netscape 4.5, Dreamweaver 2,
SPSS 9, Maple V 5.1
Windows 98, MS Office Prof 97
Wake Forest University
CourseInfo
WHY INFORMATION
FLUENCY?
…the institutional answer
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Communication & Community!
Level Playing Field
After College Use
Faculty/Students Demand Them
Customized/Personalized
Digitized Scholarship
Marketable Difference
Wake Forest University
Consequences for Wake Forest
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+SAT Scores & Class Ranks
+Retention & Grad Rates
+Satisfaction & Learning (over 90%)
+Faculty Recruitment
Wake Forest University
WHY INFORMATION
FLUENCY?
…the faculty answer
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Interactive Learning
Collaborative Learning
Communication
Visualization
Different Strokes for Different Folks
• From Interactive Learning (Anker Publishing Co.,
Wake Forest University
November, 1999)
Personal Use of Computers
by Wake Forest Faculty
Source: 1998 HERI Survey
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98% E-mail
91% Memos & Letters
75% Scholarly Research
41% Presentations
36% Data Analysis
22% On Line Discussion Groups
Computers Enhance My
Teaching and/or Learning Via-Presentations
Better--20%
More Opportunities to
Practice & Analyze--35%
More Access to Source
Materials via Internet--43%
More Communication with Faculty Colleagues, Classmates,
and Between Faculty and Students--87%
Wake Forest University
With Ubiquity--The Culture Changes
• Mentality shifts-- like from public phone to personal phone.
• Teaching Assumptions shift-- like from books in the
public library to everyone owns a copy of his/her own.
• Timelines shift-- like from “our class meets MWF” to “we
see each other all the time and MWF we meet together”
• Students’ sense of access shifts-- like from “maybe I
can get that book in the library” to “I have that book in my library.”
• Relationships shift-- like from a family living in many
different states to all family members living in the same town
Wake Forest University
Our students will graduate with
“information fluency” when they can
•Find
•Evaluate
•Organize &
•Use Data
Next Steps?
Measure/Certify Results
Provide Learning Opportunities
Assure Universal Access
Pilot Programs
Raise Awareness
Actions to
Raise Awareness
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Define Information Fluency
Conduct PR Campaigns on Campuses
Sponsor “The Fluency Bowl”
Appoint Blue Ribbon Advisory Group
________________
Pilot Programs
• Identify a Lead College
• Coordinate the “Eager” Departments
from All Member Colleges
• Research Other Programs
Assure Universal Access
(Field of Dreams Approach)
• Provide “Client Machines” (e.g. laptops)--either individually or at public stations
• Teach Assuming Access
• Negotiate a Consortium Contract for
Access to Digital Images
Provide Learning Opportunities
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Fluency Camp
Non-Credit Sessions (Required or Optional)
Degree-Credit Course (Required or Elective)
Fluency Across-the-Curriculum
Measure/Certify the Results
• Grade for Course
• Threshold Proficiency Test
• Fluency Certificate
Possible Roles for the Library
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Politic for “Information Fluency”
Purchase & Manage Electronic Databases
Suggest All College Standards
Train All Students (Just in Time)
Train Faculty and Staff
Certify Information Fluency
Possible Roles for the Faculty
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Define “information fluency” minimums
Set policies for the use of technology
Teach assuming “information fluency”
Judge the wisdom of a requirement
Politic for adequate funding
Monitor the quality of “fluency” training
Possible Roles for IS
• Research & Recommend Hardware and
Software
• Choose “back office” components
• Implement and maintain infrastructure
Possible Role for the Consortium
Suggested by Participant Teams
• Facilitate discipline specific conversations.
• Nurture a critical mass of faculty & even
deans & vps on my campus.
• Provide more training opportunities.
• Swim with the Eager.
• Raise awareness of presidents etc.
• Get faculty more involved in a collaborative
effort.
Possible Role for the Consortium
Suggested by Participant Teams
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Well defined goals & outcomes.
Gallery of ways to achieve goals
Provide funding for VIPs who really help.
Assess where we are now.
Help us develop a campus strategy, even a
coordinator.
• Find fundg for a mandatory faculty-staff
boot camp.
Possible Role for the Consortium
Suggested by Participant Teams
• Mentors within each department.
• Then student boot camp.
• Issue a report on the miracles already taking
place on our very own campuses
• Share info on curricular change as it is tied
to inf fluency.
• Underwrite skills develop for faculty. A
good excuse for cross pollination.
Possible Role for the Consortium
Suggested by Participant Teams
• Help with juried validation of technology
projects for faculty who want more goodies.
• Road maps are important! How do we get
there from here?
• More neat meetings with good dinners
• Assessment tools!!!!
• Curriculum enhancement opportunities.
Possible Role for the Consortium
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Coordinate Collaborative Teaching
Design & Staff Hybrid Courses
Coordinate Hybrid Courses for Alums
Advance e-mail Forwarding-for-Life
Swim with the Eager
Possible Role for the Consortium
•Suggest Standard Hardware & Software
•Coordinate Help Desks and Other Support
•Sponsor STARS Program
•Certify Information Fluency
•Solicit Funding
Who Must Approve a Consortium
Initiative in Information Fluency?
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Dean or Provost 34
Faculty Senate (or committee) 24
Library Director 24
Consortium Board (ACS Presidents) 23
All Colleges (in the consortium) 21
Chief Information Officer 16
Students 7
Chief Financial Officer 4
Check all that apply & add others.
Issues for Tomorrow
• Concepts
• Leaders
• Necessary
Approvals
• Funding
David G. Brown
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, N.C. 27109
336-758-4878
email: brown@wfu.edu
http//:www.wfu.edu/~brown
fax: 336-758-4875