Re-imagining Information Literacy
with Threshold Concepts
2014 Connecticut Information
Literacy Conference
Manchester Community College
June 13, 2014
Parker O’Mara
Systems Librarian
SUNY Plattsburgh
pomar001@plattsburgh.edu
First, a little about Plattsburgh and the
information literacy course…
Why the Threshold Concept?
A brief overview of the Threshold
Concept Model
“A threshold concept can be considered as akin to a portal,
opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking
about something. It represents a transformed way of
understanding, or interpreting, or viewing something without
which the learner cannot progress.”
--Meyer and Land, 2003
A brief overview of the Threshold
Concept Model
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•
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Ray Land and Jan Meyer
Enhanced Teaching and Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses
How to think like an economist
Threshold concept vs. core concept
5 key criteria:
5 key criteria:
1. Transformative
5 key criteria:
1. Transformative
2. Integrative
5 key criteria:
1. Transformative
2. Integrative
3. Irreversible
5 key criteria:
5 key criteria:
5 key criteria:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Transformative
Integrative
Irreversible
Troublesome
5 key criteria:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Transformative
Integrative
Irreversible
Troublesome
Bounded
Our Threshold Concepts
Our Threshold Concepts
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Topic Analysis
Pursuit of Information
Format as Process
Authority: Constructed & Contextual
Information as a Commodity
Topic Analysis
Topic Analysis
Outcome: Students will be able to refine and articulate an
information need and develop a research strategy to effectively meet
it.
Topic Analysis
Course Objectives:
1.
2.
Students will be able to examine a topic and define its parameters in order to form a welldefined research question.
Students will be able to craft a research plan in order to find the information necessary to
address a research question or need.
Pursuit of Information
Pursuit of Information
Outcome: Students will recognize the value and diversity of search
tools and their distinct purposes.
Pursuit of Information
Course Objectives:
1. Students will be able to distinguish the role and purpose of discovery/search tools in order to
understand their function in the research process.
2. Students will be able to select appropriate search tools in order to access the type of information
sought.
3. Students will be able to construct well-formed search strategies in order to locate the most
useful information sources.
Format as Process
Format as Process
Outcome: Students will recognize the information landscape and be
able to distinguish different types of formats and how they are
constructed.
Format as Process
Course Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
Students will be able to distinguish the variety of information formats in order to make
informed resource selection choices.
Students will analyze the resource creation process in order to understand its place in the
information cycle.
Students will apply knowledge of formats when selecting search tools in order to maximize
research efficiency and effectiveness.
Authority: Constructed & Contextual
Authority: Constructed & Contextual
Outcome: Students will be able to determine the appropriate
authority necessary to address an information need and how that
authority is constructed.
Authority: Constructed & Contextual
Course Objectives:
1. Students will be able to recognize the significance and relativity of authority in relation to
different information resources.
2. Students will be able to judge what confers authority to different types of information resources.
3. Students will be able to choose the appropriate level of authority along with other evaluative
criteria to satisfy a specific information need.
Information as a Commodity
Information as a Commodity
Outcome: Students will be able to explain and apply
appropriate ethical and legal use of information.
Information as a Commodity
Course Objectives:
1.
Students will utilize citations in order to use information ethically by providing
attribution, evidence supporting their research, and pathways to the sources they used.
2.
Students will recognize the importance of copyright to the access, use, and creation of
information in order to understand its legal and economic protections.
Course design
In closing
Works
Flanagan, Mick, ed. The Threshold Concept. UCL Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, 4
June 2014. Web. 6 June 2014. <http://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~mflanaga/thresholds.html>.
Meyer, Jan, and Ray Land. Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge: Linkages toWays of Thinking and
Practising Within the Disciplines. UK: University of Edinburgh, 2003.
Townsend, Lori, Korey Brunetti, and Amy R. Hofer. "Threshold Concepts and Information Literacy."
portal: Libraries and the Academy 11.3 (2011): n. pag. Project MUSE. Web. 11 June 2014.
Photos
Anyjazz65. "Behind Door Number Three." Flickr.Yahoo, 27 Mar. 2008. Web. 4 June 2014.
AshleyLaurenPhotography. "Open Doors." Flickr.Yahoo, 6 July 2011. Web. 5 June 2014.
Banks, Ken. "Open Door Policy." Flickr.Yahoo, 21 June 2013. Web. 4 June 2014.
Bishop, Greg. "Archways, Old Benicia Arsenal - Northeast of San Francisco." Flickr.Yahoo, 21 June 2010. Web. 4 June
2014.
Camardella, Raffaele. "Door." Flickr.Yahoo, 3 Apr. 2014. Web. 4 June 2014.
"Gravity: Not just a Good Idea.." North Texas Drifter. N.p., 7 June 2013. Web. 9 June 2014.
Gray, David. "Grounded Boat." Business Insider. Business Insider, 1 Aug. 2013. Web. 9 June 2014.
NASA. Mercury Astronauts inWeightless Flight on C-131 Aircraft. 1959. Great Images in NASA. NASA. Web. 9 June 2014.
ShellyS. "Open Door Policy." Flickr.Yahoo, 13 June 2007. Web. 5 June 2014.
Steenbergs. "Door in Tamil Nadu." Flickr.Yahoo, 13 Feb. 2012. Web. 5 June 2014.
Stuefer, Josef. "Open Door." Flickr.Yahoo, 7 May 2011. Web. 5 June 2014.