Community college libraries and developmental reading/writing instruction

Learning and researching are not activities that are exclusive to colleges or universities. Students are adept at researching and finding information in their everyday lives, and they all have unique experiences and personal goals. Yet all too often, when students, especially those at the developmental level, come to college they are told that their experiences and knowledge do not count and that they need to learn specialized skills and vocabulary before they can succeed in higher education, create new knowledge, or contribute to the academic conversation. Students are given the impression that research is something one executes in a linear, tidy fashion by successfully finding source materials; however, in reality research is recursive and messy and necessitates deeper interaction, evaluation, comparison, and incorporation of new information with prior knowledge. Much like writing, research is a process, not a simple skill set. Several articles and studies have been published recently that discuss problems with one-shot, skills-based information literacy instruction. Others have recommended research, information literacy, and writing instruction that builds on and respects students' experiences. Developmental literacy instructors and librarians can collaborate to build students' confidence and provide them with strategies, self-awareness, and processes to engage more deeply with information and critically evaluate it. Please share links to any research, examples, lesson plans, or other blogs that discuss these topics, and please feel free to retweet this post.

Purdy and Walker (2013) discuss freshman composition students as developing researchers and critique common textbooks and other information literacy instruction tools. While I disagree with their view of the composition class as a "gateway" into a new world (12), they do point out that instruction should build on student’s intuitive or past practices and connect with students' existing research methods and knowledge (12). The authors analyzed three print textbooks and two digital instructional tools and found fault with the methods and strategies presented in these materials. They thought these materials dismissed students' personal experiences with online searching and presented the library as the holy epicenter of scholarly research (16). Purdy and Walker counter that students and scholars alike use the internet via Google or other search engines, not library resources, to begin research (18). This separation of real life and the academic world leads students to feel like there is a big void they must overcome to enter the academic world, and they feel incompetent because their personal experiences with research and the internet are not valued (27). Higher education draws a line between academic writing, credible sources, and everything else (24), and students feel like they are missing something when they come to college and that they have to wait before they can do valid research or contribute knowledge (25).  Students also begin to equate research with school and do not learn to critically evaluate information in all areas of their lives. The authors also found that students often become discouraged and do not learn how integrate new information with their current knowledge (29). Holliday and Rogers (2013) also found in their semester-long that observation of a class that the instructor considered the web to be bad and library and databases good resources. They stated that the students developed a black and white opinion about library sources being good, correct, or credible; students used a website checklist to discuss academic journals or databases but did not really know how to distinguish them or describe differences or discuss the research itself (264-265). When I taught information literacy library classes, I always tried to compare searches we were doing with students' own experiences but did not always know what examples to use. Does your instruction incorporate and validate students' experiences? Do you have any examples? Does information library instruction at your college posit the library resources as good and credible and paint the web and internet in a negative light?

Purdy and Walker (2013) also point out that skills taught out of context do not help students foster connections (29). They contend that students might learn how to find sources but not how to critically or creatively use or analyze information (30). Holliday and Rogers (2013) came to a similar conclusion about finding sources. In their observational study of 19 students (sophomores and juniors) over the course of a semester, they sought to discover how information literacy and research were discussed in class and how these concepts were presented in written instruction. They also looked at how students described research and how they incorporated information into their final persuasive papers. They observed for each class session, interviewed the instructor about student learning, held two focus groups with students, and analyzed some student work. The researchers also compared what the teacher said to how she described the information literacy process in writing (260). Holliday and Rogers found that the purpose of doing research was considered to be finding sources, and sources were defined as objects or things that would help students narrow their themes. The instructor placed importance on students finding a certain number of sources and emphasized correctness of sources (261). Students described issues with their research as difficulties with finding articles or sources about subjects; this resulted in writing that often used one source per paragraph to support one idea from the thesis (262). Students were also more worried about locating the correct amount of sources or database results than anything else (263). The authors found that the teacher described research in broader terms meant to incorporate critical thinking, but actual classroom research involved checklists and rules. Rules about specific sources hindered students who needed to find the perfect source to meet the requirements (266). When students would come to our reference desk seeking help with research, they often were stymied by these types of strict rules about number and types of sources, and this frustrated and discouraged them. How is research described and taught at your school? Is there much emphasis on "finding sources?"

Berrett (2012) discusses an analysis of 174 student papers from 16 colleges and universities that revealed that students need to learn how to analyze information because most of them just take a few sentences from a source without really understanding it. Berrett recommends that librarians and writing instructors should stop focusing on how to find sources and instead teach students how to read, analyze and synthesize information (1-3). Macmillan and McKenzie (2012) point out that research and journals are becoming increasingly specialized and complex (526). The researchers conducted a workshop with seniors and surveyed them before and after the workshop; these students had also attended a workshop as juniors. The authors found that students struggled with vocabulary, lengthy articles, and math or statistics, and when they could not understand the information, they just used random quotes in their papers. As a result, the librarian developed a course to teach specific reading strategies (527). Schick (2011) argues that instructors are wasting too much time on citation and grammar and not enough on more important issues of the writing and research process. He contends that there is too much focus on rules and checklists. Citation style only matters when it comes time to publish, he says, and the details are similar across styles (1-3). Holliday and Rogers also concluded that less time should be spent on the instruction of citation and other style rules (267). My own experience with strict citation rules began with middle-schoolers, and I tried to argue that concepts were more important than memorizing where to place a period or comma. Do you or your instructors focus on citation rules or checklists?

In library instruction classes, I have found that students do not seem to comprehend studies or lengthy research, so they request short articles or admit to taking random quotes and inserting them into their papers. I think developmental education students would especially benefit from reading strategy instruction, and two articles that discuss basic or developmental writing and library instruction give detailed examples of these strategies. King (2012) says that librarians need to learn writing pedagogy as they shift from teaching skills to becoming instructors (56). She points out that librarians can help students understand their topics through conversation and active reading and suggests that librarians have students write summaries while they read to synthesize what they are reading with what they already know (59) and have students set reading goals (60). Librarians can also match materials to students' literacy abilities (59) and have students compare and contrast materials found in different materials (60) by organizing their thoughts in a writing map or other visual resource and assisting students with focusing on main ideas (62). Roselle (2008) conducted semi-structured interviews with 31 librarians to learn about patterns occurring in libraries and developmental education, and she found that many librarians work with reading/writing instructors contribute additional material related to what students are reading in class such as videos or short articles (147). Roselle also mentions that some librarians choose topics for students based on available resources, but to me that does not lead to authentic learning or connect with students’ lives, and it does not teach students what to do or how to deal with failure, mistakes (148-150). Some librarians have input into the developmental education curriculum and assignments and join committees (151) while others serve as tutors in the learning centers for a few hours each week (152). I wonder how many librarians are able to provide input into curriculum or partner like this with tutoring centers. Finally, Roselle mentions that some libraries have books for recreational reading (152). Does anyone have success stories with book clubs or "one book, one college" endeavors? How do you entice the students into the library (besides food)? Are you able to collaborate with tutoring centers or provide input into curriculum.

Gardner and White-Farnham (2013) discuss the difficulties librarians may face when collaborating with faculty on information literacy instruction. The biggest issues concerned academic freedom agreeing on definitions of research, and not seeing librarians as equal faculty. Other obstacles include a lack of time and a lack of realization that students are not information literate. The authors suggest that instructors might only be aware of one style of researching and teach only from their own disciplinary perspective  (239). The authors suggest that librarians ideally should be part of course planning and that information literacy instruction requires more integration into the course. They recommend that writing departments and information literacy be housed in the same department for the best collaboration opportunities. The blended librarian approach integrates information literacy into more assignments and becomes an everyday process because librarians can share information and tutorials via research guides or course management software, and they can conduct pre- and post-assessments. Gardner and White-Farnham also suggest that librarians can share strategies with instructors or create lessons for teachers that are posted online (237). How well do writing/reading instructors collaborate at your college? Is faculty status an issue at the community college level where research is not emphasized and where more staff members are likely to have master's degrees and not doctorates?

One successful collaboration between a writing class and a library gave students an authentic research opportunity, drew on their backgrounds and interests, engaged them in knowledge creation, and promoted critical thinking. Vetter (2014) discussed this project where students did original research, worked with archives, and created individual Wikipedia articles. This project involved community engagement and service learning. It moved students outside the walls of the classroom and school and gave them an authentic audience (35). For the project students wrote process journals and then answered questions that looked at their understanding of authority. In this case study, Vetter focused on one student’s experience. This student who was interested in baseball decided to work with material about an alumni player. The student heard a presentation by the archivist, looked at an existing Wikipedia article about the player, and then wrote a letter to the archivist discussing the gaps he thought the article contained. The student was motivated by the topic and by an authentic local audience as well as the curator’s own excitement. The student also worked with a Wikipedia ambassador who helped shape the article through revision and organization and editing. Vetter discussed the issue of authority and how students were able to consider multiple sources of authority and adopt their own authority (43). He also discussed how the Wikipedia audience influenced students' writing choices (44). Students saw the professor more as an authority figure but not their primary audience (47). How many libraries have collaborated with writing departments on assignments such as this? How many instructors not only allow Wikipedia but encourage its use or adopt it into their curriculum? What types of authentic research have developmental reading and writing departments collaborated with libraries on?

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Berrett, D. (2012). Freshman composition is not teaching key skills in analysis, researchers argue. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1-3.

Gardner, C.C. & White-Farnham, J. (2013). "She has a vocabulary I just don't have": Faculty culture and information literacy collaboration. Collaborative Librarianship (5) 4, 235-242.

Holliday, W. & Rogers, J. (2013). Talking about information literacy: The mediating role of discourse in a college writing room. Libraries and the Academy (13) 3, 257-271.

King, R. (2012). Essentials of basic writing pedagogy for librarians. Community and Junior College Libraries (18), 55-66.

MacMillan, M. & MacKenzie, A. (2012). Strategies for integrating information literacy and academic literacy: Helping undergraduate students make the most of scholarly articles. Library Management (33) 8/9, 525-535.

Purdy, J. P. & Walker, J.R. (2013). Liminal spaces and researcher identity: The construction of introductory composition students as researchers. Pedagogy (13) 1, 9-41.

Roselle, A. (2009). Preparing the underprepared: Current academic library practices in developmental education. College & Research Libraries (70) 2, 142-156.

Schick, K. (2011). Citation obsession? Get over it. Chronicle of Higher Education, 1-3.

Vetter, M.A. (2014). Archive 2.0: What composition students and academic libraries can gain from digital-collaborative pedagogies. Composition Studies (42) 1, 35-53.