Concordia University St. Paul DigitalCommons@CSP Concordia University Portland Graduate CUP Ed. Dissertations Research Summer 7-30-2019 Faculty–Librarian Collaboration: Information Literacy Integration in Second Year English Writing and Composition Cynthia Charles Concordia University - Portland, ccharles@dillard.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.edu/cup_commons_grad_edd Part of the Educational Leadership Commons Recommended Citation Charles, C. Faculty–Librarian Collaboration: Information Literacy Integration in Second Year English Writing and Composition (Thesis, Concordia University, St.
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Concordia University - Portland CU Commons Ed. Dissertations Graduate Theses & Dissertations Summer 7-30-2019 Faculty–Librarian Collaboration: Information Literacy Integration in Second Year English Writing and Composition Cynthia Charles Concordia University - Portland Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.edu/edudissertations Part of the Educational Leadership Commons CU Commons Citation Charles, Cynthia, "Faculty–Librarian Collaboration: Information Literacy Integration in Second Year English Writing and Composition" (2019).edu/edudissertations/364 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Theses & Dissertations at CU Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ed. Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CU Commons.
For more information, please contact libraryadmin@cu-portland. Concordia University–Portland College of Education Doctorate of Education Program WE, THE UNDERSIGNED MEMBERS OF THE DISSERTATION COMMITTEE CERTIFY THAT WE HAVE READ AND APPROVE THE DISSERTATION OF Cynthia J. Charles CANDIDATE FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION Donna Graham, Ph., Faculty Chair Dissertation Committee Edward Kim, Ph., Content Specialist Jean Swenk, Ed., Content Reader Faculty–Librarian Collaboration: Information Literacy Integration in Second Year English Writing and Composition Cynthia J. Charles Concordia University–Portland College of Education Dissertation proposal submitted to the Faculty of the College of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Administrative Leadership Donna Graham, Ph., Faculty Chair Dissertation Committee Edward Kim, Ph., Content Specialist Jean Swenk, Ph., Content Reader Concordia University–Portland 2019 Abstract The collaboration of instruction in higher education academic courses leads to integrating information literacy into teaching and learning in the higher education curriculum.
Information literacy refers to the skills and strategies necessary for accessing, evaluating, organizing, transforming, and transmitting information (UNESCO, 2007). This qualitative study intended to explore the collaboration of 10 faculty and 10 librarians who integrate information literacy instruction into their academic curriculum. The study explored how faculty and librarians perceived collaborations affecting undergraduate students who were enrolled in required second year English writing and composition courses, and who attended 4-year public colleges and universities in Louisiana. This study addressed the phenomena of the integration of information literacy instruction into the academic curriculum of second year English writing and composition courses and how it affected student learning outcomes.
This research study supported its findings with completed data from surveys and interviews that were conducted with faculty and librarians from 14 4-year public universities and colleges in Louisiana, where required second year English writing and composition courses are taught. Keywords: information literacy integration, second year English writing and composition, faculty–librarian collaboration, 4-year public universities in Louisiana, student learning outcomes ii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who makes all things possible. There is no me without Him. iii Acknowledgments I want to express my eternal gratitude to Dr.
Donna Graham, my doctoral chair, for her never ending enthusiasm, encouragement, and patience. Thank you for pushing me when I needed to be pushed. Thank you for always being honest with me even when I did not want to hear it. To my doctoral committee members Dr.
Jean Swenk and Dr. Edward Kim, thank you for your thoughtful (and sometimes direct) comments throughout the writing process, your support for my topic, and pushing me to think in new ways. Sincere gratitude goes out to my fellow librarian and faculty participants. It was an honor to talk to and receive your feedback for my study.
Thank you for taking the time to participate in my study, and I hope further research will be conducted to help our college students in their higher education goals and aspirations. My eternal love and gratitude to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who has guided my effort in this intellectual journey. When I doubted my abilities, I could always go to you in prayer for guidance and encouragement. Thank you for believing in me when I stopped believing in myself! To my many family members, friends, co-workers, and brothers and sisters in Christ.
Thank you for your love, support, encouragement and prayers. To my daughters Tova and Jazz and my granddaughter, Harper Gieselle Elizabeth, I love you very much, and I hope you are proud of me. iv Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………….iv Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………….v List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………….xi Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………………1 Introduction to the Problem………………………………………………………….1 Background, Context and History…………………………………………………………2 Problem Statement……………………………………………………………………….4 Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………………………5 Research Question……………………………………………………………………….5 Rationale for the Study……………………………………………………………………5 Research Design………………………………………………………………………….7 Definition of Terms……………………………………………………………………….9 Faculty–librarian collaboration……………….9 Information literacy instruction………………………………………………….9 Student learning outcomes……………………………………………………….10 Assumptions, Limitations, and Delimitations……………………………………………10 Assumptions…………………………………………………………………….11 Summary of Chapter 1………………………………………………………………….12 v Chapter 2: Literature Review…………………………………………………………………….14 Introduction to the Literature Review……………………………………………………14 Rubric assessment………………………………………………………….20 Background to the Problem…………………………………………………………….24 Review of the Research Literature and the Methodological Literature………………….28 Faculty–librarian collaborative initiatives in higher education………………….28 Information literacy instructional programs in higher education……………….29 Embedded librarianship in the academic curriculum……………………………31 Information literacy instruction on student learning outcomes………………….33 Review of Methodological Issues……………………………………………………….36 Synthesis of Research Findings………………………………………………………….37 Critique of Previous Research………………………………………………………….38 Summary of Chapter 2………………………………………………………………….41 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………41 Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………………….43 Purpose and Design of the Study……………………………………………………….43 Population and Sample Selections……………………………………………………….49 vi Identification of Attributes……………………………………………………………….50 Data Analysis Procedures……………………………………………………………….50 Limitations of the Research Design…………………………………………………….53 Ethical Issues in the Study……………………………………………………………….54 Summary of Chapter 3………………………………………………………………….55 Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results……………………………………………………………56 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………56 Description of the Sample……………………………………………………………….58 Research Methodology and Analysis…………………………………………………….58 Summary of the Findings……………………………………………………………….63 Presentation of the Data and Results…………………………………………………….64 Telephone interview questions and responses of librarians…………………….66 Summary of librarian response words or phrases that appeared frequently…….78 Demographic Data of Librarian Participants…………………………………………….79 Demographic Data of Faculty Participants………………………………………………79 Faculty Survey Responses of Library Services………………………………………….81 Presentation of the Data and Results…………………………………………………….90 vii Quality of collaborative relationships……………………………………………91 Benefits and challenges of collaborative relationships………………………….92 Instructional aspects of collaboration……………………………………………92 Facilitating collaborative activities………………………………………………93 Collaborative skill sets………………………………………………………….93 Proficiencies of successful collaborations: The top three skill sets needed to be a successful Information Literacy Instruction librarian…………………….93 Effects of successful collaborative efforts……………………………………….94 Summary of Chapter 4 ………………………………………………………….………95 Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion………………………………………………………….96 Summary of the Results………………………………………………………………….97 Discussion of the Results……………………………………………………………….99 Discussion of the Results about the Literature…………………………………………101 Theme-based Category 1: Quality of collaborative relationships…………….101 Theme-based Category 2: Benefits and challenges of collaborative relationships………………………………………………………………….101 Theme-based Category 3: Instructional aspects of collaboration…………….102 Theme-based Category 4: Facilitating collaborative activities……………….103 Theme-based Category 5: Collaborative skill sets…………………………….104 Theme-based Category 6: Proficiencies of successful collaborations: The top three skills needed to be a successful Information Literacy Instruction librarian……………………………………………………………………….104 viii Theme-based Category 7: Effects of successful collaborative efforts…………105 Limitations…………………………………………………………………………….107 Implication of the Results………………………………………………………………109 Practice, policy, and theory…………………………………………………….110 Recommendations for Further Research……………………………………………….115 References………………………………………………………………………………………117 Appendix A: Telephone Interview Questions for Librarians………………………………….150 Appendix B: Online Survey Questions for Faculty…………………………………………….152 Appendix C: Demographics Data of Librarian Participants and Telephone Interview Questions and Responses of Librarians……………………………………………………………………157 Appendix D: Online Survey Questions and Responses of Faculty…………………………….163 Appendix E: Theme-based Categories and Librarian Response Words and Phrases that Appeared Frequently………………………………………………………………………………………173 Appendix F: Letter of Invitation to Participate in Research Study (Librarian Telephone Interviews)…………………………………………………………………………………….177 Appendix G: Letter of Invitation to Participate in Research Study (Faculty Online Survey)….179 Appendix H: IRB Approval Letter…………………………………………………………….180 Appendix I: Statement of Original Work………………………………………………………182 ix List of Figures Figure 1. Coding results for category quality of collaborative relationships.
Coding results for category benefits and challenges of collaborative relationships. Coding results for category instructional aspects of collaboration. Coding results for category facilitating collaborative activities. Coding results for category collaborative skill sets.
Coding results for category proficiencies of successful collaborations: The top three skills needed to be a successful Information Literacy Instruction librarian. Coding results for category effects of successful collaborative efforts. 93 x Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction to the Problem Faculty and librarian collaborations in higher education undergraduate courses were designed to help students as they progress through courses throughout their academic career. Those collaborative efforts included joint instructional sessions to help them better learn, comprehend, and critically analyze course lessons and materials (Belanger, 2012).
According to Radar (1999), learning has to be continuous and almost a “way of being.” Universities must teach their constituents to integrate learning opportunities into everything they do to be successful in the constantly changing education, work, and technology environments (Kesselman & Weintraub, 2004). The purpose of this case study was to explore how faculty and librarians perceived collaborations affecting undergraduate students who were enrolled in a required second year English writing and composition course. The study focused on students who attended 4-year public colleges and universities in Louisiana. The significance of this study addressed the phenomena of the integration of information literacy instruction into the academic curriculum of second year English writing and composition courses and how it affected student learning outcomes.
There were multiple research studies about the collaboration of faculty and librarians and how those collaborations affected student learning outcomes of the first year and first year students in higher education, but few studies have addressed how those collaborations affected student learning outcomes of the second year or sophomore students in higher education. According to McNee and Radner (2017), a collaboration between the classroom teacher and the teacher-librarian led to a statistically significant higher level of student skill development. Additional benefits of teacher librarian collaborations gave students more access to 1 academic resources, expertise, and connections to the broader school community (McNee & Radmer, 2017). Through those collaborations, college students would be better prepared to meet the demands of their academic and professional writing projects and assignments (MacMillan & Mackenzie, 2012).
Those collaborative efforts may also have indicated that college students became more efficient in their primary, library, media, technology and visual literacy skills when information literacy instructional lessons were integrated into their core curriculum (Sharp, 2012). Many case studies have been conducted on information literacy instructional collaborations between faculty and librarians and their effects on student learning outcomes of first year college students (Bendriss, Saliba, & Birch, 2015). This case study specifically focused on student learning outcomes of second year college students due to information literacy instructional collaborations between faculty and librarians. This study was unique in both its scope and ambition and helped create a better understanding of student learning outcomes due to the specific library and faculty instruction interactions, which had an effect on student academic success.
Background, Context, and History Academic libraries supported student learning assessment both institutionally and nationally and provided value for faculty (Gilchrist & Oakleaf, 2012). The National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment report concluded that learning outcomes, instructional strategies, and assessment methods academic librarians employed to help students achieve their learning goals, increased their level of academic success, and progressed further and faster through coursework (Gilchrist & Oakleaf, 2012). According to Grove (2017), academic and 2 research libraries contributed to student learning in support of the university’s educational mission. Teaching collaborative information literacy integration in the academic curriculum required a constant and evolving understanding of the paradigm shift in today’s fast-changing technology era (Gilman et al.
The history of the term information literacy was first coined by Zurowski (1974), president of the U. Information Industry Association, in his report to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Zurowski (1974) defined the term as a shift from teaching library instruction that emphasized the acquisition of mechanical searching skills, to a more conceptual approach to information use. The term was later defined that an information literate person needed to have the ability to access, evaluate, organize and use information in order to learn, problem-solve, make decisions, in formal and informal learning contexts, at work, at home and in educational settings (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2014).