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Title : The development of students ’ information literacy and IT skills via inquiry PBL and collaborative teaching
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Copyright Year | 2009 |
| Abstract | Recent research has shown that inquiry-based learning and project-based learning (PBL) are better than the traditional didactic approach in promoting various learning outcomes. There is also a large literature on how collaboration among different teachers can enhance student learning. In Hong Kong, inquiry-based learning has been integrated into the General Studies curriculum. This study investigated the effects of an intervention that used a collaborative teaching approach and inquiry project-based learning on the development of primary students’ information literacy and information technology skills. Students in a Hong Kong primary school completed two inquiry-based group projects as part of their General Studies curriculum. A collaborative teaching approach involving three teachers with different specialties (Language [Chinese], IT, and General Studies) and a school librarian was taken in guiding students through the two projects. Results indicated the positive impact of collaborative teaching and inquiry PBL on the development of students’ information literacy and IT skills. Introduction Recent studies have indicated that inquiry-based learning (IBL) is more effective in promoting different learning outcomes such as deep thinking and the ability to apply knowledge and reasoning skills when compared to the traditional didactic approach (Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, & Chinn, 2007). IBL can be implemented in schools through student group projects. Project-based learning (PBL) has been shown to provide students the opportunity to engage in realistic and thought-provoking problem learning (Blumenfeld et al., 1991; Marx, Blumenfeld, Krajcik & Soloway, 1997). Integrating PBL and IBL can be a promising learning approach (Chu, in press; Krajcik et al., 1998), thus in this article this integrated approach will be referred to as inquiry PBL. The Education Bureau (EDB) of Hong Kong has incorporated inquiry project-based learning (inquiry PBL) into its General Studies curriculum for primary schools (Education Bureau, 2002). The authors of this article did an intervention that involved a collaborative teaching approach bringing in a team of three teachers with different specialties and a school librarian to equip students with knowledge/skills they need to do well in their group projects. Justification for this study is twofold. First, few studies have investigated how combining both collaborative teaching and inquiry PBL can foster student learning, especially the acquisition of information literacy and IT skills. This is especially true in the Asian setting as most of the classrooms are still dominated by the traditional didactic approach to teaching (Watkins & Biggs, 1996). Second, there has been much research showing the benefits of information literacy and information technology skills for students. However, little research has been conducted on the pedagogical approaches that can be used to promote IT and information literacy (Mokhtar, Majid, & Foo, 2008; Moore, 2001). Most of the studies that investigated information literacy and IT skills in the context of project-based learning focused on how students used these skills as tools for doing their projects and not as learning outcomes that resulted from project-based learning approach (Bowler, Large, & Rejskind, 2001; Chan Lin, 2008), thus there is a need to investigate how an approach different from the traditional didactic instruction may promote the learning of these skills among students. This study investigates the effectiveness of collaborative-teaching and inquiry PBL on improving student’s information literacy and IT skills among primary students in Hong Kong. Figure 1 presents the framework for the present study that tries to assess the improvements in various domains due to inquiry PBL and collaborative teaching (Chu, in press). This framework was adapted from Kuhlthau et al.’s (2007) conceptualization of the different kinds of learning that can be promoted in the inquiry process. Previous articles by the same research team have used a similar framework to show how the collaborative teaching approach combined with inquiry PBL can foster improvement in other domains like research skills, writing skills, and reading skills (Chu, in press; Chu et al., 2007; Chu, Chow, Tse, & Kuhlthau, 2008). For this study, the focus is on the development of information literacy and IT skills among students. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://web.edu.hku.hk/f/acadstaff/447/2009_info_literacy.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
