University of Tasmania, Australia

Information Literacy

Information literacy (IL) is an understanding and set of abilities which enables individuals to ‘recognise when information is needed and have the capacity to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information’. Developing these abilities and understandings is a focus for the School of Education, particularly as an embedded component of our pre-service teacher education courses. In collaboration with UTas library, we have developed an IL framework suitable for courses with a 2, 3 or 4 year duration, and the School is in the process of rolling this out in our new courses. Whilst we undertake this important initiative, we are interested in researching its implementation, including:

• IL as an over-arching graduate attribute;
• Incremental learning and assessment of IL within coursework across a degree;
• Equity of access and delivery of IL across a degree; and
• The benefits / success of a scaffolded information literacy framework approach, developing critical thinking, independent learning and lifelong learning.

Expressions of interest are invited that relate to, but are not confined to, any of the above aspects of Information Literacy development. Other proposals related to the scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education are most welcome, in particular those which investigate curriculum, pedagogies and innovations which support quality teacher education.