R.E. Mountain Secondary School, Langley BC
By Richard Beaudry
On Friday, April 26th, 2019, teacher-librarians, as well as public and academic librarians, met at the Ontario College and University Library Association’s (OCULA) Spring Conference to discuss Information Literacy in the Transition from high school to post-secondary.
Transition Literacy has been an ongoing subject of discussion and research between secondary schools and academic institutions for the last twenty years (Daniel 1997, Donham 2003, Beaudry 2010, Raven 2012, and Burhana 2013). Transition Literacy aims to combine the experience of library staffs from education and public sectors to improve the learning experience of graduating students by providing an understanding of the library services offered to students in post secondary institutions.
The first time I learned of Transition Literacy linked to students moving from secondary schools to academic institutions, was at a joint conference in Vancouver in 1997 of the now defunct Association for Teacher Librarianship in Canada (ATLC) and the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL). The presentation by Eileen Daniel on ‘High School to University: What Skills Do Students Need?’ was a first step in understanding the importance of information literacy concepts, that students entering university needed, now that the Internet and online catalogues were accessible.
While completing my degree in librarianship in 2003, I had the opportunity of doing my practicum in the Faculty of Education Library at UBC. It was a useful practicum for two reasons, the first was the opportunity of practicing my reference skills to help students in their research and the second was learning about first year students’ struggles in using academic libraries. The most obvious issue was the change in cataloguing systems. School library learning commons use the Dewey Decimal Cataloguing (DDC) system for most K-12 schools. DDC is useful for small libraries. The Library of Congress Cataloguing (LCC) system is better suited for bigger libraries and is used in most colleges and libraries in North America. Another issue was the gap between first-year students research skills and course assignment expectations in post-secondary institutions.
A study published by the University College of London (UCL, 2003) refers to “Google Generation” students that “are more wired than any other but they might not be as good at Internet research as you may think.” They add further that ‘they might find information on the Internet quickly, but they don’t know how to evaluate the quality of what they find.’
Meg Raven (2012), a library coordinator for Reference and Instructional Services at Mount Saint Vincent University Library in Halifax, stated that students ‘had high expectations related to their ability to use non-academic sources.’ But their professors did not share this perspective: “My students won’t look beyond Google for sources”.
Alan Jacobs (2012) has cited research at Illinois Wesleyan University: [Students] “tended to overuse Google and misuse scholarly databases. They preferred simple database searches to other methods of discovery, but generally exhibited “a lack of understanding of search logic” that often foiled their attempts to find good sources.”
A study by EBSCO (2015) on the research habits of college and university students had similar statistics:
- 68% of students start their research process by using Google or Wikipedia
- 71% prefer using basic search rather than the advance search
- 41% consider evaluating the best resources for their paper as being one of the top difficulties in doing research
With academic librarians acknowledging that first year students arrive at university unprepared to do research at a post-secondary level, they began to work with high school teacher librarians to identify the research expectations of new students entering college or university.
The article on teaching Transition Literacy that I used as the basis for my first project in a high school was ‘My Senior is Your First-Year Student’ (Donham, 2003). It discussed the cooperation between school library media specialists and college librarians in preparing students to transition to post-secondary institutions.
First Transition Literacy Initiative – 2007-2011 at Langley Secondary School
- First step was making a case for literacy skills being taught to administrators and teaching staff. This included moving towards the concept of a Library Learning Commons
- It required a collaborative introduction to transition literacy to students with the teacher librarian and teaching staff
- It meant combining the cataloguing and research skills experience of the teacher-librarian at the secondary school and the Public Services/Orientations Librarian at Kwantlen College.
- Students at LSS were given a generic password to access the library system at Kwantlen and search for books and access the databases.
The program’s scope was limited but successful. It involved working with grade 11 and 12 students over two classes. A report was written and presented at the Treasure Mountain Canada Conference (Beaudry, 2010) at the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 2010.
In 2013, Michael A. Crumpton and Nora J. Bird published the
‘Handbook for Community College Librarians’ in which one section of the book was dedicated to information literacy and the transition of high school students into post secondary:
“Transition Literacy seeks to provide information about post-secondary research practices and by clarifying the challenges and knowledge base that incoming students require to be successful graduates in college or university. Academic librarians would then provide incoming students resources and instructional programs to improve the educational experience and access to library services they need.”
‘Informed Transitions – Libraries Supporting the High School to College Transition’, published in 2013 and edited by Kenneth J. Burhanna, is another useful resource that answers the right question:
”How can libraries and librarians across the educational continuum work together to support student transitions from high school to college?”
Two important points stand out:
- The book reviews the role of libraries in preparing students to enter post-secondary institutions, and;
- It discusses models of library outreach for high school students
Teacher-librarians in Canada have, over the last decade, introduced new practices for working in collaboration with classroom teachers to enhance the learning experience of students in the library learning commons.
Second Transition Initiative – 2016-2019 at REMSS in Langley
In BC, teacher-librarians rely on two main documents for the development of their library learning commons programs.
In Leading Learning, Standards of Practice for Library Learning Commons in Canada, the focus is on the changing environment in our schools and the multiple literacies needed for knowledge building so students can be lifelong learners.
The BC Teacher Librarians Association (BCTLA), in their publication ‘Points of Inquiry: A framework for Information Literacy and the 21st Century Learner’ is a “guiding document for updating teacher librarians on new ideas that underpin the teaching of literacy in the Information Age amidst the explosion of new resources, formats, and tools”.
Both these documents are important for our students accessing information and resources in the library learning commons. Both documents promote problem solving and thinking skills. Students go to the library learning commons to ask questions, seek answers, find information, form opinions, and evaluate sources and resources.
Teacher-librarians have an important role in students’ becoming lifelong learners and becoming effective at research. The key is collaboration with classroom teachers to identify the relevant literacies not only for K-12 education, but for post-secondary and beyond so that they are able to critically evaluate and ethically use information in their professional work after the completion of their studies. Collaboration with academic librarians in teaching Transition Literacy is the next step that the OCULA Spring Conference was looking to answer.
At REMSS, teachers have shown a lot of interest in upgrading the research experience of graduating students. Being an IB school, many students go on to post-secondary institutions to complete their education. In collaboration with teachers, the Transition Literacy program has expanded from grade 9 to 12 and involves multiple presentations.
REMSS Library Learning Commons Literacy Focus
Graduating at REMSS in 2019 means students need to have the skills to use existing technology and have knowledge of the multiple literacies skills needed to continue their studies or enter the workforce. The teachers and the teacher librarian at REMSS are committed to helping graduate students learn the skills that can help them adapt to new technologies and multi-task using an array of tools at their disposal as life-long learners.
- Creative Presentation Skills: Students at REMSS learn to go beyond the traditional project report to creative ways of preparing and sharing newly developed knowledge by using a combination of multimedia tools, website design, software programs, apps,
- Critical Literacy: Focuses on how and in whose interests the information found is used. The REMSS students need to know how to determine the authenticity and reliability of sources found in print and in digital format.
- Ethics of Information Use: Students at REMSS must understand the values associated with the fair and honest use of information they find in print and in digital format. They need to represent the work of authors accurately and appropriately. They need to have a respect for the confidentiality and intellectual property of authors and understand the illegal uses of knowledge and information.
- Information Literacy: Understanding how to find resources and sources that can help the student at REMSS organize and structure information, synthesize new knowledge with note taking and finally using and presenting the new knowledge.
- Technological Competencies: Students at REMSS must learn a complex set of effective and efficient search skills for print and online resources. They must acquire word processing skills fully integrated into the writing process. They must have communication skills for using email, text messaging and online networks. They must also learn integrating traditional and new media formats into their writing and publishing activities.
- Transition Literacy: —Transition Literacy seeks to provide information about post-secondary research practices and by clarifying the challenges and knowledge base that REMSS students require to be successful graduates in college or university.
- Transition Literacy’s aim is to improve the quality of education and library services for students at R.E.MSS in future educational endeavours or when entering the workforce.
After three years of consultation with the teachers, the REMSS Library Learning Commons has expanded the Transition Literacy program to offer the following:
In Grade 9 – All the English 9 teachers bring their classes to the LLC for an orientation.
The initial focus is getting students to use the available resources and move away from the cut and paste of online resources.
The second focus is getting students to move away from using limited words to asking complete questions when searching online or using databases.
In Grade 10, there are two presentations:
The first presentation is on Students’ Understanding Critical Literacy and Fake News.
The focus is on using CRAAP to assess online information. Students review terms such as hoaxes, satire, spoofing, clickbait, misinformation, alternative facts, deepfake videos and how to fact check online information by using sites like LinkedIn, Fact Check and Snopes.
The second presentation is new to 2019 and is based on the work that the Canadian Federation of Library Associations is doing with other associations across the country and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada:
Online Privacy – Online Reputation and the Right to be Forgotten. It involves data posting and data policy for teenagers. Students talk about Generation Z (Students born after 1998) and technology use. They discuss the information they post online, bouncing, highlighting, shading and how they can affect one’s online reputation. Students discuss cyberbullying and its possible legal consequences. They also discuss how to remove their digital footprint if needed.
In Grade 11, the presentation is on Transition Literacy.
Students learn of the change of collection management system from using Dewey Decimal to the Library of Congress. We talk about using vetted databases, professional journals, books, course reserves, indexed articles and subject guides VS possible un-vetted resources online. Students also discuss the writing experience in secondary VS college and university requirements.
The Transition Literacy presentation has several steps:
- New knowledge: Students Learn about the Library of Congress Cataloguing system. Unlike DDC, LCC is not based on a decimal system. It has 21 major classes, and is based on an alphanumeric representation for classes.
- Learning how to write in the digital age. Colleges and universities have different expectations and requirements of the assignments, papers and essays that students hand in. Professors and instructors expect that students’ not only use digital resources but also books, professional journals, databases, and any other print, digital, audio or video resources that can used in their presentations or work handed in. Students need to be aware that positive results for their work in post-secondary institutions depends on their ability to include original writings and ideas based on new knowledge that they learn, not simply a presentation of someone else’s writings.
- Improving their research skills
- Knowledge of boolean logic
- Accessing different search tools – Google vs. fee-based databases
- Accessing academic, peer-reviewed journals, and books (or e-books).
- Asking help from the reference librarians
- Discussion on time management skills.
- The final step is a field trip for Grade 11 students to the Simon Fraser University (SFU) libraries where students meet with academic librarians. They learn about accessing the library catalogue, course reserves, article indexes, subject guides, library tutorials (e.g. term paper research, citing sources), library guides (e.g. requesting inter-library loans online, accessing electronic reserves). Students receive a modified library card that permits them to access the library catalogues and use items on campus.
In Grade 12, the presentation is on the Basics of Research and Citations.
The focus is on using someone else’s research and citing the work, not plagiarizing. Using direct quotations, paraphrasing, MLA formatting, APA formatting, and Chicago formatting.
Transition Literacy at REMSS
The Transition Literacy program at REMSS has been successful because the staff and the students see the purpose in being prepared for studies in post-secondary institutions. Students graduating at REMSS have benefited from the presentations done as a collaborative effort between the teacher librarian, classroom teachers and academic librarians at SFU.
The OCULA conference in Ontario that brought together teacher-librarians, public librarians and academic librarians to discuss implementing a Transition Literacy program in all high schools in Ontario is an important step and I hope it will be a model for school districts across Canada. This collaboration will assist students by working with them to identify the differences between high school and colleges and universities and finding the right strategies for adapting to these changes.
The Transition Literacy Program at REMSS is seen as an opportunity for the students to develop a better understanding of information literacy. The timing of the presentations over the four years of high school supports their transition to post-secondary
Resources
BCTLA. “The Points of Inquiry.” BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association, BCTLA, 23 Oct. 2018, http://bctla.ca/resources/point-of-inquiry/.
Beaudry, Richard. “Transition Literacy in High Schools: A School Model.” Canadian School Libraries Research Archive, Canadian School Library Journal, 2010, http://researcharchive.canadianschoollibraries.ca/2017/10/15/transition-literacy-in-high-schools-a-school-model/
Treasure Mountain Canada 2010 – Presentation
Burhanna, Kenneth J. Informed Transitions: Libraries Supporting the High School to College Transition. Libraries Unlimited, An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2013.
Canadian School Libraries (CSL). 2018. “Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada.” Available: http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca
Crumpton, Michael A., and Nora J. Bird. Handbook for Community College Librarians. Libraries Unlimited, 2013.
Daniel, Eileen. High School to University What Skills Do Students Need? Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse, 1997.
Donham, Jean. “My Senior is Your First-Year Student: High School Transition to College.” Knowledge Quest 32, no 1 (2003): 32
EBSCO. “In EBSCO Survey, Nearly Two-Thirds of College Students Use Library Resources in Their Research.” Library Research Service, LRS – Library Research Service, 24 Feb. 2016, www.lrs.org/2016/02/24/in-ebsco-survey-nearly-two-thirds-of-college-students-use-library-resources-in-their-research/ .
Jacobs, Alan. “Google-Trained Minds Can’t Deal with Terrible Research Database UI.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 27 Feb. 2012, http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/02/google-trained-minds-cant-deal-with-terrible-research-database-ui/253641/.
Raven, Meg. View of Bridging the Gap: Understanding the Differing Research Expectations of First-Year Students and Professor | Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, University of Alberta Journals, 3 Aug. 2012, https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/eblip/index.php/EBLIP/article/view/17172/14311 Creative Commons Attribution
University College London. “Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future.” JISC, 11 Jan. 2008.
Richard Beaudry is an Information Specialist and Librarian. He has worked as a teacher-librarian in K-12 schools and taught classes in the diploma and master’s programs in Teacher-Librarianship at the University of British Columbia. Richard is an ALA Certified Librarian and a Fellow of the Library Association of Ireland. Richard is particularly known for his activities to promote human rights and freedom of information, particularly as they relate to the censorship of materials in school libraries. Richard was the recipient of the 2016 Canadian Library Association Award for the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada. Richard chairs the Canadian Federation of Library Associations / Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques (CFLA-FCAB) Intellectual Freedom Committee, representing Canadian School Libraries.