Information Creation as a Process

The process of creating information is a thoughtful, meticulous process.  The creators of the information must bear in mind the target audience, the needs and the formats to use to convey the message they intend putting forward.  Information creation  process over the years, has moved beyond the traditional methods of delivery i.e books, journal articles, DVD"S  etc,  we now have rapid sources like blogs, podcasts, you tube videos, internet which can equally meet the information needs of users, but  due to their quick availability, less time to produce,  sometimes proving authenticity  of the information on this sources might not be easy.  To use  these  types of sources require a certain level of discernment from users.  The combination of traditional and rapid sources requires users to keep an open mind when choosing sources and novice users  must be tought how to match the source with the need.

 Blog Homework Instructions

On this exercise we were asked to identify 5  formats based on a previous research topic.  The topic was  Nursing is caring, discuss in pictures how nurses bring healing to patients through caring, to give reasons why the sources were best suited for the information need and to transform the information found onto another source and lastly to reflect on your thought process whilst you were going through the process.

A. Formats of Sources Used

• Images - The images chosen represented nursing care in pictures.  All the images narrated the story to the viewer of the picture
  
• Games-  A nursing game teaching nursing care and treatment plan for Malaria was chosen, as it represents another format of teaching and learning.
  
  -
• Case Studies- Nurses on a day to day work with case studies, case studies give history of patient, diagnosis, symptoms and treatment plans.  This source was chosen for the topic as it gives examples on how to put together case studies.
  
• Newspaper article- The article gave latest perceptive on the topic. 
  
• You tube video- The source was chosen as it gives current information on nursing care plans

B. Transforming information to another format

1. Images- chosen for my research topic could be converted into a newspaper excerpts, pictures tell stories.  Marketing librarians could do a feature on my chosen images to write a newsletter, commercial journalist could write a piece on their newspapers. In putting together a newspaper article or a newsletter, interviews or a narrative on the story would have to be submitted to convert the image into a meaningful newspaper story.
   
2. Games- Nursing teaching Games could be converted onto a nursing manual.  Nursing manuals are meant to serve as an instructional guidelines to users.  They educate, they give step by step guidelines to procedures.  They teach about acts and laws that pertain to a particular field.  A nursing game could easily be converted onto a nursing manual as it covers all the areas mentioned above.
3. Case Studies- could be converted into a you tube video, students could be asked to design their own case studies and share with others as tips on putting together case studies
4. Newspaper article- articles read for my assignment could be converted into a blog, where related articles could be shared and discussed for the purpose of sharing news and getting others to engage on nursing current affairs https://nursingtimes404.blogspot.co.za/
5. You tube videos- could be converted into a useful how to manual for nurses.  The tips could be captured in writing with pictures.  The manuals could be used as for quick referral purposes.

Information has value

Research Topic

Nursing is caring, discuss in  pictures how nurses bring healing to patients through caring.

A. Images

Image 1-Attribution-No Derivs

Image 1

There is no better way to instill care than  happiness, nurses wake up every single day to make a difference, to improve lives and to bring happiness to patients and to their families.

This picture was taken on the 08th of April 2010.  Its licence allows for redistribution, commercial and non commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole with credit to author.

Image 2-Attribution- Non Commercial- No-Derivs


                                                    Image 2

Nurses bring more to their patients than administering medicine and watching for vital signs, nurses can be seen as beauticians and groomers to their patients, for  caring for someone is holistic, feeling better must start from outside then generally radiates from inside too.

This picture was taken on the 24 March 2009, under the licence Attribution- non commercial-No -devris, which means image maybe be shared , copied and redistributed in any medium or format, provided that attribution is given to creator, non commercial and modified material should not be distributed.

Image 3- Attribution-Non Commercial-Share alike

                                              Image 3
                                 

Nurses in their quest to save lives , must also continue to improve on their skill and knowledge to find health solutions .  This they can do by attending health seminars, conferences, masters and doctoral studies.

This image is licenced under Attribution-Non Commercial-Share a like, which means users of the image are free to share, copy, redistribute, adapt or transform image provided that they attribute owner, not use the image for commercial purposes, and if they adapt or change image it must be under the same licence as the original.

Image 4- Attribution Sharealike
                               

Nursing as caring also means having compassion for your patients, young or old.  Treating everyone with care and respect, in a nurturing, supportive way.

This image is licenced under Attribution- sharealike, which means owners of the image must be attributed upon use, image may be shared and adapted provided that the adapted version is distributes under the same licence as the originals.

Image 5-Public domain
                                   

At the heart of it all, nurses are seen everyday attending to critical patients and saving lives.  The profession of a nurse is that of selflessness, putting the interest and needs of others before theirs, it really is a calling more than a job.  Countries and nations owe a highest dept to its nurses.

This image was taken in March 2015.  It is a public domain picture, meaning it is free of copyright restrictions, which can also mean users are free to copy, edit and use for commercial gain without asking for permission from owner.

B. Open Education Content (OER)

On this segment we will be introducing nursing care materials that could be useful to nursing students, and communities with interest in nursing,our examples will be coming from open education resources i.e online textbooks, encyclopedia, videos, course share etc.

Image 1 Wikipedia

This is a wiki vet publication that might be of interest to professionals nurses, nursing students and the general public

Condition of use:- Creative commons Attribution-Non Commercial No- Devris 3.0 which means it a share only.  On use attribute author, edited copies not for sale.

Image 2 - Case Studies              
                                 

Nurses in their everyday work make use of case studies, to understand conditions, couses, symptoms and treatment plans.  This image is taken from a website of  the National Centre Case Study teaching in Science

Condition of use
The website is owned by the National centre Case Study teaching in Science, which is a non-profit educational site.  Fair use of their materials apply, instructors who make use of their case studies are urged to attribute ownership. Fair use- Attribution.

Image 3 -Games
                             

Learning styles vary per individuals, nurses are no exception.  On this open resource nurses can learn through playing a game, called medicine games. Malaria- Parasites

Condition of Use

The game is owned by Nobel prize.org.  It is also a non-profit organisation which produce content for educational purposes.  Nobel Web consents to the reproduction, distribution, display, transmission, performance, and use of the Content by individual teachers and other educators if done for the limited purpose of classroom or workshop instruction (including online intranet instruction) in a school or other educational organization; provided, however, said organization is a not-for-profit legal entity and provided, further, that the Content and compilation are not sold or otherwise commercially distributed. Fair use- Attribution- Non- Commercial

C. Media

Lastly we shall look at media snippets on nursing care, it will range from newspaper articles, online videos or podcasts.

1. Newspaper Article

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/cape-nurses-found-guilty-of-misconduct-456107

Condition of use

The attached link was found from the IOL website which represents an amalgamation  of certain independent newspapers in South Africa.  According to the site terms and conditions  users, unless otherwise stated  are welcome to copy, download or print out any of the visible text or images on this web site for personal users.  Users wishing to utilise content for commercial purposes may only do so with the prior written permission of the web site owner. Requests for commercial use may be submitted. The granting or refusing of permission is completely within the discretion of the web site owner, and may be conditional.  Any use of the content or any other part of the web site, including any content sent to users, must be clearly accompanied by the following: "© Independent On-line [insert year in which content is copied]. All rights reserved." Attribution-Non-Commercial

2. Online video
https://youtu.be/IAHpsdL2HcE

The above shows an online video found on Lippincot Nursing resource website. This is a private owned compny in the US. Conditions of use stipulates that All materials on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise published without the prior written permission of Wolters Kluwer/LWW. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright, or other notice. Attribution-Non-commercial

3. Audio- Attribution share a like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdoC7ZZIrAA

This audio teaches about nursing education, it types, historical background, training's linked to nursing.  The audio original link/owner of the picture remained visible during the visual play of the audio.



4. Nursing article
     

A nursing article found on a subscription based website, discussing topics in critical nursing care.

Condition of use

Educational  institutions with a current paid subscription to the journal may make multiple copies for teaching purposes without charge, provided such copies are not resold or copied. In all other cases, permission should be obtained from a reproduction rights organisation (see below) or directly from RightsLink®.  Attribution -non commercial rule apply.

Threshold Concept: Authority is constructed and contextual

Topic:  Midwifery

Materials needed

Textbook

Internet access

Participants: 4^th Year Nursing Students

Objective: To demonstrate that relevance of authority could be found in traditional and non-traditional scholarly sources of information

1.      The threshold concept authority is constructed and contextual proved challenging for me to fully grasp.  I come from an old school of thinking, and understood information to be   legitimate and credible only if it comes from a scholarly source, i.e. scholarly journals and textbooks.  After learning that authority is contextual and depends on the information need and usage, my perspective got changed. Experienced and novice researchers must be careful not to lose relevant information, by relying on traditional scholarly sources of information only.  Novices researchers must be trained to evaluate discern suitability based on use, and to learn that information may be packaged in formal and informal sources.

Users of information must use the librarians CRAAP test as a parameter to evaluate sources.

·         Currency: The timeline of the information

·         Relevance: Importance of the information for your needs

·         Authority: The source of the information

·         Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness & correctness of the information content

·         Purpose / Point of View: The reason the information exists.

Learning Outcomes/ Knowledge practices
•      Students should be able to define different types of authority such as subject expertise (Scholarship), society position (public office or title), or special experience (participating in an historic event)
•      Use markers of authority to determine the credibility of sources
•      Recognise that authoritative content may be packaged formally or informally and may include audio, visual an non-print sources

Activity

·         Students to read a midwifery chapter in a  textbook, visit commercial midwifery website to learn to differentiate types of authority of each source

·         Students to create individual  blogs on midwifery, and to credit works of authors used within the blog

·          Students to open a Facebook page and Mendeley account, and invite other students to share knowledge, read peers work posts and to increase visibility of works produced.

·         Check for accuracy and issues of bias on the sources

·         Check for purpose or reason for information, i.e. for or for commercial reasons

Activity Link to Knowledge practice/disposition

•     Students to recognize that authoritative content maybe packaged formally and informally i.e blogs, textbooks
•     Students to learn to take responsibility when participating in communities of practice, i.e cite the works of others when blogging, share relevant and accurate information
•     Understand the role of the information ecosystem where authorities actively connect with each other and sources develop overtime  

Research as inquiry

This threshold concept sees research as iterative and depends upon asking complex or new questions whose answers in turn develop additional question or lines of inquiry (ACRL: 2015) Students or researchers must realize that research does not begin or end within a discipline but can extend further to the community at large.  It is also important to note that this type of research inquiry en-campuses a lot of debate, back to back dialogue for knowledge creation to occur.  Researchers or students must have attentive interviewing, listening and recapitulation skills to allow them to analyse and interpret what was shared to them and must adhere to research ethics and legal guidelines when acquiring information.

Today I carry on with my journey in understanding  Information literacy framework for Higher Education.   In my previous blogs I made mention of the 6 threshold concept that are pillars of this frame work i.e Authority is constructed and contextual, Information creating as a process, Information has value, Research as inquiry, Scholarship as conversation, Searching as strategic exploration. Last week I demonstrated Scholarship is a conversation in a lesson plan.  Today I will be designing yet another lesson plan, where will view Research as inquiry in a lesson plan.

Lesson Plan: Global warming 

Number of Students: 30

Duration of Exercise: 2 days

Stationery used

A4 Colored poster card paper
Coloring pens

Lesson Objectives

• Students will learn to formulate a research questions
• Students will learn to brainstorm and  mind map ideas
• Conduct research using various information resources and research methods
• Students will learn to to collaborate and work with others as a team

Activities

1. The teacher librarian will first do a topic ice-break/ teaser to determine how much the students know of the topic.  Online collaborative tools i.e todaysmeet, quiz-let, google chat would be use to stimulate the conversation as  they provide real time, instant communication
2. Students will be broken into 6 groups, to design an online or paper format poster of global warming and its effects
3. Students will be referred to the library to look at information sources i.e encyclopedia, books, you tube videos, interviews to collect more information on the topic
4. Students will be given time to put together group presentation of their posters, reflect and share on their findings with the class

Activity in relation to knowledge practice and dispositions

• Activity 1: As the teacher librarian is introducing the topic students will get an understanding of what has been done on the topic, will get to identify gaps and will follow up by reading what other scholars say of the topic
• Activity 2: on this activity the students will brainstorm and identify an appropriate angle or scope of investigation
• Activity 3: as students move from one source to the other they are in turn getting multiple perspective, which is a nice disposition to learning
• Activity 4:The last activity will allow students a chance to regroup and synthesize idea learned from multiple sources, they will also be able to draw reasonable conclusion on the topic based on their findings and analyses

Conclusion

In this lesson plan students will engage with each other, with the library, and with authors who have written on the topic.  They will get to ask questions among themselves, they will have disagreements and will maybe take the conversation further by speaking to community members,  farmers, industries, who might have felt the effect of global warming. All the elements of research as inquiry will come out as they engage, and learn how to ask pertinent questions, summarize whats been said to conceptualize and create new knowledge.

Scholarship as conversation

In the past week I have been reflecting  on the threshold concept scholarship is a conversation.  Today I demonstrate this concept by showing you how this concept could be seen in an assignment

platform; you must remember that when students begin research for a research topic or class assignment, they are entering into an on-going scholarly conversation. Have a look at this lesson plan and see how the knowledge practices and dispositions of scholarship as a conversation come into effect.

Topic

Discuss the challenges on the South African health system and give reflections on your experience as a nursing student.

Learning Outcomes

• To understand the South African  health system challenges, students will understand SA health by visiting literature written by previous researchers in the field,  they will learn to cite contributions of others in their information production. Knowledge Practice
• To identify and make connections between an individual's personal experiences and literature, when individuals reflect by sharing own experiences they are contributing the body of knowledge. - students will learn the responsibility that come with entering the conversation through participatory channels- Disposition
• To draw conclusions of the historical influence on the health system.  Students will learn to summarize and document changes in areas under investigations-Knowledge Practice

Activities

1. Read or visit at least 5 information resources, i.e journal articles, books, newspapers,and related health webpages to evaluate and gather information on the health care system in South Africa
2. Conduct an interview with a nursing unit manager to discuss the hospital role and to define challenges experienced when delivering service.
3. In your reporting, identify gaps on the health systems and reflect on areas that have shown great improvements

·        

Activity in relation to knowledge practice and disposition

• By reading or visiting at least 5 information resources on health care system- The students will critically evaluate contributions made by others and will cite their works. Knowledge practice
•  Conduct an interview with a nursing unit manager to discuss the hospitals role and challenges in delivering health care services- The students will seek out conversations taking place in their research areas by having conversation with professions in the field. Disposition

• Th students exploration on the previous and the current will allow them to summaries the changes in the field.  This will also allow the students to learn not to make judgments on a piece of information/ resource till the larger context of it is understood-Disposition

Scholarship is a conversation

To help me grasp the whole scholarship concept, I needed to dig deep to basic definition of scholarship including its synonyms.  I have always understood scholarship to be a form of a bursary, sponsorship that is awarded towards an educational fulfillment.  In academia, particularly at post masters level scholarship is an activity that updates or maintains ones knowledge and skills, using ones time to consult, read literature, attend conferences, whilst acquiring new skills. (TRAC guidance) This can be full time, where ones takes a sabbatical leave or on part-time bases.

An interesting definition that shook the world of academia's in the early 1990 came from Boyer  Earnest.  His approach looks at scholarship as a four way approach which includes discovery, integration, application and teaching.  Boyers argues that a scholarship is not just teaching but stems from curiosity, following a research process, commitment to knowledge, following the investigation where ever it may lead give meaning to the effort. He also says scholarship is integration, by making connections across disciplines creating synergies and learning together vs working in silos  is one way of learning , going into the field in the form of in-service training, sharing work-spaces with other disciplines, attending conferences and sharing new knowledge or discoveries. Scholarship is application, by identifying a problem, forming a hypothesis, following the research process and finding solutions, the more research areas get identified, the better  problem solving methods found in research can be applied.

It is evident from the above that scholarship is something ongoing, it is a discovery that is arrived at by getting into conversation with others, it could be peers in the same discipline, it also can be moved toward by others in other disciplines. In getting into scholarship conversations partipants either novice or experts in the field must be familiar with the sources and subject matter in conversation, must at all times cite the works of others in their works created, must recognise that a particular work on a topic may not be the only perspective.

For my B-Tech degree at 4th year, I had my first real test of research methodology.  In those days we were only exposed to print journals, books and newspaper articles.  To be quite honest back then for me, research was not seen as entering into an ongoing scholarly conversation, but more of a class chore for me to pass.  Later on in the world of work I then realize how important research is as a contribution to the body of knowledge  and  everyday problem solving, It started making more sense when content can only be deemed valid or credible if its is empirically.  Today I am happy to be doing research again for my post grad studies, with more zeal and more understanding.

Today's students or scholars of research have  more advantage to previous scholars, thanks to technology and its packages that allow collaborative learning and sharing of information.  Today's researchers have at their disposal technologies that allow all research processes  to begin with ease and at short periods of time, at the touch of a button one can access literature from across the world on a topic, test or gather data using social media packages or other google packages, present findings on a blog or on webinar, slide-shares etc.

Threshold concept

I must confess that my Tuesdays class was quite mind boggling to me.  Ever had an encounter with a learning concept that you grapple to fully understand, it could be physics law of gravity or it could be the accounting appreciation and depreciation concepts.  If you, like  me  have  ever had to think and rethink out of your own box of knowledge to understand something, then you my friend  would have met a Threshold concept.

Threshold concept are theories of teaching designed  by two British educators, Jan Meyer and Ray land.  Hofer (2013,109)  The two educators came up with 5 defining criteria that best explains a threshold concept.

1. Trans-formative- If the concepts is trans formative it has the power to  open ones mind  to previously inaccessible ways of thinking, mostly when you get to that level it changes your whole perspective, if a student studying to be a nurse, it will give meaning to how a nurse looks, thinks, behaves and can position ones outlook on a profession forever.

2. Troublesome- A new concept becomes troublesome, if it challenges or counter that is already known by one, it could feel or sound alien to one, it can even be difficult to comprehend as it can be different towards ones cultural beliefs, i.e The world is round, whilst to many it looks and feels flat.

3. Irreversible- Threshold concept are so powerful that once learned, they become difficult to unlearn, as they permanently remain on ones psyche.

4. Integrative- Threshold concept can be applicable or linked to other study disciplines, that which might not appear to a learner at first can become clear when  spoken in relation to other fields, i.e for nurses in their quest to care and nurse their patients, they must also dapple and learn more about their patients religious and cultural beliefs.

5. Bounded- If a threshold concept is bounded, it is known or uniquely linked to a particular discipline. i.e the acts of persons.

Tonight I will conclude in saying as teachers librarians when presenting or teaching new concept to our students, one must be careful of the liminal state, that which students may find themselves in when being introduced to new knowledge, when you may seem to have grasped the concept in class, but may be a different story when doing homework.  Educators must not move too fast with a  subject and leave others behind, as explained in my previous blog, people are unique and learn differently.

See and learn more about threshold concepts....