Information Literacy
Information skills
Getting started
Worksample units
References

Personnel involved

Staff who need to be aware of, or involved in, the process of developing integrated learning programs include:

• Principal/Head and Executive
  The Executive’s support and understanding of the underlying principles is crucial to ensure that appropriate resources are allocated.
  

• Class Teacher
  The class teacher’s specific knowledge of their own students' needs, learning styles, abilities and interests allow them to address relevant outcomes in KLAs in the most effective manner.
  

• Teacher Librarian
  As co-teacher, a teacher-librarian helps with the planning and evaluation strategies throughout the unit. The teacher-librarian has a broad overview and an understanding of unit needs and the information literacy continuum.
  

• ESL/STLD/GAT Teachers
  The specific knowledge of students’ special needs allows these specialist teachers to adapt programs. A teacher-librarian can often suggest ways of modifying strategies and resources.
  

Planning

‘If you look after the planning the outcomes will take care of themselves’.
Jennings, C & Shepherd, J, Planning for the Key Learning Areas, Eleanor Curtin Publishing, 1996)

Planning time should be built into the school management plan; for example, in two 45-minute meetings or half-day meetings across stages/grades.

A) Purpose

The purpose of planning time is to identify and plan the:

• learning outcomes
• syllabus outcomes
• generic skills
• teaching strategies
• organisation and identification of resources
• evaluation of strategies and learning opportunities
• computer-based technology to be used
• literacy demands of the unit
• scaffold of the unit.

Other issues, where relevant, include:

• gender equity
• Aboriginal perspectives
• multicultural perspectives
• environmental perspectives
• special needs
• learning styles and teaching styles.

B) Show and tell or sharing resources

• Planning pro formas for planning and tracking, ongoing evaluation
• Sample units
• Syllabus documents
• Resources, including SCAN
• Computer-based technology
• Internet websites
• Strategies — eg Multiple Intelligences, Web organisers, Questions, Blooms Taxonomy, Williams Taxonomy, retrieval charts, matrix

C) Planning Steps

• Select a topic, idea.
• Select the key learning areas that are appropriate for this topic.
• Identify the syllabus outcomes and evaluation (both formative and summative) that are to be the focus of the unit.
• Select a suitable planning framework/scaffold. Use a pro forma that suits the needs of the teacher.
• Establish the students' prior knowledge of the topic.
• List the teaching/learning experiences that will best enable students to investigate the topic and
  • identify the texts needed
  • identify the strategies to be used.
• Work through knowledge, understanding, skills, process, values and attitudes the student expected to gain through this unit.
• Identify student assessment tasks and criteria, including audience for presentations or alternatives.
• Set a deadline for completion of tasks and formative evaluation points and embedded generic skills

Tracking the Process

a) It is important to refocus during the course of the unit.
This may involve asking questions such as

• How is it going?
• Are the resources adequate for the level of the group?
• Has the emphasis changed, eg has a new area of investigation/study been identified?
• Has the interest level been maintained?

Evaluation

Student self-evaluation
Collecting written data from students concerning their opinions and perceptions about their learning and progress in a range of academic areas can be a useful strategy for evaluation of a unit of work or a sequence of learning. It can be helpful to discuss the comment with the student, or a sample of students, to identify reasons behind their comments. The keeping of a learning journal throughout a unit or term can be a starting point for the student.
This can take to the form of a pro forma or series of questions.

Peer evaluation
Peer evaluation can take place when students or groups of students show and explain projects or other tasks they have completed either on their own or as a set asssignment. This can be a very rewarding and enjoyable activity for students. It may be necessary to model the type of constructive comments that would be appropriate and can take place between individuals or small groups. This could be developed through Author's Circle or establishing criteria for the task to guide the discussion.

Student evaluation of the learning experiences
A set of questions can be a useful way to invite student evaluation of a unit. These can include points the teacher identifies as important in the total evaluation. They can also include general comments from the students about their resources or learning experiences or the length of time of the unit.

Teacher evaluation of learning experiences
Time needs to be given to allow reflection on the range and variety of learning experiences used throughout the unit. These also need to be evaluated for their appropriateness and effectiveness. Keeping a checklist of the types of experiences used will help when planning the next time to avoid repetition and ensure all students' learning styles are catered for.

Teacher evaluation of students and self
The keeping of a journal or diary throughout the unit will help with the evaluation step. Time needs to be allocated to the evaluation of the unit. Involving other teachers who were involved in the unit, eg teacher-librarian and support teachers, and the feedback provided by the students will guide the planning for future work.

Questions may include

• Was the group's interest maintained?
• Resources — were they adequate, sufficient in number and scope?
• Enjoyment — did they enjoy the unit experiences?
• Outcomes achieved — incidental or additional?
• Was focus maintained?
• Were expectations clear and were they met?
• Does the unit need to be modified? How can I make this better?
• Was I satisfied?
• Where do I go from here?

• Was there sufficient variety of learning experiences?
• Did the experiences enable the students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the big ideas from the unit?
• How inclusive was the unit in terms of gender and ethnicity? Did the resources exclude some students?
• How well did the students participate in the unit?
• Were some intended outcomes not achieved?
• Did the unit provide sufficient opportunities for the students to self-assess their work?
• Did the unit use a variety of groupings?
• What new strategies did the unit introduce? Were they appropriate?
• Did the students see links between this unit and previous units?
• What aspects of the unit were least effective?
• What new questions arose for the students and for the teacher about this topic?