Using Collaborative Teaching And Inquiry Project-based Learning To Help Primary.pdf

Library & Information Science Research 33 (2011) 132–143

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Library & Information Science Research

Using collaborative teaching and inquiry project-based learning to help primary school students develop information literacy and information skills Samuel Kai Wah Chu a,⁎, S.K. Tse b, Ken Chow c a b c

Runme Shaw Building Room 111B, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Runme Shaw Building Room 405, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Sacred Heart Canossian School, 26 Caine Road, Hong Kong

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Available online 31 January 2011

a b s t r a c t Information literacy and information technology (IT) skills have become increasingly important in today's knowledge society. Many studies have shown that students from primary school to postgraduate lack crucial information literacy and IT skills, hence there is a need for an effective pedagogical approach that will develop these skills. This study investigated the effect of combining a collaborative teaching approach with inquiry project-based learning (PjBL) on the development of primary students' information literacy and IT skills. Students in a Hong Kong primary school completed two inquiry-based group projects. A collaborative teaching approach involving three teachers in different subject areas (general studies, Chinese, and IT) and the school librarian was adopted in guiding students through the two projects. Results indicate that this program had a positive impact of on the development of different dimensions of the students' information literacy and IT skills. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Information literacy and information technology (IT) skills are crucial for effective functioning in today's knowledge society (American Association of School Libraries, 2007). Educators are being called upon to integrate the teaching of information literacy and IT skills into the regular curriculum (Kuhlthau, 2004; Scott & O' Sullivan, 2005). In the past, students were usually taught these skills using the traditional didactic approach, which involves the teacher lecturing and students passively receiving information. However, the emergence of new pedagogical methods has influenced how teachers and librarians are imparting these skills to the students. Inquiry-based learning (IBL), also known as enquiry-based learning, is a pedagogical approach that uses questioning to involve students actively in their own learning (Harada & Yoshina, 2004a). Recent studies have indicated that IBL is more effective in promoting learning outcomes such as deep thinking, the ability to apply knowledge, and reasoning skills when compared to the traditional didactic approach (Dochy, Segers, Van den Bossche, & Gijbels, 2003; Harada & Yoshina, 2004b; Hickey, Kindfield, Horwitz, & Christie, 1999; Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, & Chinn, 2007; Hu, Kuh, & Li, 2008; Kuhlthau, Maniotes, & Caspari, 2007). One way to implement IBL in schools is through student group projects (Chu, 2009; Hmelo-Silver et al., 2007). Project-based learning (PjBL) involves an in-depth exploration of

⁎ Corresponding author. Fax: + 852 2517 7194. E-mail address: [email protected] (S.K.W. Chu). 0740-8188/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2010.07.017

issues, themes, or problems without predefined answers (Harada, Kirio, & Yamamoto, 2008). PjBL has been shown to provide students with opportunities to engage in realistic and thought-provoking project-based learning (Blumenfeld et al., 1991; David, 2008; Marx, Blumenfeld, Krajcik, & Soloway, 1997; Thomas, 2000). A considerable amount of research conducted in different domains and with different outcome measures generally shows support for the greater effectiveness of both IBL and PjBL over the traditional didactic approach (Guthrie et al., 2004; Hickey, Wolfe, & Kindfield, 2000; Hickey et al., 1999; Hmelo-Silver et al., 2007; Langer, 2001; Lynch, Kuiper, Pyke, & Szesze, 2005; Wu & Tsai, 2005). The integration of PjBL and IBL could lead to a promising learning approach (Chu, 2009; Krajcik et al., 1998), and is referred to as inquiry PjBL in this article. Fig. 1 presents the framework for this study that examines the effectiveness of an inquiry PjBL approach in guiding students through group projects and promoting learning in various domains (Chu, 2009). This framework was adopted from Kuhlthau et al.'s (2007) recommendation that two subject teachers and a school librarian collaborate in the implementation of inquiry PjBL. For this particular study, the focus was on the development of information literacy and IT skills among students and on the collaboration between the IT teacher and the school librarian. 1 1 This study is part of a larger project that involved a collaborative teaching approach, bringing together a team of three teachers with different specialties and the school librarian to equip students with knowledge and skills to support group project implementation in a Hong Kong primary school. Previous studies by the same team have used this framework, and it has been shown to foster improvement in other domains such as research, writing, and reading skills (Chu, 2009; Chu et al., 2008).

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Parents

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Eight dimensions for students’ improvement

Primary 4 students working on General Studies group projects

1.

Reading

2.

Writing abilities

3.

Information

4.

IT skills

5.

Subject knowledge

6.

Social and

comprehension

literacy General School Language Studies Librarian Teachers Teachers

IT Teacher

communication skills The Principal

Experts in inquirybased learning

7.

Presentation skills

8.

Research skills

Fig. 1. The inquiry PjBL model adopted for the General Studies group projects.

3. Literature review

students have to raise questions, find their own answers, and look for necessary information. They are engaged in identifying problems, collecting information, and solving the problems they encounter. A specific example of how inquiry-based learning can be applied in the classroom setting is through the use of group projects (Krajcik et al., 1998). Projects can capture students' interests, provoke serious thinking, and enable students to apply their knowledge in a problem-solving context (David, 2008). Harada et al. (2008) claimed that PjBL involves in-depth exploration of issues, themes, or problems without predefined answers. It facilitates the development of ownership by giving students the chance to select topics that are personally relevant and by giving them a sense of responsibility to take charge of their own learning (Alloway et al., 1996). In a comprehensive review of research on PjBL, Thomas (2000) found support for the argument that this approach is more effective in enhancing student learning when compared to traditional instruction. He further claimed that it is effective for teaching problem-solving and decision-making skills. Examples of studies include a project by Boaler (2002), which compared the mathematics skills of students in two secondary British schools. One of the schools used project-based learning, while the other used traditional instruction. After three years, students in the project-based learning school outperformed the students from the traditional instruction school in terms of mathematics skills, as well as in conceptual and applied knowledge. In addition, more students from the project-based learning school passed the national exam. In another study, the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt University (CTG Vanderbilt, 1992), developed a software program called The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury. This was a series of video-based adventure simulations that enabled inquiry PjBL. This software provided a structure for students to work collaboratively on simulated real-world problems that required the application of mathematical reasoning. Students who used this software scored higher in solving word problems and in planning skills than those who did not.

3.1. Inquiry project-based learning

3.2. Collaborative teaching

Hong Kong's Education Bureau defines inquiry learning as a student-centered approach that helps students to integrate knowledge and values in the learning of general studies (Education and Manpower Bureau, 2002). In the inquiry process, students are active constructors of knowledge, and the teacher is a facilitator of their learning. Instead of having the teacher give the right answers, the

Previous studies have shown the importance of collaborative teaching practices in improving instruction and student learning (Frana, 1998; John-Steiner, 1992; Murata, 2002; Oldfather & Thomas, 1998; Schwab Learning, 2003; Thousand, Villa, & Nevin, 2006). For example, Thousand et al. (2006) argued that when teachers collaborate on their planning and teaching, they are better able to

2. Problem statement Despite the emphasis on the emerging importance of information literacy and IT skills in the past decade (AASL, 2007), considerable research has shown that students across different educational levels from primary school to postgraduate are generally lacking in competence in these areas (Branch, 2003; Chu & Law, 2005, 2007; Lazonder, 2000; Pelgrum, 1999; Schacter, Chung, & Dorr, 1998). While research has shown the benefits of information literacy and IT skills for student learning (e.g., Chan-Lin, 2008), few studies have been conducted on the pedagogical approaches that promote their development (for exceptions see Mokhtar, Majid, & Foo, 2008; Moore, 2001). Most of the studies that have investigated information literacy and IT skills in the context of PjBL have focused, rather, on how students use these skills as tools for doing their projects, and not on examining these skills as learning outcomes. There appears to be a need, therefore, to develop an innovative instruction approach and examine how it may promote the learning of these skills among students. Evidence supports the effectiveness of pedagogical approaches like inquiry PjBL and collaborative teaching in enhancing learning outcomes (e.g. Hmelo-Silver et al., 2007; Murata, 2002). Few studies, however, have examined the use of these strategies for students to help them gain competencies in information literacy and IT skills. In the light of recent recommendations about collaborative teaching with the participation of the school librarian to support the implementation of inquiry projects (Kuhlthau et al., 2007), this study combined collaborative teaching and inquiry PjBL, and examined its effects on primary students' information literacy and IT skills. The findings of this study serve as evidence to support a viable teaching strategy to cultivate these skills that students need today.

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meet the needs of students with diverse backgrounds. A recent development in collaborative teaching is the acknowledgment of the librarian's role in the modern school setting (Kuhlthau et al., 2007). Teacher–librarian collaboration has been the focus of a considerable number of studies, as school librarians have become more actively involved in student learning (Chu, Chow, Tse, & Kuhlthau, 2008; Konzal, 2001; Mokhtar & Majid, 2006; Montiel-Overall, 2008; Warmkessel & McCade, 1997). Despite the literature supporting teacher–librarian collaboration, the role of school librarians as education partners seems to have gained little acceptance from teachers worldwide (Doskatsch, 2003; McCarthy, 2002). This is especially true in the Asian setting, as demonstrated by Mokhtar and Majid (2006), who examined the collaborative relationship between teachers and school librarians in Singapore primary and secondary schools. The level of collaboration was found to be very low, and teachers did not regard the school librarian as an education partner. Teachers with more teaching experience, however, were observed to be more likely to engage in collaboration with librarians. Furthermore, primary school teachers tended to collaborate with librarians more because they organized more academic activities than secondary school teachers. Full-time qualified librarians were also the key to promoting collaboration with teachers, as they had adequate time and the necessary knowledge to be valuable assets in education. The inclusion of librarians in collaborative teaching has the potential to improve student learning (Donham, Bishop, Kuhlthau, & Oberg, 2001; Kuhlthau et al., 2007). School library programs, which are centers of inquiry-based learning, can enhance student achievement (Alberta Learning, 2004). Borgman, Hirsh, and Walter (1995) began their study on children's information seeking behavior with the idea that a “library-centered school curriculum would be an appropriate model for true discovery learning” (pp. 663–664). Harada and Yoshina (2004a) and Kuhlthau (1994, 1997, 2003) studied how school librarians and teachers worked together in guiding students' inquiry learning, while Kafai and Bates (1997) discussed the important role of school library staff in information literacy instruction for both teachers and students. In line with this, Kuhlthau et al. (2007) recommended having a flexible three-member core team consisting of two subject teachers and a librarian for the implementation of inquiry projects. She found that this arrangement was effective in harnessing the domain knowledge of the subject teachers, as well as the information literacy skills of the librarian, thus promoting a more authentic inquiry experience for the students.

3.3. Information literacy, IT skills, and inquiry project-based learning “Information Literacy encompasses knowledge of one's information concerns and needs, and the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, organize and effectively create, use and communicate information to address issues or problems at hand” (U.S. National Commission on Library and Information Science, 2003). An important component of information literacy is IT skills, which involve the ability to use a variety of electronic tools (AASL, 2007). Previous studies have shown that information literacy and IT skills are important components of inquiry PjBL (Chan-Lin, 2008; Jonassen & Reeves, 1996; Owens, Hester, & Teale, 2002). Inquiry PjBL requires students to carry out an in-depth exploration of particular issues, themes, or problems (Harada et al., 2008). In this regard, information literacy is crucial since it helps learners become “critical users of information and creative producers of knowledge” (Bowler, Large, & Rejskind, 2001, p. 205). Owens et al. (2002) likewise emphasized the importance of IT skills in inquiry PjBL, in that they allow students to organize and edit their projects easily. At a higher level, IT skills empower students to communicate with experts in different locations, access information from a vast array of resources, and create high quality multimedia presentations (Owens et al., 2002).

Numerous studies have recognized the importance of technology to student learning (CTG Vanderbilt, 1992; Lee & Kim, 2005; Owens et al., 2002), but there is also evidence indicating that students may not have the necessary information literacy and IT skills to use the technology effectively (Julien & Barker, 2009; Salovaara, 2005; Van Aalst, Fung, Li, & Wong, 2007). For example, Bowler et al. (2001) provided a review of research in this area and found that many students lacked basic IT skills. Borgman et al. (1995) found that elementary school children did not possess the necessary keyboard, spelling, or vocabulary knowledge to effectively search library catalogs. In addition, Bilal (2001) found that when grade school students were required to use Yahooligans! to find certain information, they had difficulty in completing the task. Even teachers found it difficult to incorporate technology use in the classroom (Wallace, Kupperman, Krajcik, & Soloway, 2000). Thus, it appears that technical illiteracy hampers effective student learning (Bowler et al., 2001). 4. Research questions Based on the literature gap identified above, this study sets to examine the following research questions: 1. To what extent does collaborative teaching with inquiry PjBL help students develop their information literacy and IT skills? 2. How important do the students perceive the information literacy and IT skills they learned in completing their inquiry PjBL to be? 3. To what extent does the improvement in information literacy and IT skills vary across student academic ability and gender? 4. What are the different roles played by the school librarian and the IT teacher in terms of the support they provided students to equip them with the relevant information literacy and IT skills? 5. Procedures This study applied a mixed methods research design, employing both quantitative and qualitative methods to answer the research questions. The use of both methods in combination was expected to generate a better understanding of the research problem (Creswell, 2008). 5.1. Instructional design In the years preceding this intervention, general studies (GS) projects had been implemented under the direction of the GS teacher only. In response to the observations concerning students' IT and information literacy needs mentioned in the introduction, the first author of this article and the school principal provided guidance and leadership in bringing the teachers and the school librarian in this study to work together to guide the primary 4 (P4)2 students on projects that involved information research from printed and Internet sources.3 The instructional design was based on the models and guidelines created by Harada and Yoshina (2004a,b) and Kuhlthau (1997, 2003), and was conducted over a period of six months. The study consisted of two phases. Phase 1 lasted for 10 weeks, while phase 2 lasted for 9 weeks. Students worked in groups of five and six and were free to choose any topic based on the theme for each phase. The main theme for phase 1 was The Earth, and the theme for phase 2 was The History of Hong Kong or China. Students worked in the same groups for both phases. At the culmination of each phase, each group prepared a written report and presented it in front of the class. In order to enhance the students' skills in searching for different 2 In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) education system, primary 4 corresponds to grade 4 in the U.S. system. 3 P4 students were chosen through convenience sampling. In addition, Hong Kong students begin to have group work during their P4, thus we wanted to see how inquiry PjBL can facilitate the development of information literacy and IT skills, and vice-versa.

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kinds of information, the school librarian arranged six library lessons, each lasting 50 min. The first three sessions were given during the beginning stages of phase 1, while the last three sessions were given during the beginning stages of phase 2. The goal was to make the students familiar with the Internet and with online searching. The IT teacher, on the other hand, was responsible for equipping students with relevant IT skills such as using Microsoft PowerPoint. During the IT classes, students were also taught Chinese inputting methods, and other relevant IT skills for information search. The IT teacher conducted 10 sessions to teach these different skills, which were spread out across the two phases. Students also received support from the Chinese language and general studies teachers in the course of their projects. The language of instruction during the entire study was Chinese. 5.2. Participants This study involved three groups of participants: (a) students, (b) their parents, and (c) the teaching staff. One primary school in Hong Kong served as the site for this project. All four classes of P4 students in the selected school participated in the study. Each class was made up of students with varied academic abilities, as the school did not group its students according to their academic standing. The mean number of students per class was 36. Class A had 37 students (20 males, and 17 females), class B had 35 students (20 males, and 15 females), class C had 36 students (19 males, and 17 females), and class D had 35 students (17 males, and 18 females). This constituted a total of 143 participating students (76 males, and 67 females). In addition to the students, the teaching staff were also interviewed. Although 11 teaching staff were involved in the project (four general studies teachers, four Chinese teachers, one school librarian, one IT teacher, and one curriculum development officer), this study focuses on the IT teacher and the school librarian. Twenty-seven parents (10 in Section A, 7 in Section B, 4 in Section C, and 6 in Section D) also consented to be interviewed; telephone interviews were conducted with them (see Appendix A).

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focused on the students' perceived level of familiarity with various software packages such as PowerPoint, Excel, and two Chinese writing software packages, the Cangjie input method and the Jiu Fang input method. This part of the questionnaire was anchored on a 5-point scale where 1 referred to not familiar and 5 referred to very familiar. The second part of the questionnaire asked students how important they perceived the various information literacy and IT skills were for the completion of their inquiry projects to be. This part of the questionnaire was anchored on a 5-point scale where 1 referred to not important and 5 referred to very important (see Appendix B for the questionnaire given to the students after the inquiry PjBL). This questionnaire was based on previous research investigating the development of information literacy and IT skills among postgraduate students, and was later modified to make it more appropriate for primary school students (Chu & Law, 2005, 2007). To examine the roles of the school librarian and the IT teacher, individual face-to-face interviews were carried out concerning the support they had offered to students in order to equip them with the relevant information literacy and IT skills. Telephone interviews with 27 parents who had given their consent to participate in the study, and focus group discussions with students, were also conducted, in order to explore their perceptions of the inquiry PjBL. The parents who were interviewed turned out to be well-distributed across the four classes of students. 5.4. Data analyses The data from questionnaires comparing the self-perceived level of familiarity with various information literacy and IT skills before and after the intervention were analyzed using dependent samples t-tests. Linear regression was used to analyze the effects of gender and year level on change in information literacy and IT skills. SPSS 16.0 was used for all the statistical analyses. The semi-structured interviews with the parents and students were summarized through sequential analysis. Axial coding was done by using NVivo 7.0, where themes were identified and clustered.

5.3. Data collection

6. Results

Four different data collection methods were employed in the study. Self-report questionnaires were administered to all participating students. Focused group discussions with selected students were conducted, as well as telephone interviews with parents and individual face-to-face interviews with the school librarian and the IT teacher. The self-report questionnaires were administered by the teachers to the P4 students after their inquiry PjBL. Students were asked to assess their level of information literacy and IT skills before and after the intervention. The questionnaire was divided into two main parts. The first part aimed to assess students' perceived level of familiarity with various information literacy skills before and after the intervention, and their perceived level of familiarity with different IT skills before and after the intervention. The second part of the questionnaire asked students about their perceived importance of the components of information literacy and IT skills in completing the projects. In the first part, two dimensions of information literacy skills were examined, beginning with the students' perceived level of familiarity with the use of various information sources/services such as the school library, the school library's OPAC (online public access catalog), the public library, the public library's OPAC, Wisenews and other links via the school's website, and Yahoo!, Google, and other online resources. The second dimension of information literacy was the students' perceived level of familiarity with various types of information search knowledge/skills, and included the use of Boolean operators, keyword search, the Dewey classification system, reference books, and newspapers. IT skills were assessed using items that

6.1. Development of information literacy and IT skills To investigate how students developed in terms of their information literacy and IT skills (research question 1), the researchers looked at the (a) teachers', parents', and students' overall perceptions of improvement in information literacy and IT skills, (b) students' perceived level of familiarity with the various information sources before and after the inquiry PjBL, (c) students' perceived information search knowledge and skills before and after the inquiry PjBL, and (d) students' perceived IT skills and knowledge before and after the inquiry PjBL. 6.1.1. Teacher, parent, and student perceptions of improvement in information literacy and IT skills Teachers, parents, and students assessed the students' information literacy and IT skills in relation to the implementation of PjBL. The survey showed that the three groups perceived that the collaborative teaching and inquiry PjBL approach helped students improve their information literacy and IT skills, with scores above the midpoint of three (see Fig. 2). Interviews with teachers and parents supported these quantitative findings. For example, the IT teacher said, “Most students managed to accomplish the standards of PowerPoint skills that I set for them. They were able to insert pictures, add hyperlinks and edit words in PowerPoint.” One parent also viewed the improvement in information literacy and IT skills as helping her child become “exposed to more reading materials when searching for information—no longer limited to textbooks.”

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responses about their perceived familiarity with the various information sources and services before and after the inquiry PjBL. 6.1.3. Students' perceived information search knowledge and skills before and after inquiry PjBL Fig. 4 shows how the students perceived their level of information search knowledge and skills both before and after the inquiry PjBL project. Students perceived an overall improvement in the different information search knowledge and skills components. Before the inquiry PjBL, students perceived themselves as particularly weak in using the Dewey classification system and the three Boolean operators. After the inquiry PjBL, the greatest gains were reported to be in the use of the Boolean operators. The results of the dependent sample t-tests show that students perceived themselves to be more knowledgeable in the various information search knowledge and skills after the inquiry PjBL (p b .001) (Table 2). Fig. 2. Teachers', parents' and students' perception of student improvement in information literacy and IT skills via collaborative teaching and inquiry PjBL.

6.1.2. Students' perceived familiarity with various information sources before and after the inquiry PjBL Dependent t-tests were used to compare the ratings of the students' familiarity with various information sources and services before and after the inquiry PjBL. Results showed that students reported greater familiarity with the information sources and services after the inquiry PjBL compared to their familiarity with these sources before the project (p b .001) (Table 1). Of the different information sources and services (use of the school library, use of its OPAC, etc.), students were most unfamiliar with using Wisenews and the school's OPAC (see Fig. 3). Students were more familiar with using the school library facilities, public library facilities, and Yahoo!. Students' familiarity with Yahoo! was greater than that of Google (4.5 compared to 3.2), which might be explained by Yahoo!'s more child-friendly services such as “Yahoo! Kids” (http://kids.yahoo.com/). Since students did not have free access to the WiseNews database in school in the past, and because it is not a freely accessible database, their familiarity with WiseNews was substantially lower than all of the other information sources and services prior to the inquiry PjBL. Perhaps not surprisingly, the biggest improvement was seen in this domain, and was supported by our interview data. Some students became so comfortable with using it that one of them “used it for leisure reading and for doing homework.” Another student used it for reading topics of interest to himself that were not required in school. Fig. 3 summarizes the students'

Table 1 Mean values and significance levels for the dependent t-tests on students' familiarity with various information sources before and after the intervention. Item

Mean before intervention

Mean after the intervention

The use of the school library School library's online catalog The use of public libraries Public libraries' online catalog WiseNews Google Yahoo! School/library suggested websites

3.94 (SD = 1.07)

4.49 (SD = 0.77)

2.82 (SD = 1.24)

3.71 (SD = 1.13)

− 10.99

p b .001

4.15 (SD = 1.12)

4.55 (SD = 0.78)

− 6.51

p b .001

3.26 (SD = 1.38)

4.01 (SD = 1.02)

− 8.42

p b .001

1.76 2.97 4.46 3.23

4.01 4.05 4.79 3.78

− 20.48 − 10.99 − 5.85 − 7.21

p b .001 p b .001 p b .001 p b .001

Note. N = 143.

(SD = 1.16) (SD = 1.31) (SD = 0.89) (SD = 1.48)

(SD = 1.02) (SD = 1.05) (SD = 0.52) (SD = 1.36)

t statistic

p value

− 8.370

p b .001

6.1.4. Students' perceived IT knowledge/skills before and after inquiry PjBL Fig. 5 shows students' IT knowledge/skills before and after the inquiry PjBL. Students regarded their IT skills in using Chinese input methods such as Jiu Fang and Simplified Cangjie as weak before the project. In Jiu Fang, the numeric keypads are used to input Chinese characters into the computer, while in Simplified Cangjie, Chinese characters are inputted using the QWERTY keyboard. After the project, students perceived an improvement in all aspects of their IT skills and knowledge. Students perceived that they had gained the most in “making PowerPoint presentations” (improvement of 1.28 points), “using Jiu Fang method” (improvement of 1.22) and “making Excel spreadsheet” (improvement of 1.16). Students perceived that they had gained the least improvements with “Writing Pad”, which was probably due to their high level of familiarity with it before the intervention. The dependent samples t-tests, indicate that there was a statistically significant improvement in the students' perceived familiarity with the different IT knowledge/skills after the inquiry PjBL (p b .001) (Table 3). 6.2. The importance of information literacy and IT skills for completing the projects Students were surveyed on (a) their perception of the importance of various information sources/services for completing their projects, (b) their perception of the importance of information search knowledge/skills for completing their projects, and (c) their perception of the importance of IT knowledge and skills to the completion of inquiry-based learning projects. 6.2.1. Importance of information sources/services Students answered a survey on the importance of various information sources or services for the completion of their projects, and their ratings are summarized in Fig. 6. Almost all the information sources were perceived by students as generally important as evidenced by the above 3.5 ratings given to all the information sources above. The most important source of information was Yahoo! followed by the use of the public library and the school library. Although searching on the web was the most convenient means of obtaining information, the more traditional forms of information seeking, such as using the school and public libraries, still appeared to be important. 6.2.2. Importance of information search-related knowledge/skills Students were also asked how important they thought the different types of information search knowledge or skills were in completing their projects, and their answers are summarized in Fig. 7. Students perceived keyword search to be the most important, followed by the use of the three Boolean operators. These findings are consistent with previous research indicating that knowing how to use the right

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137

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evidenced by ratings that were all above the midpoint of the scale. The most important areas perceived were the use of Microsoft Office, in particular PowerPoint and Excel (see Fig. 8). Although students improved more in the Jiu Fang inputting method than in Simplified Cangjie (see Fig. 5), they tended to see Simplified Cangjie as more important than Jiu Fang (4.1 vs. 3.9 on the 5-point scale). This may be due to the fact that Simplified Cangjie is offered as a free bundle in Microsoft Windows, while Jiu Fang is only available at school. Some students might have had some experience with Simplified Cangjie at home, prior to the inquiry PjBL, and may have only learned Jiu Fang during their projects, so they may well have perceived Simplified Cangjie as more important. This finding shows that as far as teaching IT skills is concerned, there might be some disparity between what tools are perceived by students as important and what tools teachers actually teach at school. Nevertheless, the students generally considered the IT knowledge and skills they learned during the inquiry PjBL to be important for the completion of their projects. Scores ranged from 3.9 to 4.5 on a 5-point scale.

keywords and being able to use Boolean operators properly are crucial to obtaining more accurate information (Bezanilla, 1992; Chu & Law, 2007; Lancaster, Elzy, Zeter, Metzler, & Low, 1994; Tillotson, 1995). It also suggests that students considered information searches through electronic resources such as search engines and databases more important than searches in printed resources such as newspapers and reference books. This is not surprising since recent research has shown that children today use computers at an early age (Calvert, Rideout, Woolard, Barr, & Strouse, 2005). 6.2.3. Importance of IT knowledge and skills IT skills were important for students in searching for information related to their projects, as well as for preparing for their final project reports and presentations (Chu, 2009). For example, Chinese input programs were important as they enabled students to use databases and search engines. IT skills such as using PowerPoint and Excel enabled students to create effective presentations for their projects. Students generally thought IT skills were important to them, as

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Fig. 4. Students' perceived information searching knowledge and skills.

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Table 2 Dependent t-test results on students' perceived information search knowledge and skills before and after the intervention.

Table 3 Dependent t tests on students' familiarity with various IT knowledge and skills before and after the intervention.

Item

Mean before intervention

Mean after the intervention

t statistic

p value

Item

Mean before intervention

Mean after the intervention

t p value statistic

Dewey classification system Reference books Newspapers Keywords Boolean operator “and” Boolean operator “or” Boolean operator “not”

2.53 (SD = 1.23)

3.64 (SD = 1.14)

− 11.54

p b .001

2.46 (SD = 1.42)

3.68 (SD = 1.26)

− 12.70 p b .001

3.13 3.57 3.32 2.62 2.65 2.61

4.04 4.41 4.30 4.25 4.20 4.18

− 12.17 − 8.98 − 10.00 − 13.96 − 13.50 − 13.76

p b .001 p b .001 p b .001 p b .001 p b .001 p b .001

Jiu Fang input method Cangjie input method Writing pad Powerpoint Excel

2.63 (SD = 1.40)

3.51 (SD = 1.31)

− 10.35 p b .001

4.58 (SD = 0.81) 3.27 (SD = 1.39) 3.01 (SD = 1.41)

4.81 (SD = 0.62) 4.44 (SD = 0.87) 4.28 (SD = .96)

− 4.50 p b .001 − 11.05 p b .001 − 11.99 p b .001

(SD = 1.18) (SD = 1.15) (SD = 1.40) (SD = 1.43) (SD = 1.42) (SD = 1.44)

(SD = 0.88) (SD = 0.83) (SD = 0.88) (SD = 0.87) (SD = 0.92) (SD = 0.96)

Note. N = 143.

Note. N = 143.

6.3. Effectiveness of inquiry PjBL across different academic abilities and gender To determine whether academic ability and gender influenced the perceived improvement in information literacy and IT skills (research question 3), genders and grades of the students were entered into a regression model as predictors. Academic ability was determined by obtaining the students' general averages from the school. The criterion variable – perceived improvement in information literacy and IT skills – was obtained by adding the standardized improvement scores (Z scores based on mean and standard deviation) for the information literacy and IT skills questions in the survey. This index is referred to as overall improvement in information literacy and IT skills. Results showed that gender did not significantly predict overall improvement in information literacy and IT skills, whereas grades did significantly predict such improvement: Students with higher academic abilities seem to have made improvements in information literacy and IT skills significantly more than those students with lower academic abilities (see Table 4 for the regression results). 6.4. Roles of the school librarian and IT teacher In order to understand the collaborative process more deeply, the librarian and the IT teacher were interviewed about the roles they played in this project (Table 5). All 11 teaching staff were also involved to some degree in designing the content and the process of the intervention. In this study, the roles of the school librarian and IT teacher are the subject of interest because the focus was on the improvement of information literacy and IT skills of the students. Their roles were defined in terms of the support and guidance they

offered to the students and how they collaborated with each other and with the other subject teachers. During the information literacy and library sessions, students were equipped with the basic skills for using various electronic sources. According to the school librarian, the provision of relevant materials to students, as well as training in using the materials effectively increased student motivation and interest in conducting their own inquiry PjBL. The librarian also tried to cultivate a positive attitude towards the use of the Internet among the students and cautioned against the access of inappropriate web materials and Internet overuse. The IT teacher, on the other hand, set up the WiseNews database and taught students various IT skills, such as using PowerPoint, Excel, and Chinese input methods. In these ways he contributed to the development of their self-directed learning. He commented that, by the end of their projects, students had become better at creating PowerPoint slides for effective presentation. The librarian and IT teacher coordinated with the other teachers. For example, the librarian said, “I would find out from the Chinese Studies teachers what topics they needed me to cover, and I would organize a class that involved students . . . so that they could master the relevant skills . . . this also complemented the GS teachers' teaching. Basically, the classes that I conducted were based on the needs of GS, IT, and Chinese Studies teachers.” The librarian directly worked with the GS teachers. She said, “I helped GS teachers in terms of borrowing some books for their students. Apart from that, I also helped them to search for some relevant websites, did some newspaper-cutting on the topics that they were doing for their reference, and I also searched some relevant information for the students and created some reference folders for them.” The IT teacher, on the other hand, commented that to facilitate collaboration, he gave special attention to “the division of labor” among the different teachers.

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 Before After

2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Jiu Fang input Cangjie input method method

Writing pad

Powerpoint

Excel

Fig. 5. Pre- and post-inquiry project familiarity with IT knowledge/skills.

S.K.W. Chu et al. / Library & Information Science Research 33 (2011) 132–143

139

Students' perceived importance of various information resource/services Levels of perceived importance

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Using school library

Using school library’s OPAC

Using public library

Using Using Using links public Wisenews via school's libraries’ website OPAC Information resources/services

Using Yahoo

Using Google

Other sources

Fig. 6. Students' perceived importance of information resources and services.

The librarian and the IT teacher had different roles to play in the inquiry PjBL. They did not function independently, but worked as a team, collaborating with the other subject teachers during the inquiry PjBL. 7. Discussion The combination of inquiry PjBL and collaborative teaching led to a perceived general improvement in the information literacy and IT skills of the students as they did their projects in the GS course. Students' perceived level of familiarity after the intervention compared to that before the intervention was significantly higher for all the dimensions of information literacy and IT skills that were examined in the study. The present findings contribute evidence to the growing literature supporting the effectiveness of inquiry PjBL (Blumenfeld et al., 1991; Derry, Hmelo-Silver, Nagarajan, Chernobilsky, & Beitzel, 2006; Harada & Yoshina, 2004a,b, Hmelo-Silver et al., 2007; Krajcik et al., 1998; Schmidt, Loyens, van Gog, & Paas, 2007) and collaborative teaching approaches (Harada & Yoshina, 2004a; John-Steiner, Weber, & Minnis, 1998; Rockman, 2003) in promoting positive student outcomes. An additional contribution is that this study also highlights the effectiveness of combining inquiry PjBL and collaborative teaching.

Few studies have previously investigated how they can be combined to promote optimal outcomes for students, with most studies focusing exclusively on inquiry learning (e.g. Spronken-Smith, Bullard, Ray, Roberts, & Keiffer, 2008) or collaborative teaching (e.g. Thousand et al., 2006). (See Harada & Yoshina, 2004a and Kuhlthau et al., 2007 for an exception.) In addition, this study shows the potential of inquiry PjBL in promoting information literacy and IT skills, thus building on previous studies that have shown its positive impact in other domains like natural science (e.g. Harland, 2002; Krajcik et al., 1998), social science (e.g. Derry et al., 2006; Spronken-Smith et al., 2008), business (e.g. Capon & Kuhn, 2004), medicine (e.g. Hughes, Ventura, & Dando, 2004), and mathematics (e.g. CTG Vanderbilt, 1992). Inquiry PjBL was shown to be an effective means of promoting information literacy and IT skills. This builds on the findings of previous research showing that information literacy and IT skills cannot be learned through one-time training such as tutorials or workshops (Mokhtar et al., 2008). Information literacy and IT skills need to be reinforced over a longer period of time with proper scaffolding and guidance from the teacher. Asselin (2005) noted that teachers perceived the lack of time to teach information literacy and IT skills as a barrier. Inquiry PjBL that is conducted over a relatively longer time period may be a better alternative to the short-term

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Level of perceived importance (5-point scale)

Students' perceived importance of various information searching knowledge/skills

Information searching knowledge/skills Fig. 7. Students' perceived importance of information searching related knowledge/skills.

140

S.K.W. Chu et al. / Library & Information Science Research 33 (2011) 132–143

Students' perceived importance of various information technology knowledge and skills Levels of perceived importance (5-pointscale)

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 Series1

2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Jiu Fang input Cangjie input method method

Writing pad

Powerpoint

Excel

Other skills

IT knowledge/skills Fig. 8. Students' perceived importance of IT knowledge/skills.

workshops and tutorials that have commonly been used to teach information literacy and IT skills. There is an increasing need for these competencies in today's information society, but students of different educational levels have been found to lack them (Branch, 2003; Chu & Law, 2005, 2007; Lorenzen, 2001), thus highlighting the need for an effective teaching approach. The results showing that students considered the information literacy and IT skills they learned as important for completing their inquiry-based projects are in accord with the findings of previous studies showing the importance of technology in completing school work (Bowler et al., 2001). The importance of information literacy and IT skills goes beyond the academic domain. Experts have claimed that these competencies have become “a prerequisite for participation in society and the work force” (U.S. 21st Century Workforce Commission, 2000). In this study, academic ability influenced the perceived improvement in information literacy and IT skills. In inquiry PjBL, students are expected to take charge of their own learning by posing their own questions and by trying to develop an in-depth understanding of a particular topic. Findings of this research imply that inquiry PjBL may require a higher degree of motivation and self-regulation from students for it to be effective. Research has shown that motivation is

Table 4 Regression result for gender and grade as predictors of improvement in information literacy.

Constant Gender Grade

B

SE B

β

Sig

− 5.961 .184 .068

.406 .023

.040 .254

p = .650 p = .004

Note. R2 = .091.

closely linked to engagement with schoolwork (Ames & Archer, 1988; Fredericks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2008). Inquiry-based learning places a heavier burden on individual students' motivation and on their capacity to take charge of their own learning (Owston, 1997; Santiago & Okey, 1992). Students with higher grades are presumed to have a higher motivation and a higher level of self-regulation (Pintrich, 2003). Thus, it may be possible that students with higher grades in this study made greater improvements in information literacy and IT skills than those with lower grades, due to their higher motivational and self-regulation level. This is consistent with research done in educational psychology claiming that self-regulation promotes learning (Schunk & Ertmer, 2000). It appears that educators may need to pay more careful attention to the participation of students with lower academic abilities in inquiry PjBL programs. Investigations of group learning have shown that it is most effective when students of different academic abilities work together and when peer interaction emphasizes cooperation rather than competition (Epstein, 1989; Schunk, 2009). Such situations may benefit students of lower academic ability. The present study did not take into account the distribution of students with different academic abilities among the groups. The dynamics of the group learning process might have influenced the learning outcomes, but such a proposition requires further research. Interviews showed that the IT teacher and the librarian played different roles in helping the students complete their inquiry PjBL. The collaboration between the school librarian and the IT teacher allowed the students to benefit from the expertise of each. This finding supports the claims of previous research about the benefits of collaborative teaching (Thousand et al., 2006) in general, and teacher–librarian collaborations in particular (Kuhlthau et al., 2007; Mokhtar et al., 2008). Collaborative teaching has been seen as an important part of inquiry-based learning since it involves taking

Table 5 Roles of the librarian and the IT teacher in the collaborative inquiry PjBL. Librarian

IT teacher

• As an information provider, made available relevant books (a block loan of 200 books from public libraries), information folders (containing newspaper clips) and related webpage links • Held information literacy classes to provide training for students in the use of various printed sources (e.g., reference books), information searching skills (e.g., Boolean operations), the school and public library catalogs, and the WiseNews database • Assessed students' effectiveness in using various information sources and development of information searching skills.

• Set up user accounts for students to access the WiseNews database, which contains news sources from Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, and other parts of the world. • Taught various IT related skills, including Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel, and Chinese input methods (e.g., Simplified Cangjie)

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advantage of the expertise of the teaching staff (Kuhlthau et al., 2007). This allows each teacher to offer his or her unique expertise to meet the specific needs of the students. Teacher–librarian collaborations enable students to access the domain knowledge of the subject teachers and the information literacy skills of the librarian. The present study highlighted the crucial role of the librarian in implementing the inquiry PjBL. In the traditional school setting, librarians are not really visible in the school context, and their roles in teaching students are often overlooked and undervalued (Hartzell, 2002). This problem is more severe in the Asian context where there is still a lack of effective programs that tap the expertise of school librarians in teaching information literacy and IT skills (Mokhtar & Majid, 2006). The present study showed the importance of involving both the librarian and the IT teacher in inquiry PjBL to facilitate the promotion of student learning outcomes. The study relied mostly on subjective perceptions since self-report questionnaires were used to assess the effects of inquiry PjBL and collaborative teaching. Future research could include more objective measures of information literacy and IT skills before and after the intervention. It would also be useful to have a comparison with students learning information literacy and IT skills through a traditional approach to contextualize the current research. Finally, future cross-cultural studies could be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the approach undertaken in this study among students from different countries. 8. Conclusion The findings of this study contribute to the body of research showing evidence for the benefits associated with inquiry PjBL (see Hmelo-Silver et al., 2007 for a review) and collaborative teaching (e.g. see Kuhlthau et al., 2007). In particular, this research showed that the combination of collaborative teaching and inquiry PjBL contributes to the development of information literacy and IT skills. Few studies have explicitly investigated the integration of these two approaches, and the results of this study may aid teachers and librarians to collaborate in improving these skills of their students. Information literacy has been shown to be of relevance to more than just a select few, and it has become a “survival skill in the information age” (American Library Association, Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, 1989). Given the crucial role of information literacy and IT skills in modern society, educators must find ways of leading students towards gaining competency in these areas. The approach undertaken in this study has been shown to be a promising strategy for educators to aid students as young as primary school level toward becoming information literate and skilled in IT. Acknowledgments This study was supported by two grants from The University of Hong Kong: the Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research and the Faculty Research Fund from the Faculty of Education. The authors would like to thank the principal, teaching staff, parents, and students who participated in this study. Appendix A. Telephone interview survey for the parents 1. How much do you think your child enjoyed the inquiry project Not at all 1

Very much so 2

3

4

5

Can you please elaborate/say more about this? 2. From your perspective, how difficult did your child find the inquiry learning project?

141

Very difficult

Very easy

1

2

3

4

5

Can you please elaborate/say more about this? If your child did encounter difficulties, how did he/she manage to overcome them? 3. How much help did you offer your child when he/she was doing the project? None 1

A lot 2

3

4

5

If any, what kind of help did you offer? 4. Does the project help your child improve in the following aspects? Aspect

None 1

A lot 2 3 4 5

Ability in finding information (e.g. can find relevant articles/books more easily) Interest in reading (e.g., read more books/articles) Reading ability (e.g. read faster, can identify the main points of articles more quickly) Writing ability (e.g. can write with a wider base of vocabularies) Computer related skills (e.g. PowerPoint, Chinese word processing) Knowledge about the research topic

Improvement in other aspect(s) as a result of working on the project: 5. Do you find the overall support from school sufficient in equipping your child with the knowledge and skills to tackle the project? (e.g. the talk on inquiry-based learning for parents, broad loan from public library) Not at all 1

Very much so 2

3

4

5

Can you please elaborate/say more about this? 6. Do you think that it is advisable for the school to keep organizing inquiry-based learning project/activity(s) for the students in the future? Appendix B. Survey for all P4 students on information literacy and IT skills Class: Name: Purpose: to assess students' development in information and IT literacy in terms of: (1) what information literacy/IT skills and knowledge they have become familiar with; and (2) what information literacy/IT skills and knowledge they find important/useful for their inquiry-based learning projects. The findings from the survey may help teachers in class planning in the future. This questionnaire takes 15 min to complete. Please answer the following questions based on your experiences from Phase I and II of the inquiry-based learning projects. 1. How familiar were you with the following information literacy/IT skills and knowledge before the inquiry-based learning projects (before December 2006)?

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2. How familiar were you with the following information literacy/IT skills and knowledge after the inquiry-based learning projects (end of June 2007)? 3. How important/useful were those information literacy/IT skills and knowledge to your inquiry-based learning projects (end of June 2007)? Appendix B

A. Sources/ databases: The use of the school library School library's online catalog The use of the public libraries Public libraries' online catalog WiseNews Google Yahoo! School/library suggested websites Others, please specify B. Search skills & knowledge: Dewey classification Reference books Newspapers Keyword search Boolean operator “and” Boolean operator “or” Boolean operator “not” Others, please specify: C. IT skills and knowledge: Jiu Fang input method Cangjie input method Writing pad PowerPoint Excel Others, please specify:

Before the inquirybased learning projects

After the inquirybased learning projects

Perceived level of importance

Level of familiarity 1 = Not familiar 5 = Very familiar

Level of familiarity 1 = Not familiar 5 = Very familiar

Level of importance 1 = Not important 5 = Very important

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Journal of Biological Education, 39, 113−119. Samuel Kai Wah Chu is an Assistant Professor (Division of Information and Technology Studies) and the Deputy Director (Centre for Information Technology in Education) in the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. He has a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Library Science from the University of British Columbia, and a Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong. His research interests include information seeking, Web 2.0 for teaching and learning, inquiry-based learning, and knowledge management. He is the Asia Regional Editor for Journal of Information & Knowledge Management and is an editorial advisory board member for Online Information Review. Dr Chu holds a number of research grants including a 3 million Hong Kong dollar (USD$381,270) Quality Education Fund and is a recipient of his Faculty’s Early Career Research Output Award. Shek-kam Tse is a Professor in the Faculty of Education and the Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research at the University of Hong Kong. He obtained his B.A. and M.Phil. degrees in the University of Hong Kong, and his Ph.D in the University of Nottingham. He has been providing professional and consultancy services to a number of both international and local organizations, including the Ministry of Education, Singapore, and the Ministry of Education and Youth, the Macau SAR Government, and the Manpower Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government. He has published more than 45 books and 110 research articles. He is the Associate Editor of the “Educational Research Journal” and the “L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature”. His research interests are reading literacy, science of learning, Chinese language education and teaching Chinese as a second language. Chi-kin Chow is the principal of Sacred Heart Canossian School and the former principal of Canossa Primary School (2002–2009). He was conferred the degree of B.Ed. and Ph.D. (Sport Psychology) from The University of Hong Kong, in 1996 and in 2003 respectively. Besides his engagement as a school leader, he currently serves various positions at the Education Bureau (Chairperson of Curriculum Development Council Committee on Physical Education; Qualified School Reviewer of Quality Assurance Department) and other local higher institutions (Guest Lecturer at The Hong Kong Institute of Education for the module of Lesson Study (Physical Education); Need Assessor for the Needs Analysis for Aspiring Principals at The Hong Kong Baptist University). His research interests include teaching practices, teacher professionalism, sport psychology and physical education. Recently Dr Chow’s proposal of the Pilot Scheme on e-Learning in Schools (a 3-million Hong Kong dollar project) is selected and approved by the Information Technology in Education Section of the Education Bureau, from which research and innovative pedagogical practices using technology are expected to be disseminated in local schools.