Hidden Vegetables:

A collaborative approach to

embedding information and academic

literacies in the curriculum

Lucy CarrollSubject Librarian (Sciences)

Alison McEnteeEffective Learning Tutor

The Hidden Vegetables

‘The hidden vegetables refer to the policy drivers, like graduate attributes and employability skills, that are already present in the curriculum. They are initially hidden from students, but if they stay hidden, students don’t understand them or realise their significance for their learning and development.

When hiding vegetables in children's food, we delight in telling them, after the fact, that they’ve eaten something that was good for them. So we explicitly tell students;

“here’s what we’ve just taught you, and here’s how it will help you develop as a graduate”.

The embedded sessions add colour and flavour to their learning, and encourage them to engage with the ‘vegetables’ in the future!’

‘Generic’ PDP sessionsDates Times & Rooms Session LecturersWeek 1 Monday 12-1, R101

Lecture: Introduction to PDP Alison McEntee,

Neil Pitcher

Week 2 Monday 12-1, 2-4 in ICT orTuesday 3-5 in ICT

Computer lab: ePortfolios.This is an informal hands-on session. Turn up at any of these time slots, the session should take you about 40 minutes.

Neil Pitcher, Richard Thacker, Alison McEntee

Week 3 Monday 12-1, R101

Lecture: Academic Writing Alison McEntee

Week 4 Monday 12-1, R101

Lecture: Library Skills

Lucy Carroll

Week 12 Monday 1130-1230, R101

Lecture: PDP summary, exam skills, “What Next?” Evaluation

Richard Thacker, Alison McEntee, Neil Pitcher

A New ApproachPDP as ‘being and becoming’ a scientist; a focus on the process of PDP as it relates to subject learning, and students development as a science graduate:

Trimester one• Generic PDP sessions delivered alongside cells and molecules lectures• Linked to tutorial on academic writing relating to specific essay question and session on referencing

and plagiarism

Trimester two• Direct input into scientific investigation module• Lectures on literature searching for case study; group work and writing a case study report; and

poster presentations• Lecture on reflective writing for e-portfolio

Assessment

Graduate Attributes

StudentHEA

Employability Profiles

UWSGraduate Attributes

SCQF/Learning Outcomes PDP/

ePortfolio

Assessment

Assessment

Essay

Graduate Attributes

StudentHEA

Employability Profiles

UWSGraduate Attributes

SCQF/Learning Outcomes PDP/

ePortfolio

Assessment

Assessment

Essay

Graduate Attributes

StudentHEA

Employability Profiles

UWSGraduate Attributes

SCQF/Learning Outcomes PDP/

ePortfolio

Assessment

Assessment

Essay

Graduate Attributes

StudentHEA

Employability Profiles

UWSGraduate Attributes

SCQF/Learning Outcomes PDP/

ePortfolio

Assessment

Assessment

Academic Literacies

• Literacies as social practice (Lea and Street 1998, 2004).

• Writing in Higher Education ‘involves new ways of knowing; new ways of understanding, interpreting and organising knowledge’ (Lea and Street 1998, p.158).

• Writing as ‘usefully problematic’; writing to learn and learning to write (Britton 1982, p.94).

Class sessions

Class sessions

The hidden vegetables

= Academic Literacies

Information literacy“Information literacy is knowing when and why you need

information; where to find it; and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner.” (CILIP, 2013).

“Knowing when and why you need information” –

exploring the essay question

“Where to find information“– finding information for essays & finding literature for a case

study

“How to evaluate, use and communicate information in an ethical manner “– how & why should you reference &

how to avoid plagiarism

Class content

• “The average temperature in winter is lower than in summer.”– Established fact, wouldn’t need a reference.

• “The coldest temperature ever recorded in the UK is -27.2°C”– Stating a specific fact that isn’t widely known,

would need a reference for this.• “It rains more on the west coast of Scotland

than the east coast of Scotland.”– Making a claim, would need evidence (e.g. records

of rainfall reported in a text book) to back this up. Needs a reference.

UWS CoRE Referencing Toolkit

The hidden vegetables

= Information/Digital Literacy

Assessment Data

•10 % increase in students from 2011-12 to 2012-13•23 % improvement in average module mark•15 % increase in pass rate after resit•86 % increase in PDP mark and 64 % increase in PDP engagement

Impact of the New Approach •Enhanced module metrics

•Explicit contextualised approach to PDP – student awareness of reflection

•Student engagement in the PDP process – improved feedback

•Building on trimester 1 to produce a solid Level 7 platform for integrated growth

•Improved quality of output (writing skills, referencing, information literacy, presentation skills)

The way forward

• Programme based development

• Learning objects at all programme levels Support for ‘vertical’ student development

• Embedding of Academic literacies Digital and information literacy Policy drivers embedded as learning processes

• Will inform curriculum development and module assessment

• Joint working between academics and support services

ReferencesChartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (2004) Information Literacy: definition. [Online] Available: http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/advocacy/information-literacy/pages/definition.aspx [Accessed: 14 June 2013].

Higher Education Academy (2007) Student Employability profiles, A guide. [Online] Available: http://www-new2.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/employability/Employability_profiles_print_pdf [Accessed 20 August 2013].

Lea, Mary R. (2004) Academic literacies: a pedagogy for course design. Studies in Higher Education. Vol.29(6), pp. 739-756.

Lea, Mary R. and Street, Brian V.(1998) Student writing in higher education: An academic literacies approach. Studies in Higher Education. Vol.23(2), pp. 157-172.

Britton, J. and Pradl, G. (ed.) (1982) Prospect and retrospect: Selected essays of James Britton. London: Heinemann.

Questions, comments, reflections…

Lucy CarrollSubject Librarian (Sciences)University of the West of ScotlandPaisleyPA1 2BETel : 0141 849 4116Email : lucy.carroll@uws.ac.uk

Alison McEnteeEffective Learning TutorUniversity of the West of ScotlandPaisleyPA1 2BETel : Email : alison.mcentee@uws.ac.uk