Intentional Edutainment:A Pedagogically and Theatrically Sound

Approach to Information Literacy Instruction

Joshua Vossler & John WattsCoastal Carolina University

Who the #$%& are We?

Josh Dislikes

• Twilight

• Pants

John Fears

• Going to the gym

• Dying alone

Purpose

• Argue the importance of entertainment• Provide a basic formula for generating

entertaining content using self-disclosure• Suggest methods for assessing students’

emotional states

Breakout

Turn to someone next to you and share with them at least one thing you hate, and one

thing you fear.

…and now, a short video on learning domains.

Theory

• Higher education emphasizes the cognitive.• So where does motivation come from?• Authority is not a useful motivation.• Knowledge is useless if not applied.

Theory

• Too much of a good thing.• There’s a play named I Hate Hamlet for a

reason.• Library instruction is not special.

Boolean Logic

Hating LibrariesAND

LibrariansOR

Information LiteracyNOT

Jersey Shore

What to do?

Be more entertaining

The Affective Continuum

IGNORANCE

RECEIVING

RESPONDING

VALUING

ORGANIZATION

CHARACTERIZATION BY A VALUE COMPLEX

Humor

Humor Funny

Practice

Walmart

BreakoutMatch your fears or hatreds with an information literacy concept

• Search Strategies• Narrowing Topics• Locating Books• Getting Help• Selecting Appropriate Sources• The Information Cycle• Evaluating Sources• Citation• Other/your choice

Dos and Don’ts of Affective Assessment

• Don’t use this to evaluate students. • Do communicate to students that their replies

will not be factored into their grades. • Don’t freak out if your results point in scary

directions. • Do use these data for self-reflection and

revision of instructional materials.

Dos and Don’ts Continued

• Don’t ask general questions.• Do ask students to report their emotional

states in relation to specific events or concepts• Don’t ask a bunch of questions. It wastes time

and splits your focus.

Assessment Example

Did you enjoy the humor in this video? YesNo

Assessment Examples

I enjoyed the way the instructor explained _____________

strongly agreeagreeneutral disagreestrongly disagree

Assessment Examples

I enjoyed the instructor’s self introductionstrongly agreeagreeneutraldisagreestrongly disagree

Problems?

The instructors’ introduction was:

Questions?