Kristi Mansolf
Information and Society
Libr 200-10
Spring 2005
Journal Article Report
Learning-Centered Libraries:
Implications from Research
Stripling, B. Learning-Center Libraries: Implications from Research. School
Library Media Quarterly, Volume 23, Number 3, Spring, 1995. Retrieved from
Management
Barbara Stripling draws upon the research study of Judy M. Pitts, entitled
Personal Understandings and Mental Models of Information: A Qualitative Study of
factors Associated with the Information Seeking and Use of Adolescents in her article.
Pitts discusses the role of the LibraryMediaCenter in conjunction with instructional
programs. Her conclusion was that the library programs must be based on learning and
not focused on the library. Stripling applies Pitts’ concepts to school libraries and
encourages rethinking library programs to make them learning centered.
Stripling further explores ways in which the school librarian can assist in the
research process. She first discusses what we know about learning from research
findings. Next, she considers how this impacts libraries. In conclusion, she considers
ways to ensure learning takes place.
Mental models are referred to in the article. Mental models are an individual’s
context or framework of the world. Each person has a unique mental model for
everything that can be perceived in the world.. Stripling says that for learning to take
place, a learner’s mental model changes as new ideas are incorporated into their
existing mental models, and they are restructured to form new mental models.
Stripling cites Pitts’ finding that “instruction is information seeking and use must
be integrated with content for subject matter learning to occur”. For learning to occur,
there has to be support on all aspects of learning for any one aspect of the learning to
occur.
Stripling describes the “Thoughtful Learning Cycle” as an effective learning
model. A linear model will lead to a resolved solution, which is not the desired result of
learning. Real learning occurs when students explore a topic, have more questions, and
explore the topic further. Learning is perpetuated by more learning, creating a cycle of
investigation, new ideas and understanding, and more investigation. Mental models are
restructured when learning takes place and former mental models are updated with new
ideas in a meaningful way.
Stripling describes learning as taking place through a structure of the following
four content areas: 1) need to know/concept and essential questions, 2) information, 3)
new understanding, and 4) assessment product. Occurring as the same time as the
learning through a structure of the content areas, are the three phases of the information
processes: 1) inquiry, 2) synthesis/decision-making, and 3) expressing.
The Thoughtful Learning Cycle encompasses the six levels of research described
by Pitts and Stripling, as follows:
-Fact Finding
-Asking/Searching
-Examining/Organizing
-Evaluating/Deliberating
-Integrating/Concluding
-Conceptualizing
In the Pitts’/Stripling model, reflection follows every stage.
The information-seeking behavior of children may not always seem logical to
adults. Children may appear to procrastinate in deciding on an area of study, perhaps
because they have no knowledge of the content. At the beginning of the inquiry process,
teachers and school librarians should encourage students to explore a subject area and
become familiar with it to find an aspect that interests them. Once a topic is narrowed
down to a specific area of study, teachers and the school librarian can help
students to further personalize the search and make personal connections. Students have
to discover for themselves why learning is important and should be guided to be actively
engaged in the inquiry process right from the start. As students find information, a good
intervention is to guide them in determining whether or not the information is relevant by
asking questions to gauge the student’s understanding of the information retrieved and
whether or not they find it to be relevant, and why. Students on their own often lose sight
of the goal of understanding what they learn. It is not the role of the teacher or school
librarian to take control of the inquiry process, but to facilitate the inquiry process so that
meaningful learning can occur. Teachers and school librarians can help students to see
the value of the inquiry process by enhancing the student understanding through
reflection and by asking more questions to help the student determine if the information
acquired makes sense. Rigid requirements often stifle student investigation and making
research tedious for the learner.
Stripling discusses how the Thoughtful Learning Cycle fits into education.
When focusing on an education goal, a needs assessment must be done first to
determine what knowledge students already have on the topic. By doing a needs
assessment, teachers can adapt the teaching of the topic to the students’ mental models.
Then teachers can plan what the student is to gain from studying the topic.
School librarians, aware of the curriculum and the educational goals, can guide
student research in the library, steering students toward the various aspects of the topic
that will most effectively achieve educational goals. Collaboration with the teacher to
familiarize school librarians with students’ mental models and the desired educational
outcomes, can provide the librarian with tools to better help the students in focusing their
inquiry.
Students have an important role in their own learning. In the process, they must
ascertain what they will gain from studying a topic. Students may look at the information
as the final result. Stripling discusses strategies that can assist in evaluating conclusions.
She indicates that research provides a basis for the concept that students must determine
how new knowledge has changed their mental model for real learning to occur.
Stripling concludes that school librarians should keep up with the research on how
learning takes place to effectively be the “process specialist”, working collaboratively
with the teacher, the “content specialist”, and the students, to more effectively achieve
true learning.
Stripling’s article makes a logical connection between the role of the school
librarian and education. Her ideas can be extended to public librarians who can also
benefit from an understanding of the importance of how learning takes place as they
assist people of all ages with their information needs. There are also implications for
finding the appropriate medium to best suit the patron’s information needs. All librarians
can benefit from keeping up with research on how learning takes place so that they can
adjust their own mental models, thus better serving patrons as libraries continue to evolve
in our information and technology rich society.
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