Tag: Ethics
College educators have often lamented the unintended influence of standardized testing on students’ thinking skills. In my discipline, English, freshman instructors note that the short reading passages that appear on tests limit students’ ability to follow — or even finish reading — longer pieces. Worse, as National Council of Teachers of English has noted, the tests’ multiple choice format gives readers the impression that every text has one, and only one, definite meaning — no ambiguities, no multiple interpretations, no symbols, metaphors or extended themes. To come up with one-issue readings, tests feature non-fiction passages, even advertisements, while (to the dismay of most teachers and librarians) fiction is disappearing. With its disappearance goes creativity, open-mindedness, individual viewpoints and textual richness — in other words, higher order thinking.
Then, just last week, my own George Mason University (GMU) completed a mature draft of a brief but powerful document designed to reinstate innovative, complex thinking for undergrads. The university’s Students as Scholars initiative is encouraging creative research investigation at the undergraduate level rather than waiting — as was my own experience — until a grad student needs a topic for a master’s thesis.
True, even here the effect of standardized testing can be seen in the very fact that GMU feels it needs to specify student learning outcomes instead of allowing each professor to do his/her own thing in the name of academic freedom. However, the seven new SLO’s all derive from one core goal that is central to becoming an independent thinker: “Students will articulate and refine a question, problem or challenge.”
That one sentence sounds so simple, so obvious, so NOT like advanced thinking. But to implement it, all undergrads must grapple with complex issues like research ethics. They have to achieve something often difficult for adolescents: to tell the difference between their own beliefs and actual evidence, then take responsibility for their own results. Not only that, they learn ways to locate research-based versions of that evidence while staying on-topic and remaining objective. Then they practice communicating as upcoming professionals by sharing their findings with real people in their future fields. Students are urged to “be contributors to knowledge in your field, not just memorizers of facts.” In other words, they train to become informed adults who can not only follow, but also create, complex arguments.
So I am encouraged as I get ready to implement these principles into my own instruction, starting next week. Creativity and resourcefulness have long been hallmarks of higher education in America, drawing both native and international students here in ever-increasing numbers. With emphases like George Mason’s, we are ready to fully educate them.
Joyce Johnston teaches at George Mason University and has been writing and speaking on digital intellectual property and virtual instruction for more than 20 years. As a non-librarian, but a proud member of the Virginia Association of School Librarians, she has provided updates on intellectual property at its annual conference for the past 10 years and serves on the Executive Committee for the World Conference on Educational Media and Technology (aka EdMedia).
Turning Undergrads into Independent Learners
College educators have often lamented the unintended influence of standardized testing on students’ thinking skills. In my discipline, English, freshman instructors note that the short reading passages appearing on tests have limited students’ ability to follow—or even finish reading—longer pieces. Worse, as NCTE has noted, the tests’ multiple choice format gives readers the impression that every text has one, and only one, definite meaning.
SCI-HUB AS CRIMINAL: A PUBLISHER’S VIEW
My previous posting explored the phenomenon of Sci-Hub, a site dedicated to providing free access to more than 50 million academic papers without regard to their ownership status or to copyright laws. This post looks at the legal issues involved, in contrast to the previous post’s articulation of the argument for open access.
OIF and Intellectual Freedom in Orlando
ALA’s 2016 Annual Conference is in Orlando, FL and the Office for Intellectual Freedom will be there staffing the different committee meetings and programs.
Committee meetings and programs are open to any attendee, and are often a good way to learn about the business of ALA and its intellectual freedom initiatives.
Ethics and Intellectual Freedom
By Dustin Fife I was lucky enough to watch Martin Garnar present at a library conference last week. He presented about library ethics and intellectual freedom. Martin is dean of […]
What Can YOU Do?
“I’m so sorry you’re going through this.” “I’m here if you need to talk.” “Don’t read the comments.” “How can I help?” “What do you need?” A close friend of […]
OIF and Intellectual Freedom at Midwinter
ALA’s Midwinter Meeting is in Boston and the Office for Intellectual Freedom will be there staffing the different committee meetings and programs. OIF meetings are open to any attendee, and are often a good way to learn about the business of ALA and Intellectual Freedom.
OIF webcasts now available for purchase
In 2011, OIF presented two series of webinars – Intellectual Freedom Summer School and Intellectual Freedom across the Globe – that were recorded and are now available for purchase. To […]
Intellectual Freedom 101, this Friday at ALA Conference
We invite all those who are new to ALA’s Annual Conference, to librarianship, to ALA itself, or to the world of Intellectual Freedom to attend the following session: Intellectual Freedom […]