Exploring Local Level Factors Shaping the Implementation of a Blended Learning Module for Information and Geospatial Literacy in Ontario

Michelle M. Vine, Catherine Chiappetta-Swanson, John Maclachlan, Jason Brodeur, Julianne Bagg
2016 Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning  
The objectives of this research study were to examine local level factors shaping the implementation of a blended pedagogical approach for geospatial-and information-literacy, and to understand implementer satisfaction. As such, we addressed the following research questions: What local-level factors shape the implementation of the blended learning model? and How satisfied are implementers (faculty, administrators and library instructional/support staff) with the new blended learning model for
more » ... ospatial and information fluency? Focus groups (n=7) plus one interview (total n=22) were conducted with key stakeholders (e.g., staff, faculty, administrators) to better understand facilitators, barriers, and/or issues related to module development, in addition to perceptions about how the modules are utilized by teaching assistants (TAs), instructional assistants (IAs), and instructors. Participants were identified according to their status as either disciplinespecific instructional staff (i.e., instructor, TA, IA) or staff who supported the development of modules (i.e., library instructional staff, library management, administrators). From an ontological standpoint that privileges an individual perspective on the nature of reality, while epistemologically seeking to understand the relationship between the "knower" and what can be known, we adopted a theory of constructivism to support this inquiry. Transcripts were imported into a qualitative analysis software package (NVivo 8.0) for organization, coding and analysis.
doi:10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2016.2.9 fatcat:hey76tnbc5ezvcr7sdjx2xn6ha