Trine Schreiber

Conceptualizing students’ written assignments in the context of information literacy and Schatzki's practice theory

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the ways to practice the written assignment in a university setting in the context of information literacy and in perspective of Schatzkis practice theory. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on both a qualitative in-depth study involving individual interviews with students from higher education and the practice theoretical perspective. Findings – By analyzing informants’ negotiations of the “acceptable” way to perform the written assignment practice, a configuration of the particular practice has been made. In perspective of Schatzkis practice theory, a study into information literacy involves focussing on the changing character of the activities performing the practice in question. In this paper the changing character is analyzed by comparing the configuration of the written assignment practice with a description of the genre of scientific articles. The paper draws the conclusion that the configuration consists of both regular and irreg...

Information Literacy, Mobile Technologies and Study Practices

Mobile technologies including mobile phones comprise a growing area of research attention with respect to young people´s digital technology use. In this field of research, a central question is how the mobile practices intersect with study practices, and what kind of new literacy practices the intersection may involve. In March 2012 two focus group interviews were carried out with 8 students from higher education in each group. The aim of the study was to examine whether and how the intersection of the two practices mentioned may create dilemmas for students in their study practices. In this case, literacy practices are understood as the students´ negotiations of the ´acceptable´ way to perform mobile practice as part of their study practices. The results indicate two kinds of new literacy practices involving mobile phones: a ´collaborative practice´ and a ´knowledge enabling practice´.