Site overview

The site also provides case-studies designed to provide guidance for instructors on how others have successfully incorporated these specific materials in their classes. These case-studies follow the cognitive flexibility theory of Spiro's that I chose to use. I chose it in part because I have a very specific and narrow audience, which works with the theory: "The theory also asserts that effective learning is context-dependent, so instruction needs to be very specific."

Overview of cognitive-flexibility theory:
Cognitive flexibility theory focuses on the nature of learning in complex and ill-structured domains. Spiro & Jehng (1990, p. 165) state: "By cognitive flexibility, we mean the ability to spontaneously restructure one's knowledge, in many ways, in adaptive response to radically changing situational demands...This is a function of both the way knowledge is represented (e.g., along multiple rather single conceptual dimensions) and the processes that operate on those mental representations (e.g., processes of schema assembly rather than intact schema retrieval)."
The theory is largely concerned with transfer of knowledge and skills beyond their initial learning situation. For this reason, emphasis is placed upon the presentation of information from multiple perspectives and use of many case studies that present diverse examples. The theory also asserts that effective learning is context-dependent, so instruction needs to be very specific. In addition, the theory stresses the importance of constructed knowledge; learners must be given an opportunity to develop their own representations of information in order to properly learn. from: http://tip.psychology.org/spiro.html

The principles of this theory were employed in the site:

1. Learning activities must provide multiple representations of content. (each section will have video; learning guides; PDF's; HTML pages, etc)

2. Instructional materials should avoid oversimplifying the content domain and support context-dependent knowledge. (All material will be specific to writing in the humanities and social sciences, hence it is context-dependent, and will be detailed. It is separated by three categories: find, manage, and deliver, which also places it in a library specific context)

3. Instruction should be case-based and emphasize knowledge construction, not transmission of information. (The case studies will provide examples of use of tools in class, but will not prescribe a set structure or path)

4. Knowledge sources should be highly interconnected rather than compartmentalized. (There is a lot of back and forth linking to materials on the site, and the user will always be able to access additional information in other formats, etc)

The site has three sections from which to choose materials. Listed below are the sections and the materials within each section from which to choose.