The Context of Authority and Sociological Knowledge: An Experiential Learning Project

Abstract

In this innovative project, a social sciences librarian partnered with a sociology professor to embed the "Authority is Constructed and Contextual" frame into an upper-division sociology of poverty course. Students in this course participated in an experiential learning project, collaborating with local children on a participatory photo mapping project to document the children's neighborhood. By working directly with community members in this field experience, the students gained an understanding of the differences between scholarly authority and community authority and what can be learned about poverty from each type of source. Engagement with a local community provides students with a direct understanding of the contextual nature of cognitive authority and can be replicated in a variety of settings.

Close Look at the Concept of Authority in Information Literacy

“…Writers who take the constructionist view often do so as a way of upholding voices that are historically marginalized in academics. For example, Waity and Crowe (2019) describe a project for a course on poverty in which college students interacted with children from the local community. In doing the project, "students learned about forms of cognitive authority and knowledge situated within a community versus traditional scholarly authority, and that both types of authority have different kinds of validity, depending on context" (p. 64).…”

Community College STEM Faculty and the ACRL Framework: A Pilot Study

“…Regardless of the debate on whether the Framework can be implemented at the associate level (i.e., community college level), the literature on this topic has stressed the value of collaboration between librarians and faculty on the interpretation and implementation of IL skills based on the Framework (Click et al, 2021;Dawes, 2019;Devine et al, 2021;Waity & Crowe, 2019). Studies have also placed an emphasis on the importance of faculty's roles in integrating the Framework (Barr et al, 2020;Dawes, 2019;Russo, 2017).…”

Исследовательский Фотомэппинг: Обсуждение Метода

“…Так, в недавнем ирландском исследовании ПФМ применялся для изучения пищевого поведения 11-12-летних школьниц, обеспечивая «сбор данных, демонстрирующих рациональное знание пищи детьми, разноуровневые инсайты, проникновение в сенсорный опыт и знания сообщества» [Fernández, Kitching, Horgan, 2021: 545]. Если далее углубляться в сферу образования, то ПФМ имеет хороший потенциал и в качестве учебного приема [Waity, Crowe, 2019].…”