Nurturing Critical Minds: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Education and the Workforce
Nurturing Critical Minds: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Education and the Workforce
We are delighted to invite you to our upcoming international conference on “Nurturing Critical Minds: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Education and the Workforce”. The conference is interdisciplinary, it will cover a diverse range of fields and perspectives on the development of critical thinking skills in different academic fields at universities and labour market institutions. Showcasing the holistic approach, the conference aims to explore the vital role of critical thinking in diverse academic disciplines and its significance in the ever-evolving landscape of labour market institutions.
The conference aims to bridge the gap between universities and labour market institutions, fostering a culture of critical thinking that thrives in the classroom and enhances professional growth in the workplace. This conference will serve as a platform for educators, researchers, and labour market professionals from diverse fields to explore innovative strategies, and share best practices and collaborate on integrating critical thinking skills into educational curricula.
Keynote speakers
Alistair Starling
Co-Founder and Managing Director of the European Diplomats
Luís Sebastião
Associate Professor in the Department of Pedagogy and Education, Director of the Center for Research in Education and Psychology, University of Évora
Dimitris Pnevmatikos
Professor in the Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Western Macedonia
Erika Vaiginienė
Associate professor in the Department of Business, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vilnius University
Inga Jončienė
Head of Business Development at Alliance for Recruitment
Adam Mastandrea
Assistant Professor in the Department of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, Institute of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University
Daiva Penkauskienė
Director of Modern Didactics Center, Associate Professor in the Institute of Educational Sciences and Social Work, Mykolas Romeris University
Sandra Kairė
Associate Professor, Director of the Institute of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University
Kay Hemmerling
Dr Kay Hemmerling, Chairman at the Institute for Moral-Democratic Competence (IMDC e.V.)
Programme
Programme
Katherine Ruprecht
Culturally Responsive Approaches to Teaching Information Literacy to Secondary and University Students in an AI-Accessible World
Culturally Responsive Approaches to Teaching Information Literacy to Secondary and University Students in an AI-Accessible World
Katherine Ruprecht
Paul-Valéry Montpellier III University/ LIRDEF, France
How do educators in different countries teach information literacy to secondary and university students in a world where artificial intelligence is now widely accessible? Information Literacy as defined by the American Library Association is, “a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning.”
Since 2020, I have been investigating questions of how information literacy is taught across different cultures and school systems. However, since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, and consequently other similar platforms, educators are at a crossroads of how to continue to teach all aspects of information literacy to students and how to encourage them especially to avoid plagiarism (a cornerstone of information literacy education). This research aims to collect and share ideas and strategies offered by educators in the field to communicate with others as a community of practice. According to the University of Florida’s Center Lastinger Center for Learning, “A Community of Practice is a group of individuals who share a common goal and passion or profession striving to improve practices or outcomes.”
This research draws upon the surveys of 15 educators across Bulgaria, Romania and the U.S. to identify strategies they use or might use in their schools or universities to teach information literacy in culturally responsive ways in an environment where students now have full access to platforms such as ChatGPT. Montgomery (2001) states that culturally responsive classrooms recognize the existence of culturally diverse students and the need to find relevant connections among themselves and with the subject matter. Survey participants not only agree to complete the survey, but also to share their responses and contact information with other participants in order to form a community of practice.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Information Literacy, Secondary Education, Tertiary Education, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
References:
ALA. (2017, February 7). Information Literacy. Welcome to ALA’s Literacy Clearinghouse. https://literacy.ala.org/information-literacy/
Karadjova-Kozhuharova, K. G. (2021). Culturally Grounded Approaches to Information Literacy Understanding.
Montgomery, W. (2001). Creating Culturally Responsive, Inclusive Classrooms. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 33(4), 4–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/004005990103300401
University of Florida. CoP Beginner’s Toolkit | Lastinger Center for Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2024, from https://lastinger.center.ufl.edu/cop-beginners-toolkit/
Biography:
Katherine Ruprecht is a doctoral Student/Education Sciences/ Paul-Valéry Montpellier III University (LIRDEF), France. She is a fourth-year doctoral student at the interdisciplinary research laboratory, LIRDEF in Montpellier, France. Her research interests include how information literacy is taught in cross-cultural contexts and developing communities of practice among educators from different countries. She is a former Fulbright grantee to Bulgaria and Romania (2021-2022) and she is a licensed secondary school teacher and school librarian in the United States. She often draws upon her own experiences as a classroom teacher to inform her applied approach to research in education.
