Had an Aha! moment at the gym today. There was something that had been niggling at me and in fact, MArk Flinn had asked the question too. How does the tutorial manage to meet the needs of different levels and audiences? I was uneasy about this having been spending a lot of time reading about the information literacy competencies and the novice to expert continuum. Evidence is that it does work at different levels but I could not explain why and this is something we might be asked again in the future.
The tutorial works for people who are novices or experts at their subject and information literacy because: the content is a logical progression through the information literacy competencies.
Subject/Info lit novices are supported throughout the tutorial by the structure, content, context, guided searches, animations. Guided searches become more demanding and compelx as the tutorial progresses. The reflective activities are written to encourage users to relate their own (no-subject) experience to the activities.
Subject experts/info lit novices are supported in the same way, however, they are able to relate the material they are provided with to what they already know about the subject and the research process. I would envisage that these users would use the tutorial in a more tailored, focussed way that fills the gaps in their understanding. The reflective activities are crucial as a means of articulating the connections they were making.
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