Aims and Objectives

Educators have always been challenged to prepare students to live and work effectively in this digital transformation information age. Moreover, the current curriculum entails proactive, collaborative and higher order learning. And hence, teaching information literacy has become an important agenda in most school curriculum.

In view of the above, the school library is no longer just a place to provide students with access to resources. Apart from preparing students to evaluate the information sources, teacher-librarian teaches and equips students to be effective and critical users of information.

The UCCKE library program, providing students structured learning sessions on library and information skills, has instilled in students and teachers alike the awareness of the importance of information literacy in our younger generation and the need of a well-planned program to help students develop information literacy in a systematic way.

Students who have attended the program are expected to develop the habits of reading for learning; become effective users of library resources and information in general; develop problem solving, collaboration and communication skills which facilitate active knowledge construction; and become independent information seekers and life-long self-directed learners.

Curriculum

The UCCKE Library Program, supported with AI-assisted research guidance, aims to empower students to become confident and self-sufficient in navigating the vast information landscape, preparing them for success in their academic pursuits and fostering a lifelong appreciation for information literacy. Each 20-min library teaching session covers various basic information skills; discussion of the skills is tied in closely with what the students are doing in their classrooms so they can apply the acquired skills to enhance their studies across the curriculum.

S.1 & 2 Library Curriculum Outline

• Library Orientation
• Library Book Classification & Book Search
• Introduction to School-subscribed eResources
• Effective Use of eResources
• Seven Reading Strategies
• Critical Reading in Humanities
• Reading to Learn in Science
• Information & Artificial Intelligence Literacy
• Prompt Engineering and Cross-Reference Checking Skills
• Ethical Dimensions of AI
• Big 6 Research Skills
• Effective Internet Search
• Critical Analysis & Evaluation of Information Sources
• Digital Citizenship
• Media Literacy
• Plagiarism & Bibliography

*Additional topics will be introduced when the need arises.

Assessment / Activities

Value-added benefits accrue when the teachers and teacher-librarian collaborate to plan, implement and evaluate a student learning experience together. In order to ensure that students have an opportunity to apply the skills they learn in the library program, on top of the regular project-based assignments given by individual subject teachers across the curriculum, special reading activities/ assignments and mini-research projects are planned by the teacher-librarian with the subject teachers and implemented after certain skills have been taught. For example, right after the Big 6 Skills Research Model has been taught, a research-based assignment is planned with subject teachers in which students have to look for information from various sources in order to complete the tasks; students are guided through what they have to do in each of the six stages in the research model.

Library initiated school-wide programs, like Book Week, are launched in which students of different forms will have chances to apply the skills learned in the library program. While the theme of each year Book Week is different, it tries to support the school major academic concern of the year, and the main purpose of which is to promote information literacy to the whole school community with entertaining and stimulating activities. And S.1 Reading Circles is implemented as part of the English curriculum in which all S.1 students are involved. While exploring the fun of reading, students are assigned different tasks to prepare and present in the weekly meetings; some tasks involve students to prepare questions for further investigation or research.