Co-teaching in the digital information era: Comprehending the role of information and technology literacy in the sciences

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates two university professors’ co-teaching partnership in teaching college students (48 certificate completers) over five semesters (8, 3 credit-hour courses). Data were collected from student records, student and professor course material artifacts, and student surveys to investigate the role of information and technology literacy in the sciences. The courses were a significant part of a three-year research project, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: Information, Technology, and Scientific Literacy for ALL Learners (STEM-ALL), funded by a Laura Bush 21st Century Library Program grant from the Institute of Museums and Library Services. Teacher-effectiveness was viewed through the theoretical lens of intensity of effort by the two co-teaching university professors and their students’ achievement by analyzing 22 learning outcomes assessed 187 times in 58 assignments in four, three-credit hours courses (12 credit hours) for Group A (23 students) and Group B (25 students). Because physical sciences expertise was one-half and library and information science was the other half of the co-teaching collaboration in the STEM-ALL project, this study builds interdisciplinary educational theory relevant in both the area of science teacher education and library and information science education. Study findings revealed high levels of student achievement, which support the Dow and Thompson (2017) intensity of effort theory of coteaching and confirms Dresang’s (1999, 2005) and Dresang’s and Koh’s (2009) theory of Radical Change with evidence of connectivity, interactivity, and access of use of digital information across all aspects of the STEM-ALL program.