Welcome!
This website has been designed to provide you with an introduction to I-LEARN, developed by Dr. Delia Neuman in 2011. I-LEARN is a learning model to support students in the research and critical thinking process. The model provides a framework to help students learn through using information.
This website tab, Introduction, provides information to you as an educator, researcher, school/library media specialist, or librarian interested in using the I-LEARN model, including:
The remaining tabs of this guide serve as an example for how the model has been put into practice previously. These tabs correspond to each element of the I-LEARN model, pictured on the right.
Neuman, D. (2011). Learning in information-rich environments: I-LEARN and the construction of knowledge in the 21st century. New York: Springer.
The book has been updated:
Neuman, D., Tecce DeCarlo, M.J., Lee, V.J., Greenwell, S., and Grant, A. (2019). Learning in Information-Rich Environments: I-LEARN and the Construction of Knowledge from Information. New York: Springer.
For questions or comments about this site, contact Stacey Greenwell at the University of Kentucky Libraries.
After years of collaboration between the fields of instructional design and library and information science, the I-LEARN model is built upon information science and instructional design theory and practice. The model is a learning model which could be applied in a variety of situations focused in nearly any subject.
In addition to its strong theoretical foundation from the fields of instructional design and library and information science, what also sets the I-LEARN model apart is that its core is information, the building block of all learning, and the model is focused primarily on information use.
Constructing Knowledge in the 21st Century: I-LEARN and Using Information as a Tool for Learning provides a brief overview of the theory behind the model.
Recursive and flexible, the I-LEARN model can be used in any information setting. The model includes six elements:
An initial experimental study (Greenwell, 2013) examined whether information literacy skills instruction designed using the I-LEARN model increased student understanding and application of information literacy concepts as compared to how librarians currently provide information literacy skills instruction. While I-LEARN was developed with K-12 in mind, the initial study of implementing the model was conducted in a required composition course for first year undergraduate students at a mid-sized public university. The experimental group received an instruction session and an online library research guide designed using the I-LEARN model, and the control group received an instruction session and an online library guide designed using a systems model.
Participants in the study who completed a survey found the instruction to be valuable and a good use of class time. Participants reported that they found the library research guide to be useful, and based upon hits to the guide and self reporting of usage, it appears that most participants used the guide for their assignment. While the analysis of the results of pre- and post-test scores and scores on a citation analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups, it appears that those who received the I-LEARN instruction performed at least as well on their assignments. Additionally, students who received the I-LEARN instruction used their research guide more often than students who received the standard instruction.
Greenwell, S. (2016). Using the I-LEARN Model for Information Literacy Instruction. Journal of Information Literacy10(1), 67-85.
Greenwell, S. (2014). Using the I-LEARN Model to design information literacy Instruction (pp. 400-407). In S. Kurbanoglu, S. Spiranec, E. Grassian, D. Mizrachi, & R. Catts (Eds.). Information Literacy: Lifelong Learning and Digital Citizenship in the 21st Century. New York: Springer.
Greenwell, S. (2013). Using the I-LEARN Model for Information Literacy Instruction: An Experimental Study (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://uknowledge.uky.edu/edc_etds/6
Research related to I-LEARN. Publications and presentations are listed by most recent: