Stimulated Recall and Mental Models: Tools for Teaching and Learning Computer Information Literacy

This book details a funded study of the mental models of six United States and four Australian teacher-librarians. It analyzes and compares their espoused (before), in-action (during), and reflective (after) models while they were teaching two students--in one-on-one sessions--how to use a computer information database resource. The authors discover the what, how, and why of teacher-librarians' thinking, beliefs, and images (i.e. their mental models) as delineated through their verbalizations and actions before, during, and after each of two lessons. The authors also demonstrate the ways and extent to which stimulated recall methods can inform our understanding of teaching with electronic computer databases, and thereby prove a useful tool, not just for researchers, but also for teachers who want to discover more about their teaching and what their students were thinking.