QUALITY AND LIBRARY EDUCATION: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF LIS FACULTY CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF LIBRARY PROGRAM CURRICULUM

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Elizabeth Baker (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: This dissertation aimed to examine the perceptions of faculty about the curriculum taught in a Master's level degree library program. It was motivated by one research question: How do faculty in a Library and Information Studies (LIS) program in the United States conceptualize a quality library education? It utilized a two-part conceptual framework , particularly relying on the work of Harvey and colleagues (Harvey , 2001; Harvey & Green , 1993; Harvey & Newton , 2004; Stensaker & Harvey , 2010) in which they conceptualized quality in higher education as exceptionalism , perfectionism , fitness-for purpose , value-for-money , transformation , compliance , political or symbolic , employability , and accountability and Argyris and Schon (1992) in which theories-in-use are the actual beliefs and practices while espoused theories are the professed beliefs and practices of professionals. This study employed a phenomenological methodology , utilizing the lifeworld approach as conceptualized by Dahlberg , Dahlberg , and Nystrom (2008) , which stresses a whole-part-whole approach to data analysis. The study concluded that the faculty in the selected LIS program conceptualize a quality library education for their students as community building , student engagement , service , student learning , employability , and transformation. Thus , the faculty in this study identified only two of the nine elements of a quality education as conceptualized by Harvey and colleagues (Harvey , 2001; Harvey & Green , 1993; Harvey & Newton , 2004; Stensaker & Harvey , 2010). Using the study's findings as their theories-in-use and the program's learning outcomes as their espoused theories , it was determined that these two elements mostly match each other , with the exception of student engagement not explicitly appearing in their espoused theories.

Additional Information

Publication

Dissertation

Language: English

Date: 2019

Keywords

quality, LIS faculty, LIS education, LIS faculty perceptions, theories-in-use, phenomenology, Lifeworld approach

Subjects

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