Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

Regardless of one’s academic discipline or the courses that we teach, college faculty members share a responsibility to prepare our students for success in our courses and academic programs, their professional careers, and ultimately, for life in general. While this is a seemingly formidable challenge, it is one that we, as members of the teaching profession, are called to embrace and achieve.

Scientific research has changed, now being largely conducted in collaborative teams. However, undergraduate student training has not necessarily kept pace with these changes. In order to work effectively in collaborative settings, students need to develop not only the technical skills related to their discipline, but also communication and interpersonal skills needed to work in teams. Nora J. Casson reports on research which proposes a model for explicitly teaching collaborative skills, while engaging students in meaningful scientific research. Skills such as managing data from multiple collaborators or giving and receiving feedback via file-sharing platforms should be taught as explicitly as traditional skills such as how to use a pipette or how to formulate a hypothesis.