Information+Model

=__Information Model__ =

The information model that best represents the needs of teachers is the model by Leckie, Pettigrew, and Sylvain (1996), which represents the information seeking behavior of professionals and work-related processes. Work roles and tasks are the prime motivators for seeking, and prior experience and familiarity with a source influence information seeking (Case, 2007, p. 127).

Applying the model to teachers, their work role is that of an educator-one who disseminates and enumerates information. Because of this role, teachers are charged with the tasks of first understanding the subject and topic and then creating lesson plans based on curricula that aligns to state standards and pedagogy to deliver instruction to their students and foster student learning. Teachers seek information based upon the characteristics of their information need, e.g., a teacher has to teach a 7th grade biology lesson on parts of the plant and needs diagrams and more visual representation. Based upon the outcome of their search, teachers may be satisfied with their results and end their search, or continue the search until they locate the desired information. During information seeking, they may become aware of new information sources or content, and may return to these sources when a future information need arises. Additionally, their initial search might lead to a supplemental search e.g., a search for a diagram of the specific plant used in a class experiment.

Source: Case, D. (2007). //Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs, and Behavior//. 2nd Ed.San Diego: Academic Press.