Siyao Cheng’s Preliminary Exam
PhD student Siyao Cheng will present her dissertation proposal, "Enhancing U.S. Undergraduates’ Copyright Literacy with a Learner-centric Pedagogical Tool." Her preliminary examination committee includes Associate Professor Melissa G. Ocepek (Chair), Associate Professor Sara R. Benson, Professor Michael B. Twidale, and Professor Tomas A Lipinski (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).
Abstract
Copyright is an everyday legal framework embedded in undergraduate students’ everyday, academic, and professional lives; their copyright literacy is pivotal to ethically and legally interacting with copyrighted materials they routinely encounter. Previous research has demonstrated undergraduates’ notable lack of copyright literacy, foregrounding the need for proper and comprehensive copyright education among this particular group of students. Presently, academic librarians already teach the tenets of information literacy to undergraduates from diverse majors and backgrounds; by extension, they are those most often expected to provide copyright instruction as well. However, previous research also indicates that many librarians lack comprehensive training to meet these expectations, and experience a lack of confidence to do so, accordingly. The proposed research aims to improve this situation by offering practical, ready-to-use lesson plans that help academic librarians build confidence and be poised to teach this important topic, both to themselves and their student patrons. The heart of this dissertation is to empower academic librarians to confidently offer relevant and effective copyright instruction to any and all undergraduate students. From there, undergraduates can acquire a competent level of copyright literacy, enabling them to make informed decisions when navigating copyright issues in college and beyond.
Questions? Contact Siyao Cheng.