The i-map research project: work in progress

This article asserts that the process of information gathering and handling has shifted in a digital information environment. These shifts pose new challenges for students in evaluating and using information which has implications for the way these skills are taught and assessed. In turn, this has triggered a critique of the conventional academic essay for its exclusively written form which focuses on a narrow range of communication skills and disadvantages some students. Given these concerns, this article reports a new approach to assessment developed in the Faculty of Art and Design called the i-map (short for information map) which can be used in conjunction with the essay to document the enquiry process. Its key features are described and survey findings are considered. These include the need for information literacy skills in the curriculum, its use in counteracting plagiarism and how the i-map enables a fairer assessment of some students’ learning experiences and capabilities.