Amanda Nichols Hess, "Information Literacy and Critical Thinking: Using Perspective Transformation to Break Information Bubbles" (ALA, 2025)

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Dec 21, 2025

Amanda Nichols Hess, an instructional coordinator at Oakland University, dives into the transformative impact of education on critical thinking and information literacy. She explores Jack Mezirow's transformative learning theory and how it helps break information bubbles. Amanda shares her personal journey into librarianship, tackling the emotional responses tied to perspective changes. She elucidates the ten phases of transformation and emphasizes the importance of reflection and community in fostering meaningful educational experiences.

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INSIGHT

Transformative Learning As A Lens

Transformative learning links librarians' teaching identity with broader professional change.
Amanda Nichols Hess frames it as a tool to examine who librarians are as educators.

ANECDOTE

Career Pivot From K-12 To Academic Libraries

Amanda describes moving from K-12 school libraries into academic librarianship after job loss.
She found academic work let her focus on teaching and instructional design at Oakland University.

INSIGHT

How Adults Change Deep Beliefs

Mesirov's transformative learning centers on adults questioning ingrained beliefs after disorienting experiences.
The theory explains why people can change deeply held assumptions through structured reflection.

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Higher education is about transformation: research shows that the most well-prepared graduates are those who have experienced changes in how they think about and experience the world around them. Combined with flexible information-seeking and evaluation skills, learning ways to break information bubbles is essential for dealing with today's challenging, complex information environment. Jack Mezirow's transformative learning theory, which frames how adults think about and interact with the world around them, offers a way forward. In Information Literacy and Critical Thinking: Using Perspective Transformation to Break Information Bubbles (2025, ALA) Amanda Nichols Hess invites academic librarians to consider critical librarianship, pedagogy, and information literacy instruction in tandem with transformative learning theory, demonstrating tangible ways to integrate these concepts into their practice. Readers will discover an overview of critical library pedagogy and transformative learning theory, showing how reflection and action lie at the core of both ideas; in-depth exploration of the ten phases of the perspective transformation process and how they relate to key facets of critical librarianship, critical pedagogy, and critical information literacy; important theoretical and research viewpoints that elucidate perspective transformation; real-world scenarios modelling how one's own praxis can support learners; and a myriad of ideas, reflection questions, opportunities for action, and additional resources to spur readers to look beyond their own information bubbles and facilitate environments where learners can do the same.

Guest: Amanda Nichols Hess, PhD, is the coordinator of instruction and research help at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. She holds a PhD in educational leadership, an education specialist certificate in instructional technology, and a Master of Science in information. Amanda’s research focuses on information literacy, instructional design, online learning, and the intersections of these topics—particularly in library-centric professional learning. Her work has been published in College & Research Libraries, Communications in Information Literacy, Journal of Academic Librarianship, and portal: Libraries and the Academy, among other venues. In addition to editing and authoring books for ACRL and ALA Editions, Amanda also authored Transforming Academic Library Instruction (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019).

Host: Dr. Michael LaMagna is the Information Literacy Program & Library Services Coordinator and Professor of Library Services at Delaware County Community College.

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