Disruptive Partnerships: Collaborating with Students to Create Empowering Learning Experiences in Information Studies

Synthesis: Faculty at Purdue University's School of Information Studies employ a Pedagogical Partnerships (Students as Partners) approach to co-design learning experiences with students, disrupting traditional top-down power dynamics in Higher Ed. The paper documents three programs — SPIRaL, PAL (Partners for Algorithmic Literacy), and ISRA — each repositioning students as collaborators rather than consumers of expert knowledge. PAL is a direct alternative to deficit-based narratives about student misuse of generative AI, co-producing AI course policies, AI-integrated group projects, and specialized chatbots. Grounded in Cook-Sather's values of respect, reciprocity, and responsibility, the work links Pedagogical Partnerships to decolonizing and Critical Thinking-oriented critical pedagogy and critical information literacy.

Background and Framework

Fostering learner Motivation and Agency is a central educator goal, yet academic systems often preserve traditional faculty-centered hierarchies. Purdue's School of Information Studies — an arm of Purdue Libraries serving all disciplines rather than training future information professionals — adopted a Students as Partners (SaP) pedagogy to give students a voice in constructing their own Student Experience. SaP centers on developing authentic, caring, and complex relationships between faculty and students, built on the core values of respect, reciprocity, and responsibility (Cook-Sather et al., 2014). Partnership does not demand students become pedagogy experts nor faculty surrender all control; instead it emphasizes complementary roles — faculty as disciplinary experts and guides, students as experts in their own learning.

The approach shares roots in critical, Indigenous, and decolonial pedagogies that aim to dismantle colonial structures in education by rejecting one-sided decision-making and honoring multiple ways of knowing. This aligns with critical information literacy (CIL), building on the praxis of Paulo Freire and bell hooks. By redefining the Teacher Role and rebalancing power, SaP provides an entry point for LIS educators to begin decolonizing classroom hierarchies.

SPIRaL: Undergraduate Research Partnership

SPIRaL (Students Partners for Information Research and Literacy) is a two-semester undergraduate research program where students investigate societal information challenges. Co-designed in 2022-23 by faculty, a graduate student, and an undergraduate, the program treats students as full research partners who make decisions shaping project outcomes — selecting study participants, coding transcripts, analyzing data, and presenting findings at Purdue's undergraduate research conference. Cohorts have examined topics such as social media algorithms and democratic participation, information challenges facing student journalists, and information use in climate change conversations. Analysis of student reflections shows learners initially equated AI Literacy-adjacent information literacy with source evaluation, then moved toward viewing it as a layered scholarly phenomenon essential for Agency and responsible information use.

PAL: Partners for Algorithmic Literacy

The disruptive wake of ChatGPT left many faculty speculating about how to prevent unethical student use — conversations that rarely included students. Partners for Algorithmic Literacy (PAL) was created as a direct alternative to deficit-based narratives about student misuse of Generative AI. It is a six-week student-faculty learning community, facilitated by academic librarians, where undergraduates and faculty co-design teaching strategies to integrate or interrogate AI, making students active decision-makers about AI in courses. Deliverables include co-designed AI course policies, AI-integrated group projects, and specialized chatbots to support disciplinary Critical Thinking. Thematic analysis of deliverables reveals that, beyond innovative curricular outcomes, participants report a deepened sense of connection and shared decision-making about learning with AI. PAL exemplifies Equity In AI Education by treating students as partners in Learning Design rather than risks to be policed.

ISRA: Whole-Class Co-design

ISRA (Information Studies Research Accelerator) is a redesigned first-year living-learning community introducing students to information studies research. Faculty applied SaP principles to restructure the yearlong program around whole-class co-design, which Bovill (2020) suggests may be the most equitable form of partnership because it allows broad participation. During the first week, students and faculty co-design course goals and policies, revisiting them throughout the term. Evaluation relies on individual reflective self-assessment rather than final products, with students grading themselves and their groups using personal goals, team goals, and a shared rubric. This structure combines faculty expertise with students' expertise in their own learning, supporting Self Regulated Learning and Motivation.

Implications for Practice

The authors acknowledge that disrupting power structures is difficult, requiring Trust-building and time, and that valuable outcomes often cannot be planned. They offer practical guidance: start with a small-scope pilot project; lean into existing institutional infrastructure such as faculty development programs or student employees; leverage cross-campus partnerships (especially given libraries' interdisciplinary work); and recognize that shared understanding across disciplines can foster clarity and Creativity in Curriculum Design. Partnership offers benefits to both students and faculty, cultivating increasingly self-directed learning and mutual understanding.

Connected Concepts

• Pedagogical Partnerships
• AI Literacy
• Agency
• Teacher Role
• Higher Ed
• Learning Design
• Curriculum Design
• Equity In AI Education
• Student Engagement
• Generative AI
• Critical Thinking
• Self Regulated Learning

Connected Articles

• Guided Inquiry GenAI Course Policy 2026 — GenAI Course Policy Through Guided Inquiry
• Student Centered GenAI Responsible Framework 2026 — Student-Centered GenAI Responsible Framework
• Institutional Change Framework AI — Institutional Change Framework for AI
• Panciroli AI Literacy Episodes Situated Learning — AI Literacy Episodes in Situated Learning
• Kofinas Generative AI Authentic Assessment Integrity 2025 — GenAI Authentic Assessment and Integrity

Citation

Maybee, C., LeGrand, S., & Fundator, R. (2025). Disruptive Partnerships: Collaborating with Students to Create Empowering Learning Experiences in Information Studies. ALISE 2025 Juried Paper.