Disruptive Partnerships:

Faculty at Purdue University's School of Information Studies have developed pedagogical approaches aiming to disrupt traditional power dynamics, centering students’ voices in the construction of learning experiences. The paper describes three educational programs developed at Purdue leveraging a students as partners (SaP) approach, where faculty and students co-design learning experiences. The programs include: 1) Students Partners for Information Research and Literacy (SPIRaL), a two-semester undergraduate research program in which students investigate societal information challenges, 2) Partners for Algorithmic Literacy (PAL), a six-week program in which partners integrate artificial intelligence into coursework, and 3) Information Studies Research Accelerator (ISRA), a first-year living-learning community introducing students to information studies research. Existing and ongoing studies are underway to examine learning benefits of pedagogical partnership in information studies curricula. Partnership in course design is a promising avenue for LIS educators to begin decolonizing classroom hierarchies, creating curricula shaped by students’ lives.