Information Literacy  Tags: il information_literacy qep  

The framework for the Library’s Information Literacy Program curriculum is the North Georgia College & State University’s Information Literacy Standards and Learning Outcomes. This document was adopted from Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education by the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL). This ACRL document was endorsed by the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) and other higher education organizations, and was incorporated by numerous disciplinary and accrediting associations.

Librarians use this Information Literacy Course Worksheet & Assessment Plan to plan and assess instruction.

Well designed course-related library assignments introduce students to research and provide an excellent active learning opportunity. Looking for a fresh approach to research assignments? Your liaison librarian can provide suggestions.

There are a few considerations when evaluating or developing research assignments:

 

Goals – Have you stated your research goals to the class and in course materials? What specific library resources and services do you want students to understand and access? What information literacy outcomes do want to achieve?

 

Skills – Do students have the necessary research skills for this assignment? Familiarity with surfing the internet does not readily translate into understanding the intricacies of research and the sophistication of databases.

 

Focus - Break the research process down into steps such as finding encyclopedias for background information, finding articles, evaluating articles or web pages, or citing sources. Consider a sequence of short assignments focusing on one particular reference book, database, or skill.

 

Resources – Are the resources needed for this assignment readily available? Periodically do the assignment yourself to gauge the library’s resources and services. Let us know what you discover and we will address gaps. Remind students that GIL Express and Interlibrary Loan are vast and free resources, but only useful when they plan ahead.

 

Explicit - Be specific in what you want the students to do. If you want them to use scholarly articles, teach them to distinguish between a scholarly journal and a popular magazine. Direct them to specific databases by title. Telling students to find articles in GALILEO is not specific enough and your results will be disappointing.

 

Provoke Thought - Create assignments that push students to think deeply about the information they are retrieving. Talk to them about specific criteria for evaluating resources—and ask them to defend their information sources, or rank their works cited list by importance.

 

Deep Learning - In order to make “sustained, substantial and positive influence on how students think, act, and feel” (Bain 5) information literacy must be integrated into the curriculum with multiple opportunities to practice outcomes and skills.

 

With as little as a 7 day lead-time, librarians can provide instruction—lectures, activities and written materials, geared specifically to your course and assignment. Contact your liaison librarian.

 

Adapted from:
Bain, Ken. What the Best College Teachers Do. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004.