Course Description
This course will introduce faculty to the principles and concepts of information literacy and emphasize the importance of teaching these skills to our students through a systematic program. Assessments, readings, discussions and in-class activities will cover the following topics: the relationship between information literacy and critical thinking, the importance of assessing information literacy skills, combating plagiarism, and creating effective library research assignments allowing students to use their skills across disciplines. Faculty will also have an opportunity to update their research skills using online catalogs, online article databases, and the Internet. On completion of the class, administrators, faculty and adjuncts will receive a certificate of completion.
Objectives
This course will:
- Introduce the principles and concepts of information literacy.
- Introduce basic information literacy theoretical models and standards.
- Demonstrate the connection between critical thinking skills and information literacy skills.
- Familiarize faculty with the Gangwish Library’s Information Literacy Instruction Program.
- Explain the roles and responsibilities of discipline faculty and librarians in teaching information literacy.
- Provide a forum for discussion of some of the faculty’s concerns and challenges regarding the teaching information literacy skills courses and teaching discipline specific information literacy in their own disciplines and courses.
- Update research skills primarily with online resources applying basic online searching concepts and techniques to library catalogs, databases and to the Internet.
- Introduce basic concepts and ideas surrounding information ethics e.g. copyright, anti-plagiarism.
- Introduce some common assessment techniques for information literacy and provide an opportunity to develop one assessment tool for an assignment.
- Showcase and model student information literacy final projects.
Learning Outcomes
The faculty will:
- Articulate the principles and concepts of information literacy.
- Know how the electronic information age has changed how information is structured and accessed.
- Know why an understanding of information ethics is important to students.
- Know what the Gangwish Library’s Information Literacy Course offers its students.
- Understand the respective roles of the librarian and the professors in collaboration to improve student acquisition of information literacy concepts and skills across disciplines.
- Conduct effective and efficient searches of the Library’s online catalog and online databases through the use of common searching concepts and techniques through in-class exercises.
- Conduct basic and advanced searches in Google Scholar and search engines on the Internet using common search concepts and techniques and experience internet source evaluation techniques taught in the class.
- Experience information literacy assessment and understand how information literacy assessment tools are utilized with students.
- Learn about current successful information literacy projects completed by students.
