Publication Type

Presentation

Publication Date

10-2016

Abstract

Thispresentation will showcase recent collaborative efforts by faculty and thelibrarian to develop an effective information literacy (IL) course and anassessment plan to measure the learning outcomes. The author collaborated withthe School of Information Systems (SIS) to design a hands-on IL course todevelop research skills in first-year students taking the IS101 (InformationSystems Management) course. Some questions surfaced during the program review.What is the impact and value? Are the students really learning? Answers tothose questions led to transformations of the IL course and assessment.CourseDesignEmbedding IL skills in the schoolcurriculum is the most effective way to deliver just-in-time courses. Beforedesigning the course the author and faculty analyzed the kinds of researchskills the students were lacking, improvements faculty wanted to see in the assignments,and the school learning outcomes. LIB101 was designed as a customized libraryIL course to introduce students to search skills and the library resources. The learning outcomes, activities, andassessments were developed based on the School Learning Outcomes Framework and thedetailed IS101 syllabus. LIB101 was taught in a hands-on format with activitiesand used a case study on a hot topic in the IT industry to teach students howto retrieve and evaluate information at an advanced level and use citations andreference lists. The presenter will highlight the value of the course syllabusand the School Learning Outcomes Framework in the effective course design.AssessmentDesignValue of an IL course cannot be simplymeasured based on conventional students’ feedback. The time and effort librariansspend in designing and delivering courses can be better justified through theimpact assessment. Impact assessment was introduced to measure whether learningoutcomes were achieved. Embedding IL assessment into assignment rubrics isprobably the most efficient and effective way. IS101 had two writtenassignments incorporating research components, group presentation andindividual written assignment. Group presentations required students to sharetheir research reference lists online before presentations. The librarian screened students’ referencelists and provided comments on the quality of resources and references to eachgroup. The comments were used by faculty to generate marks. Individual writtenassignments required students to use appropriate secondary sources and citethem appropriately. Two marks were allocated to assess the quality of researchand citations used in the written assignments. Students’ research skills wereevaluated in both assignments and the marks were shared with the librarian. Theimportance of incorporating marks in the rubrics will be highlighted as amotivation for the students to demonstrate transfer of learning.OutcomesFaculty support was the key successfactor throughout the course and assessment design. The inclusion of the ILcomponents in the assignment rubrics contributed to the successful delivery ofthe IL course. The author and faculty measured the impact of the IL course byassessing students’ assignments, resources and citations in particular. Significantimprovement in students’ research quality was noticed by faculty. Facultyvalued the customized IL course and was satisfied with the achievement oflearning outcomes. Students’ feedback collectively showed that the researchskills learnt were practical, relevant and helpful. This presentation willdemonstrate a consistent pattern that students who received better feedbackfrom the librarian on resources and citations delivered better presentations orproduced better written assignments. In conclusion suggestions will be offeredon how to make sure students learn and apply skills learnt to locate and citeresources.

Keywords

information literacy, assessment, collaboration, value, impact

Discipline

Information Literacy | Library and Information Science

Publication

European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL) 2016

Publisher

Idea Group Publishing

City or Country

The Fourth European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL)

Embargo Period

1-1-2000

Additional URL

http://ecil2016.ilconf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ECIL2016_BoA.pdf

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