Bridging the Sophomore Gap:
A Developmental Model of
Information Literacy
Shawn Bethke, Head of Library Public Services
George Loveland, Library Director
Ferrum College, Stanley Library
The Problem: The Skills are the Content
What information is needed?
How do I access it efficiently?
How do I evaluate it?
How do I synthesize it into an artifact?
What are the economic, legal, and social
issues surrounding the information?
What information is needed?
How do I access it efficiently?
How do I evaluate it?
How do I synthesize it into an artifact?
What are the economic, legal, and social
issues surrounding the information?
The Solution: Librarian/ Faculty Collaboration
What information is needed?
How do I access it efficiently?
How do I evaluate it?
How do I synthesize it into an artifact?
What are the economic, legal, and social
issues surrounding the information?
How does a downturn in the economy impact
business ethics?
In what ways does an individual’s genetic
makeup contribute to autism?
How do cortisol levels differ between nonathletes and athletes?
Faculty Enrichment in Library Resources
Goals:
1. Identify the courses at Ferrum that
are heavily populated by sophomores
and the faculty who teach them.
Focus our efforts to integrate
information literacy skills on these
courses.
Faculty Enrichment in Library Resources
Goals:
2. Understand the faculty’s research
needs, in particular at the sophomore
level.
Faculty Enrichment in Library Resources
Goals:
3. Make faculty aware of library resources
and opportunities for bibliographic
instruction that address these identified
needs.
Faculty Enrichment in Library Resources
Goals:
4. Develop and deepen collaborative
relationships between teaching
faculty and librarian faculty.
Mini Summits by Academic Schools
• Natural Science and Mathematics
• Social Sciences
• Arts & Humanities
Mini-Summits: The Format
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Two hours each
Small group (3-5) discussion
Reported back to larger group
Facilitated large group discussion
Recorder for small groups and for
large groups
• Compiled the data by categories
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•
•
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Determine the extent of information needed
Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
Evaluate information and its sources critically
Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
Understand the economic, legal, and social issues
surrounding the use of information, and access and use
information ethically and legally
Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.
Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2000: 2-3
The question for discussion:
How can the library help integrate
these skills into your sophomorelevel courses in a way that supports
your goals and objectives?
Now it’s YOUR turn!
Ferrum College participant evaluations
INFORMATION LITERACY:
LEVEL I
• Freshman year.
• Includes the Gateway Seminar course,
typically taken in the fall semester
• Includes English 102,typically taken in
the spring.
INFORMATION LITERACY:
LEVEL II
• Sophomore year.
• Courses that students tend to take during
their sophomore year or first semester
junior as introduction to majors
INFORMATION LITERACY:
LEVEL III
• Junior and Senior years
• Students have achieved a C or better
in English 102, have declared a major,
and have successfully completed at
least one course in LEVEL II.
INFORMATION LITERACY:
LEVEL III (continued)
• Junior and Senior Seminars with
capstone projects
• “Writing Intensive” courses
• 300 and 400 level courses requiring a
working knowledge of research
methodologies and writing conventions
within specific disciplines
Information Literacy
Benchmarks
• Each ACRL information literacy
standard lists mastery goals for each
level
Determine the extent of information needed
LEVEL I:
All Gateway Seminar students will:
• Participate in a series of class discussions through which each student will identify a
problem and formulate a research question related to that problem that can be
investigated through library research.
• Articulate a hypothesis of what she expects the outcome of the research to be (what
she expects to find in answer to the question).
• Distinguish between a popular magazine and a scholarly journal by naming the
characteristics of each.
All English 102 students will:
• Formulate a research question that is broad enough to require multiple kinds of
sources yet specific enough to be thoroughly examined in a ten-page research
paper, as determined by the student’s English 102 instructor.
• Explain the differences in content, purpose, and validity between a popular
magazine and a scholarly journal.
Determine the extent of information needed
LEVEL II
• Begin with a general topic, and explore research updates,
such as specialized encyclopedias and research review
databases (i.e., Annual Reviews) for possible ways to focus
the topic.
• Construct a research question that is related to the research
in the field, but that has not yet been fully explored.
• Construct a reasonable hypothesis that addresses the
research question and modify the hypothesis based on
results of preliminary searches.
Determine the extent of information needed
LEVEL III
• Conduct an extensive search in multiple specialized
databases, print sources, archives that addresses a
research question.
• Design a study or novel thesis on the subject. Write the
literature review portion of a paper that places the novel
thesis or original study in the context of the literature.
• Integrate the results of the extensive search into a project
that addresses a problem or area where the research is
lacking. At this stage, students are contributing to the
literature of their field.
Next Steps:
Level III Mini-Summits
Updated Information Literacy
Benchmarks with what we find