Information Literacy Faculty Workshop (April 13, 2010)
Monica Gordon Pershey, Ed.D., CCC-SLP
m.pershey@csuohio.edu
SPH 497: Senior Capstone Portfolio

Course is designed to help undergraduate students become facile users of information
o Opportunity to use a variety of information access tools; seek, evaluate, and
manage information gathered from multiple sources

In the context of an inquiry project, students address American Library Association
information literacy standards and performance indicators:
o Investigate the scope, content, and organization of information retrieval systems
o Select efficient and effective approaches for accessing retrieval systems
o Identify keywords, synonyms and related terms

Students embarking on careers in speech-language pathology enter Master’s degree
programs; careers in audiology require the Doctor of Audiology degree

Participants in SPH 497 identify an area of inquiry that will be relevant to their future
professions, but specifically not about clinical practice. Capstone introduces
professional issues that impact upon practice. Per our accrediting body, the
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), students must learn about:
o Legal, Ethical, Multicultural, and Governmental Policy Issues
o Research Methods and Evidence-Based Clinical Practice
o Contemporary Professional Issues

Students prepare a portfolio that reflects their engagement in the process of using and
evaluating information sources:
o Focus on information searching techniques (e.g., portals)
o Develop sound investigative methods
o Evaluate information sources critically (authorship, credibility)
o Identify the audience for resources (popular vs. scholarly)
o Differentiate primary and secondary sources
o Identify the value of resources in a variety of formats (multimedia, database,
website, audio/visual, book)

Course Requirements: Students identify a topic and prepare a record of their search;
become an information manager
o Time Commitment: Search, read, and keep track of the search for no less than 3
hours per week using the Information Management Log
o Complete the Information Management Journal
o Complete the Evaluation of Quality of Information Sources form for 8 sources
o Report back to the group on assigned dates to share highlights, offer ideas and
pointers, and help us all become better information managers
o Final 3-page reflection on the search: Describe how the search contributed to
knowledge of Legal, Ethical, Multicultural, and Governmental Policy Issues,
Research Methods and Evidence-Based Clinical Practice, and/or Contemporary
Professional Issues
o Identify 4 to 8 sources that are of significant quality to be placed on the CSU
Library’s Health Sciences Portal

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): Systematic reflection on teaching and
learning
o Research methods include interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, surveys,
observational research, and case studies