Information Literacy in the First Year:
Collaborating, Planning and
Assessing at Austin Peay
Ms. Lori Buchanan, Instructional Services Librarian and Professor,
Ms. Gina Garber, Digital Services Librarian and Assistant Professor,
and Dr. Susan Calovini, Professor of English
Austin Peay State University
Integrating Freshman Level Information Literacy
Librarians were involved from the beginning in the planning and
implementation of the first-year experience program.
Collaboration between librarians and other members of the
University Community was crucial in achieving the integration of
information literacy outcomes into the first-year curriculum.
Formative assessment of information literacy learning outcomes
occurred in the first-year course, APSU 1000.
Instructor/Librarian surveys & focus groups were used to gather
information regarding the information literacy instruction.
Teaching Information Literacy in APSU 1000:
An English Professor’s Perspective
Bridging the Campus Divide
APSU 1000 ----------- Information Literacy --------------- APSU
Planners:
Component
Faculty:
“Student
Success”
Goals
“Academic
Success”
Goals
The APSU 1000 Information Literacy Goal
is to prepare students so that all faculty may expect
them to be able to
•use the Library Website http://library.apsu.edu/ and the
physical library as a gateway to high quality, academic
information sources,
•begin to search library databases effectively (Boolean
operators, keyword searching, truncation),
•begin to evaluate and select sources appropriate for
college-level work, and
•cite sources in different styles, paraphrase
correctly, and avoid plagiarism.
Sections Summary
Quiz Responses
Librarian Reports
Select a section below to see the quiz report for that section
View Librarian Section Report
View Librarian's All Sections Report
Quiz Responses
Professor Reports
Select a section below to see the quiz report for that section
View Professor Section Report
View All Sections Professor Report
LILT Dynamic Quiz Database Report System
built by Aaron Dobbs, APSU
How do we use the LILT quiz results?
• to determine library instruction content specific to each
APSU 1000 section
• to make future modification of LILT content
• to further collaborative efforts between librarians and
instructors to insure that students become information
literate
• to provide evidence that we are systematically assessing
student learning outcomes and using the results to
improve teaching and learning
What do the LILT Quiz Results Tell Us? – one example
Every information source that presents a single
viewpoint on an issue (e.g., the American Cancer
Society website’s view on smoking) is biased, that is, it
promotes support for a particular viewpoint. [True or
False] - Question 8, Module 5
771 correct responses; 77% of the total participants
IL Standard 3 (Critical evaluation of information and its
sources), Outcome: The information literate student
demonstrates an understanding that information in any
format reflects/supports a point of view and may be
designed to trigger emotions.
Critically Evaluating Websites
Active Learning
Select a topic and find several websites to share with students. The
selected websites should 1) cover opposing viewpoints on the issue, 2)
contain at least one very authoritative site (Congressional Research
Service web pages), and 3)contain an obviously unsuitable source of
information for an academic paper or speech.
Have students break into groups to discuss which websites are suitable for
academic work and discuss why. The point of the exercise is to help
students determine the criteria for selecting high quality, academic sources
to use in their college work.
Reinforce important evaluation criteria points by using the A-B-C webpage
at http://library.apsu.edu/guides/1_1_13.htm and the evaluation examples
at http://library.apsu.edu/guides/1_1_13.htm.
Example Websites for Gun Control
If You Don’t Kill It & Grill It, Who Will? Says Ted Nugent
Issue Brief for Congress received through the CRS Web –
Gun Control Legislation in the 108th Congress
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, “Mr. President, You
Broke Your Promise”
National Rifle Association-ILA, “The Top 10 Reasons The
Clinton Gun Ban Should Expire”
If You Don't Kill It & Grill It, Who Will?
Buy Now
Buy Now
Source: Gun Control Legislation in the 108th
Congress (Congressional Research Service)
Source: The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Website
excerpt from the “About Us” page:
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) emerged from
the civil rights movement in the early 1970s and pushes a
progressive agenda to reduce firearm death and injury. We
were founded on the principle of collaboration, meaning
that we work closely with other organizations to achieve our
common goals.
Source: National Rifle Association Website
Who We Are, And What We Do
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action
(ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association
of America. ILA is committed to preserving the right of all
law-abiding individuals to purchase, possess and use
firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the
Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
What else do the LILT quiz results tell us?
You can avoid plagiarizing by: [select the correct response or
responses] - Question 4, Module 6
461 correct responses; 57% of the total participants
IL Standard 5 (Ethical use of information), Outcome: The
information literate student demonstrates an understanding of
what constitutes plagiarism and does not represent work
attributable to others as his/her own.
IL Standard 4 (Effective use of information to accomplish
purpose), Outcome: The information literate student
integrates the new and prior information, including quotations
and paraphrasings, in a manner that supports the purposes of
the product or performance.
What else do the LILT quiz results tell us?
The statement “Information is selected through a
review process: best describes information found:
[select the correct response] -Question 2b, Module 1
1620 correct responses; 78% of the total participants
IL Standard 1 (Identifies types and formats of
information), Outcome: The information literate
student knows how information is formally and
informally produced, organized, and disseminated.
What else do the LILT quiz results tell us?
Using the connector AND broadens your search; you
will get more records back. [True or False] - Question 9,
Module 2
1307 correct responses; 75% of the total participants
IL Standard 2 (Accesses information effectively and
efficiently), Outcome: The information literate
demonstrates an understanding of the concept of
Boolean logic and constructs a search statement using
Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).
What else do the LILT quiz results tell us?
Which of the following is a good use of the “Invisible
Web” (web sources that libraries buy and deliver)?
[select the correct response or responses] Question 4, Module 5
811 correct responses; 80% of the participants
IL Standard 5 (Economic, legal, and social issues
surrounding the use of information), Outcome: The
information literate student describes differences
between sources available on the “Public Web” and
in the Library.
Course Assessment: Instructor & Librarian Surveys
(Instructor Completion Rate = 37 of 44; Librarian Completion Rate = 12 of 12)
Instruction deemed most helpful to students by the instructors (#s):
•
•
•
•
•
Using search strategy techniques (e.g., Boolean operators) 24
Using the Library as a gateway to quality academic sources 22
Citing, paraphrasing, and avoiding plagiarism 20
Evaluating and selecting appropriate sources for college work 16
Taking the Felix 9 Lives Self-Guided Tour/Librarian-led tour 13
__________________________________
Instruction deemed most helpful to students by the librarians (#s):
9 yes, 3 maybe Library as a gateway
9 yes, 3 maybe Search strategy techniques
8 yes, 4 maybe Felix 9 Lives Self-Guided Tour/Librarian-led tour
8 yes, 3 maybe, 1 no Citing, paraphrasing, avoiding plagiarism
6 yes, 6 maybe Evaluating and selecting sources
Course Assessment: Instructor & Librarian Surveys
• How many library sessions should be included in APSU 1000:
One – 8 instructors
One – 1 librarian
Two or more - 29 instructors
Two or more - 11 librarians
• Use of LILT in future APSU classes:
Instructors
Librarians
26 YES
12 YES
11 Maybe
• Collaborated with librarian or instructor in front of the students
YES 19 instructors
NO 18 instructors
YES
NO
6 librarians
6 librarians
Course Assessment: Instructor & Librarian Surveys
Instructor interest in collaboration with librarians in discipline
area:
YES 25
Maybe 10
No 1
Co-creation of library-related assignments for a class
YES 18
MAYBE 14
No 2
Collaboration on a classroom presentation
YES 23
Maybe 9
No 4
Development of a web page
Yes 7
MAYBE 16
NO 10
Construction of a web tutorial
Yes 8
MAYBE 15
NO 11
When asked if they thought that library
instruction improved quality of career profile
paper, APSU 1000 instructors said
0%
Yes
Maybe
No
41%
59%
Created by Nancy Snyder
Did library instruction lay a good foundation in
library use for later academic success? APSU
1000 instructors responded that
3%
11%
Students learned a
great deal
Time will tell
48%
Not sure
38%
Created by Nancy Snyder
Students already
possessed
Can faculty now expect students to find/use
high quality information? APSU 1000
instructors responded
8%
27%
Definitely Yes
Yes
No
65%
Created by Nancy Snyder
APSU 1000 Instructor/Librarian Focus Group Results
• LILT (Library Information Literacy Tutorial):
helpful introduction to the library; should be required of all students;
instructors should become familiar with LILT content and they should
hold students accountable for it
• Library Research and Essay Assignment (Career Profile):
important to the APSU 1000 course; provides students with an
opportunity to practice library skills that they can transfer to other
situations; modify the assignment into a journal format or call it a
“report” so that students understand that research is required
• LICR (Library Instruction and Computer Room):
all library instruction sessions need to occur here, because 1)
students need to enter the Library, 2) the needed instructional
technology is consistently available, and 3) it provides comfort
zone for the librarians
from the APSU First-Year Experience Student Survey:
APSU 1000 helped me to improve my ability to use
the APSU library effectively.
Not at all
18%
Significantly
35%
Somewhat
47%
Conclusions
• Librarians and instructors should collaborate to make
sure that students gain information literacy knowledge,
skills, and values that will prepare them to succeed both
academically and in life.
• Assessment should be included in the course planning
process and the results used to improve instruction.
• Once an information literacy foundation is laid at the
freshman level, librarians and instructors should work
together to see that more advanced information literacy
outcomes are addressed and become articulated across
the curriculum.
Thank you for attending today!
QUESTIONS?