Information Literacy John Jay College Kathy Killoran

Information Literacy @ John Jay College Kathy Killoran, Information Literacy Librarian Prepared for NYC Technical College workshop, January 12, 2006

Part 1: Information Literacy defined: n American Library Association: n Information Literacy is the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information. n Middle States Commission on Higher Education: n Information literacy is an intellectual framework for identifying, finding, understanding, evaluating and using information. Faculty may think of as the Research Process.

Information Literacy Goes far beyond library introduction and basic search skills Techno logy l ica ing rit k C in Th Sy n th Information Literacy Pr o So blem lvi ng on C ti nica u omm es is

ACRL Standards n Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (on web) n Association of College & Research Libraries n 6 broad standards n 3 -7 performance indicators for each standard n 2 -7 identified outcomes for each performance indicator n Middle States embraces these standards Librarians can use these standards when evaluating IL content of courses or working with faculty to integrate IL into their curricula.

ACRL IL Standards & Responsibility n Determine the nature & extent of info needed (Faculty, reinforced by Librarians) n Effectively accesses info sources (Librarians) n Critically evaluates info sources (Librarian & Faculty) n Critically evaluates info content (Faculty) n Use info to accomplish a purpose (Faculty) n Use info legally, ethically (Faculty primarily, Librarians reinforce) ACRL IL competencies, Middle States responsibilities

Information Literacy Movement in CUNY n Middle States Publication n Developing Research & Communication Skills (2003) n University Faculty Senate Committee n n Computer & information technology literacy Competencies for students & faculty, 2001 n Council of Chief Librarians n White Paper, 2001 n Chancellor’s Office - VP Mirrer n n Mandate to each campus’ Provost, 2002 Gen ED Project n LILAC committee established - Chief Libns – 2/05 n CUE funding includes IL - 2005

What Middles States Wants n Institutional IL plan detailing …. . n Strategy for how information literacy will be integrated into the curriculum n Especially into the general education requirements n Demonstrable competencies – building in complexity (learning goals & objectives) n Outcomes assessment throughout n At the program-level n Especially important in the senior year

A lot may be already underway! n Middles States suggested adoption of college definition of information literacy n Identify learning objectives n Curriculum mapping

Information Literacy Standards n Association of College & Research Libraries n Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (available on Web) n Middle states embraces these competencies!!

Middle States identifies 2 models of IL plans n Separate or Compartmentalized Model n Stand-alone course n n Unlikely that a single course can satisfy all of an institution’s IL goals Skills should be addressed & reinforced at various levels of sophistication throughout 4 yrs n Integrated or Distributed Model n Various courses address a core set of IL skills n May be blended into lower & upper-level courses. n Places IL into the context of the disciplines

Different IL models used in CUNY n Credit bearing course – so far not required course – Queens (1 credit), La. Guardia (3 credits), Baruch (8 – 3 credit courses) n Workshop approach – series of 5 workshops - 2 information literacy workshops required before a course-integrated library instruction course taught – Hostos n IL integrated into curriculum – new Lehman model – IL is targeted at certain courses: n n n ENG 110 -120 sequence LEH 300 -level core courses Faculty in other disciplines encouraged to re-engineer their courses to emphasize information literacy.

IL Plan - Institution specific n Multiple strategies can and should be employed! n Many campuses are using pilot programs to try out their IL strategies

Challenges in Designing IL Program n Large # of students at CUNY institutions n Creating strategies that will be scalable to reach all students n Administrative support – philosophically and monetarily, faculty development, ongoing! n Library cannot do it alone – College-wide issue!! n Fostering change n Faculty buy in – willingness to change what they do to incorporate some of these concepts, etc. n Incentives

Traditional One-shot Model of Library Instruction n Course Integrated – some courses targeted n One class session n Wide variation in student abilities n Too much material n No common skill set n No time for active learning exercises n Usually geared for a specific assignment n Librarian taught – varying quality n Conflict in goals between instructor and librarian n Not all students reached, some reached multiple times n Higher order IL skills can not be taught in a single session! n We know from the literature not effective

John Jay’s Evolution - small inroads n Taskforce on Information Literacy formed n n (2002) – response to VP Mirrer, Associate Provost, Faculty & Librarians n IL Librarian position – funded by student technology fee n IL Librarian – member of College Curriculum Committee n Additional support by Provost (team teaching) for courses incorporating critical thinking, intensive writing, & information literacy n New course proposal form – question on what information literacy skills will be learned/practiced in the course.

John Jay IL Draft Plan n Add instructional material to library’s Web page – have section for curricula aids, tutorials, handouts, etc. , currently creating Faculty Area of Web page n Survey ENG 101 students – self assessment n Develop module on evaluating information for SPE 113 classes (Beware Collaboration!) n Pilot project – 6 sections, using online tutorials, Blackboard n Revise ENG sequence to be information literacy-rich n n Students will practice research skills throughout these courses. Employ active learning techniques

Curriculum Integrated Approach n Target freshman year courses (composition, speech, FYI, FYE, learning communities) n Integrate into higher general education courses (CUNY gen ed project) n Partner with WAC efforts n Target gateway courses in majors & programs (criminal justice, psychology) n Capstone courses – focus groups of faculty to evaluate current IL competency of students, place for assessment?

Role librarians can play in an integrated model n IL plan development n Curriculum development n Faculty development n Workshop teacher/facilitator n Partner/Team teachers n Develop support materials for faculty n Design/Develop online tutorials n Design/Develop exercises & assignments

IL Toolkit What is library willing to do to support campus IL efforts? n BI n Workshops? Standardized & customized? n Faculty development – workshops, partnering, meet n n n w/faculty on IL learning obj. Assignment design – workshops & individual, web content sharing successful IL assign. Credit course development Team teaching Web content, tutorials, handouts, blackboard support, etc. Done by department liaisons?

Blackboard presence Over 3 thousand hits Since October 2005 Ask your blackboard administrator! Strategies to increase blackboard presence

Part 2: Making IL connections with Administrators &Faculty n Librarians on committees n Identify relevant parties to target n Cultivate global view of IL n Cultivate relationships with administrators (provost, deans), faculty (chairs, senate? ), & student support services (tutors, writing center, ESL, peer mentors, etc. ) n Know what library is willing to do n Relate IL to college initiatives – assessment, CPE, FYE, Pre-law, forensic science, etc.

Part 3: Librarian development: Preparing for new roles n Dedicate funds n Attend conferences – ACRL, LOEX, Web casts, bring in speakers n Class in learning theory, curriculum design n Develop expertise in: n n n Educational jargon Writing learning objectives Creating assignments Curriculum mapping Active learning strategies Read literature of discipline, WAC, pedagogical journal in field.

Part 4: Revision of JJ Composition Sequence ENG 101 & 102

Part 4: Assessment & IL Ideas & Possibilities

Hook IL to College Initiatives n What do accrediting bodies want in assessing information literacy? n What do professional organizations require? n Libns should know their discipline’s prof. orgs – APA Undergraduate Psychology Learning Goals & Outcomes (http: //www. apa. org/ed/pcue/taskforcereport. pdf) n A librarian linked these to the ACRL IL standards (http: //www. lawrence. edu/fast/revieg/acminfolit/apa. html) n How can IL help with retention, graduation, student success, CPE

Where to assess? n Course-level – Nassau CC n Capstone in majors – build it in to overall assessment n Target samples in general ed courses as part or separate from general assessment n Target samples from freshman courses n BI classes

Assessment n Standardized instruments being developed n Project SAILS – Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills – beta-test n Developed @ Kent State – Lehman will use n Allow for comparisons with “like” institutions n Also looking to develop discipline specific assessments, n Information Competency Assessment Project -Bay Area (Ca) CCs n Tied into the ACRL standards Assessment at varying times of the undergraduate experience! – Freshman level & upper level n

Standardized tests con’t n Information & Communications Technology Literacy Assessment Educational Testing Service (ETS) – n n Developed w/consultation from librarians, Ilene Rockman. $25 per student

Other assessment strategies n Research journals, metacognitive approaches n Annotated bibliographies n Quality of sources in bibliographies of papers, etc. n IL questions and tasks incorporated into course exams n Exercises reinforcing learned experiences n Student receives a grade on the expected IL outcomes, incorporated into course grade n Rubrics n Portfolio assessment (LG – rubrics) n Many more I’m sure ……

Assessing the library’s contribution to information literacy n n n Difficult challenge BI assessment – minute surveys, evaluations How does reference service contribute to IL? Satisfaction surveys (indirect measure) Assessing quality of teaching in BI classes

Questions?

English 101 Student Survey n Surveyed about 1, 700 students n Received over 1, 000 responses n Interim results – 625 responses First place students look for info Internet Search Engine Ask instructor Textbook Library catalog Ask a librarian 64% 11% 7% 6% 5% How to narrow a Web search Add another appropriate search term Enclose search phrase in quotes Inappropriate response 36% 5% 53%

Writing Ability Rate writing ability Not confident Somewhat confident Very confident 6% 68% 26% Writing – Essays Not confident Somewhat confident Very confident 5% 54% 42% Writing – Research Paper Not confident Somewhat confident Very confident 7% 59% 35%

Citing Sources When and How to Cite (same results) Not confident Somewhat confident Very confident 18% 64% 18% How many papers that included a bibliography in last year? None 1 2 -3 4 or more 10% 13% 40% 37% Amount of pages in longest paper 1 -2 pages 3 -5 pages 6 -10 pages over 10 pages 5% 46% 32% 16%