Information Literacy @ John Jay College

Kathy Killoran, Information Literacy Librarian

Prepared for NYC Technical College workshop, January 12, 2006

January 12, 2006

Part 1: Information Literacy defined:

American Library Association: Information Literacy is the set of skills needed

to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information.

Middle States Commission on Higher Education: Information literacy is an intellectual

framework for identifying, finding, understanding, evaluating and using information.

Faculty may think of as the Research Process.

InformationInformationLiteracyLiteracy

Technology

Critical

Thinking Synthesis

ProblemSolving

Communication

Information Literacy

Goes far beyond library introduction and basic search skills

ACRL Standards

Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (on web)

Association of College & Research Libraries 6 broad standards 3-7 performance indicators for each standard 2-7 identified outcomes for each performance

indicator 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

Determine the nature & extent of info needed (Faculty, reinforced by Librarians)

Effectively accesses info sources (Librarians)

Critically evaluates info sources (Librarian & Faculty)

Critically evaluates info content (Faculty) Use info to accomplish a purpose (Faculty) Use info legally, ethically (Faculty primarily,

Librarians reinforce)

ACRL IL competencies, Middle States responsibilities

Information Literacy Movement in CUNY

Middle States Publication Developing Research & Communication Skills (2003)

University Faculty Senate Committee Computer & information technology literacy Competencies for students & faculty, 2001

Council of Chief Librarians White Paper, 2001

Chancellor’s Office - VP Mirrer Mandate to each campus’ Provost, 2002 Gen ED Project

LILAC committee established - Chief Libns – 2/05 CUE funding includes IL - 2005

What Middles States Wants

Institutional IL plan detailing …..

Strategy for how information literacy will be integrated into the curriculum Especially into the general education requirements

Demonstrable competencies – building in complexity (learning goals & objectives)

Outcomes assessment throughout At the program-level Especially important in the senior year

A lot may be already underway!

Middles States suggested adoption of college definition of information literacy

Identify learning objectives Curriculum mapping

Information Literacy Standards

Association of College & Research Libraries

Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (available on Web)

Middle states embraces these competencies!!

Middle States identifies 2 models of IL plans

Separate or Compartmentalized Model Stand-alone course

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

Integrated or Distributed Model Various courses address a core set of IL skills May be blended into lower & upper-level

courses. Places IL into the context of the disciplines

Different IL models used in CUNY Credit bearing course – so far not required course –

Queens (1 credit), LaGuardia (3 credits), Baruch (8 – 3 credit courses)

Workshop approach – series of 5 workshops - 2 information literacy workshops required before a course-integrated library instruction course taught – Hostos

IL integrated into curriculum – new Lehman model – IL is targeted at certain courses: 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

Multiple strategies can and should be employed!

Many campuses are using pilot programs to try out their IL strategies

Challenges in Designing IL Program

Large # of students at CUNY institutions Creating strategies that will be scalable to

reach all students Administrative support – philosophically and

monetarily, faculty development, ongoing! Library cannot do it alone – College-wide issue!! Fostering change Faculty buy in – willingness to change what they

do to incorporate some of these concepts, etc. Incentives

Traditional One-shot Model of Library Instruction

Course Integrated – some courses targeted One class session Wide variation in student abilities Too much material No common skill set No time for active learning exercises Usually geared for a specific assignment Librarian taught – varying quality Conflict in goals between instructor and librarian Not all students reached, some reached multiple times Higher order IL skills can not be taught in a single

session! We know from the literature not effective

John Jay’s Evolution - small inroads

Taskforce on Information Literacy formed (2002) – response to VP Mirrer, Associate Provost, Faculty & Librarians

IL Librarian position – funded by student technology fee

IL Librarian – member of College Curriculum Committee

Additional support by Provost (team teaching) for courses incorporating critical thinking, intensive writing, & information literacy

New course proposal form – question on what information literacy skills will be learned/practiced in the course.

John Jay IL Draft Plan

Add instructional material to library’s Web page – have section for curricula aids, tutorials, handouts,etc., currently creating Faculty Area of Web page

Survey ENG 101 students – self assessment

Develop module on evaluating information for SPE 113 classes (Beware Collaboration!) Pilot project – 6 sections, using online tutorials, Blackboard

Revise ENG sequence to be information literacy-rich Students will practice research skills throughout these

courses. Employ active learning techniques

Curriculum Integrated Approach Target freshman year courses

(composition, speech, FYI, FYE, learning communities)

Integrate into higher general education courses (CUNY gen ed project)

Partner with WAC efforts Target gateway courses in majors &

programs (criminal justice, psychology) Capstone courses – focus groups of faculty

to evaluate current IL competency of students, place for assessment?

Role librarians can play in an integrated model

IL plan development Curriculum development Faculty development Workshop teacher/facilitator Partner/Team teachers Develop support materials for faculty Design/Develop online tutorials Design/Develop exercises & assignments

IL Toolkit What is library willing to do to support campus IL efforts?

BI Workshops? Standardized & customized? Faculty development – workshops, partnering, meet

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

Librarians on committees Identify relevant parties to target Cultivate global view of IL Cultivate relationships with administrators

(provost, deans), faculty (chairs, senate?), & student support services (tutors, writing center, ESL, peer mentors, etc.)

Know what library is willing to do Relate IL to college initiatives – assessment,

CPE, FYE, Pre-law, forensic science, etc.

Part 3: Librarian development: Preparing for new roles Dedicate funds Attend conferences – ACRL, LOEX, Web casts, bring

in speakers Class in learning theory, curriculum design Develop expertise in:

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 What do accrediting bodies want in assessing

information literacy?

What do professional organizations require? Libns should know their discipline’s prof. orgs – APA

Undergraduate Psychology Learning Goals & Outcomes (http://www.apa.org/ed/pcue/taskforcereport.pdf)

A librarian linked these to the ACRL IL standards (http://www.lawrence.edu/fast/revieg/acminfolit/apa.html)

How can IL help with retention, graduation, student success, CPE

Where to assess?

Course-level – Nassau CC Capstone in majors – build it in to overall

assessment Target samples in general ed courses as part

or separate from general assessment Target samples from freshman courses BI classes

Assessment Standardized instruments being developed

Project SAILS – Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills – beta-test

Developed @ Kent State – Lehman will use Allow for comparisons with “like” institutions Also looking to develop discipline specific

assessments,

Information Competency Assessment Project -Bay Area (Ca) CCs

Tied into the ACRL standards Assessment at varying times of the undergraduate

experience! – Freshman level & upper level

Standardized tests con’t

Information & Communications Technology Literacy Assessment - Educational Testing Service (ETS) – Developed w/consultation from librarians, Ilene

Rockman. $25 per student

Other assessment strategies

Research journals, metacognitive approaches Annotated bibliographies Quality of sources in bibliographies of papers, etc. IL questions and tasks incorporated into course

exams Exercises reinforcing learned experiences Student receives a grade on the expected IL

outcomes, incorporated into course grade Rubrics

Portfolio assessment (LG – rubrics) Many more I’m sure ……

Assessing the library’s contribution to information literacy

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

Surveyed about 1,700 students Received over 1,000 responses

Interim results – 625 responses

First place students look for infoInternet Search Engine 64%Ask instructor 11%Textbook 7%Library catalog 6%Ask a librarian 5%

How to narrow a Web search Add another appropriate search term 36%Enclose search phrase in quotes 5%Inappropriate response 53%

Writing Ability

Rate writing abilityNot confident 6%Somewhat confident 68%Very confident 26%

Writing – EssaysNot confident 5%Somewhat confident 54%Very confident 42%

Writing – Research PaperNot confident 7%Somewhat confident 59%Very confident 35%

Citing Sources

When and How to Cite (same results)Not confident 18%Somewhat confident 64%Very confident 18%

How many papers that included a bibliography in last year?None 10%1 13%2-3 40%4 or more 37%

Amount of pages in longest paper 1-2 pages 5%3-5 pages 46%6-10 pages 32%over 10 pages 16%