Improving Information Literacy Outcomes: Does Adding ACRL Assignments Work?

Type of Presentation

Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)

Target Audience

Higher Education

Location

ELAB 21

Proposal

Edward Waters College is the oldest HBCU in the state of Florida. It is a SACS/COC-accredited private college in the 5th year of its Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) to improve student writing. To this end, the QEP uses the WPA outcomes for First Year Composition (FYC): Rhetorical Knowledge, Critical Thinking, Reading and Composing, Process, and Knowledge of Conventions. Information literacy is integral to several of these outcomes, making it a priority in the curriculum. While four years of data show improvement in the students’ ability to document sources, the percent of students doing so proficiently isn’t meeting the goal of the QEP. Considering this, ACRL Information Literacy Exercises were added to all Freshman Composition courses in the Fall of 2019. Instructors were asked only to perform these exercises. They were allowed to choose the number they performed, whether or not they were graded, and whether or not students would do them in class or out. At the end of the semester, instructors will be surveyed as to how many they assigned and how they assigned them. Then, those numbers will be compared to the data from student portfolios for the Fall 2019 semester. By January, the director plans to determine if there was improvement, what correlation can be made (if any), and whether or not to continue the program in Spring 2019. When a gap is seen in curriculum the answer is often to fill it with more assignments, but does this work? This program seeks to test the concept of “filling the gaps”.

Presentation Description

The QEP Director at Edward Waters College, in an attempt to improve Information Literacy skills in First Year Composition students, added ACRL exercises to Freshman Composition Courses. This presentation will discuss the rationale, process, and outcome of this program using data analysis to determine efficacy. The next steps in the process will also be discussed and suggestions from attendees will be welcome.

Keywords

Assessment, QEP, FYC, Writing, Outcomes, HBCU

Publication Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

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Feb 21st, 1:45 PM Feb 21st, 3:00 PM

Improving Information Literacy Outcomes: Does Adding ACRL Assignments Work?

ELAB 21

Edward Waters College is the oldest HBCU in the state of Florida. It is a SACS/COC-accredited private college in the 5th year of its Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) to improve student writing. To this end, the QEP uses the WPA outcomes for First Year Composition (FYC): Rhetorical Knowledge, Critical Thinking, Reading and Composing, Process, and Knowledge of Conventions. Information literacy is integral to several of these outcomes, making it a priority in the curriculum. While four years of data show improvement in the students’ ability to document sources, the percent of students doing so proficiently isn’t meeting the goal of the QEP. Considering this, ACRL Information Literacy Exercises were added to all Freshman Composition courses in the Fall of 2019. Instructors were asked only to perform these exercises. They were allowed to choose the number they performed, whether or not they were graded, and whether or not students would do them in class or out. At the end of the semester, instructors will be surveyed as to how many they assigned and how they assigned them. Then, those numbers will be compared to the data from student portfolios for the Fall 2019 semester. By January, the director plans to determine if there was improvement, what correlation can be made (if any), and whether or not to continue the program in Spring 2019. When a gap is seen in curriculum the answer is often to fill it with more assignments, but does this work? This program seeks to test the concept of “filling the gaps”.