Creating a Credit-Bearing Class in Critical Information Literacy to Support Student Success
Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation
Conference Strand
Critical Literacy
Target Audience
Higher Education
Relevance
While we all understand the importance of information literacy, traditional librarian-taught "one shot" sessions leave little if any time to do justice to these concepts. This deficit can be most noticeable as students progress to upper-division research and are unaware of how information can be framed by the experience and beliefs of the author, the contextual aspect of information, and the major-specific library resources available to them and how to navigate them effectively and use sources ethically. Informed by years of observing how students typically approach research assignments, as well as my own deep research into the challenges transfer students, and particularly AA-degreed transfer students face when matriculating to a large university, I pursued the development of a for-credit course for rising juniors and above at the University of Central Florida. My presentation will relate my experience in developing the curriculum for this credit-bearing course entitled "Critical Information Literacy for Research Assignments and Beyond" (IDS 3635) and which may provide beneficial information for others wishing to undertake a similar approach at their respective institutions. IDS 3635 is housed in the Interdisciplinary Studies department in the College of Undergraduate Studies at UCF, and will be offered during summer, 2024 with myself as instructor of record. IDS 3635 content will include discussions and assignments related to misinformation and disinformation, information literacy, bias, both implicit and explicit, critical thinking, searching major specific databases and citation, and the impact of generative AI on information, with an assignment in using and comparing the output of two different generative AI tools. We know students are going to use generative AI, it’s imperative that we discuss when that may – or may not be – appropriate. These are all topics that students need to understand now in order to write effective research papers and will continue to serve them in their post-graduation lives as informed citizens, neighbors and colleagues.
Proposal
Perhaps now more than ever we recognize the importance of instilling information literacy competencies in our students and fostering their critical thinking -- but these concepts far exceed the typical “one-shot” opportunity we may have. Additionally many students may never have had the benefit of a librarian-led instructional session in navigating our many library resources such as major-specific databases, relying instead on Google Scholar.
One solution lies in creating a credit-bearing course in critical information literacy to address topics such as misinformation, disinformation, bias, and the growing impact of generative AI in order to prepare students for research assignments now, and also prepare them for their post-graduation lives as informed citizens, consumers, neighbors and colleagues.
This session will share how one librarian advocated for this course over a span of years and how a credit bearing course in information literacy ultimately aligned with an institutional priority
Presentation Description
While we all understand the limitations of a librarian-led "one shot", how can we convince key stakeholders of the need to prepare students to be information literate, critical thinkers and build a credit-bearing course to address those concerns? One librarian will share her experience in creating a for-credit course entitled "Critical Information Literacy for Research Assignments and Beyond".
Keywords
Information literacy; critical thinking; generative AI; credit-bearing course; upper-division research
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Nuhn, Peggy L., "Creating a Credit-Bearing Class in Critical Information Literacy to Support Student Success" (2024). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 2.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2024/2024/2
Creating a Credit-Bearing Class in Critical Information Literacy to Support Student Success
Perhaps now more than ever we recognize the importance of instilling information literacy competencies in our students and fostering their critical thinking -- but these concepts far exceed the typical “one-shot” opportunity we may have. Additionally many students may never have had the benefit of a librarian-led instructional session in navigating our many library resources such as major-specific databases, relying instead on Google Scholar.
One solution lies in creating a credit-bearing course in critical information literacy to address topics such as misinformation, disinformation, bias, and the growing impact of generative AI in order to prepare students for research assignments now, and also prepare them for their post-graduation lives as informed citizens, consumers, neighbors and colleagues.
This session will share how one librarian advocated for this course over a span of years and how a credit bearing course in information literacy ultimately aligned with an institutional priority
