Thursday, March 21, 2013

Information Literacy: Faculty Showcase 2013

This year's Information Literacy Showcase highlighted several diverse methods of integrating information and library research literacy into courses and programs:  a semester-long information literacy and research lab, a two-workshop introduction to research toward clinical practice, and a quick & adaptable literature review activity. 



Dr. Michael Groher (Communicative Disorders) and Melissa Cardenas-Dow (Behavioral Sciences Librarian) discussed the learning goals of CDIS 310: Junior Seminar, a course which orients students toward research practice that will support clinical practice through:
  • learning to critically read research literature
  • practicing research summaries 
  •  and critical analysis of research
Two library workshops attached to this methodology course enable students to begin to acquire the language of their discipline and of the research databases in their field.

Dr. Scott Randolph (Business Administration) and Janelle Julagay (Business Librarian) described their development of and the outcomes of a semester-long research lab on which they have collaborated and co-taught for Randolph's BUS 226: The Rise of American Capitalism course.  Over the past two years their collaboration has grown from two library workshops during the BUS 226 lab to a weekly collaboration for the entire semester. Students are introduced to the practices of historical research, from deciphering and following footnotes to producing bibliographies to learning to ask questions of primary sources. In the process students also learn to recognize librarians as co-teachers in the shared education mission of the university. 

Finally, Gabriela Sonntag, Library Director, walked us through a literature review activity that provides an active learning opportunity for students to understand the purpose of literature reviews; how to read an abstract to quickly determine methodology, hypotheses, results, and gaps in the research; as well as learn to effectively read database records. 

Look for the products (sample assignments, activity prompts, worksheets) of this showcase in a soon to-be-announced Information Literacy Repository.  

We'll see you at next year's showcase!



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