Information Literacy

@ Pitt-Greensburg:

What Do We Know and Where Should We Go?

Amanda Folk, Library Director

Kelly Bradish, Reference/Public Services Librarian

Renee Kiner, Public Services Librarian

Anna Mary Williford, Instruction/Public Services Librarian

Snapshot of A Team’s Teaching Activities

Formal Classroom Instruction, AY15-16

Total instruction sessions: 89

Sessions by division

BS: 10

HUM: 33

NS: 2

Sessions by course level

00xx: 65

01xx-09xx: 9

1xxx: 15

Research Consultations, AY15-16

Total consultations: 82

Consultations by division

BS: 5

HUM: 69

NS: 8

Consultations by course level

00xx: 12

01xx-09xx: 33

1xxx: 37

We want to hear from you.

Let’s do a quick poll!

What is information literacy?

ACRL’s Information Literacy Standards for

Higher Education (2000)

Information literacy is a set of abilities

requiring individuals to ‘recognize when

information is needed and have the ability to

locate, evaluate, and use effectively the

needed information.

ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy

for Higher Education (2015)

Information literacy is the set of integrated

abilities encompassing the reflective

discovery of information, the understanding

of how information is produced and valued,

and the use of information in creating new

knowledge and participating ethically in

communities of learning.

Standards vs. Framework

Five Information Literacy Standards

The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.

The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.

The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

Six Information Literacy Threshold Concepts

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

Information Creation as a Process

Information Has Value

Research as Inquiry

Scholarship as Conversation

Searching as Strategic Exploration

What does information literacy at Pitt-

Greensburg look like?

Information literacy is a combination of discrete skills and habits of mind, both of which are vital for the lifelong process of learning and intellectual development. At Pitt-Greensburg, the information literate individual:

recognizes a research need and actively initiates a process of inquiry;

values intellectual curiosity in developing questions and learning new investigative methods;

strategically and reflectively discovers information;

critically evaluates and selects information based on context;

processes information effectively to learn, to create and communicate new knowledge, to solve problems, and to make decisions;

demonstrates ethical and responsible behavior when using information.

Information literacy encompasses but is not limited to the following concepts: critical thinking; problem solving; digital, visual and media literacies; digital citizenship; information technology skills; written and oral communication skills; academic literacy; disciplinary and interdisciplinary thinking.

This is a collaborative endeavor.

Millstein Library’s Statement of Philosophy and Practice

Every individual has the right to be information literate. The Millstein Library strives to

collaboratively develop the skills and habits of mind related to information literacy, with the

goal of contributing to a culture of inquiry that includes critical reflection and leads to

academic success. To this end, the Millstein Library will offer services, expertise, and physical

space in which students feel comfortable interacting with information, as well as creating

and communicating new knowledge, so they may actively develop their information literacy

skills throughout their tenure at Pitt-Greensburg as a foundation for the lifelong processes of

learning and intellectual development.

What do we know about the

information literacy skills of Pitt-

Greensburg students?

Let’s talk about assessment.

How do we assess information literacy?

HEDS Research Practices Survey

Proprietary instrument

2 components—questions related to

students’ research practices and an

information literacy skills assessment

portion.

Administered to freshmen (fall 2014 +

2015), sophomores (fall 2015), and seniors

(spring 2015 + 2016)

Bradford and Titusville also participate

MAP-Works Fall Transition and Check-Up

Locally developed questions added to

the proprietary instrument

Only captures basic information literacy

skills

Administer to all cohorts of students in the

fall 2015 semester

HEDS Sample Sizes

Fall 2014 freshmen 381

Fall 2015 freshmen 259

Fall 2015 sophomores 31

Spring 2015 seniors 21

MAP-Works 2015 Sample Sizes

Freshmen 377

Sophomores 54

Juniors/Seniors 131

Strengths of the incoming freshmen

MAP-Works Fall 2015(70% or more answered correctly)

Describing a peer-reviewed/scholarly

article

Using encyclopedia for background

information

Identifying appropriate questions to

evaluate a source

Citing something that you use but don’t

quote directly

Understanding the definition of

paraphrasing

HEDS RSP Fall 2014 & Fall 2105(75% or more answered correctly)

Boolean searching using AND

Knowing to cite graphs, tables, etc. if used

Knowing an autobiography is a primary source and a book review is a secondary source

Knowing that a family member cannot write your paper, even if the ideas are yours

Knowing that you can’t copy and paste from a source, even if you cite it

Weaknesses of the incoming freshmen

MAP-Works Fall 2015(50% or less answered correctly)

Identifying a characteristic of a scholarly

article

Determining appropriate topic scope for

a paper based on page length

Boolean searching using OR

HEDS RSP Fall 2014 & Fall 2105(50% or less answered correctly)

Identifying an incorrect statement about journals and magazines

Identifying the least appropriate source to cite in a paper

Boolean searching using OR

Using a reference list to generate more sources

Determining if a citation is for a book, book chapter, or article

Correctly identifying if a biography, fictional novel, or painting of a self-portrait are primary or secondary sources

Weaknesses of incoming freshmen

HEDS RSP Fall 2014 & Fall 2105(50% or less answered correctly)

Identifying best search tool for

comprehensive searching

Describing a peer-reviewed/refereed

journal

Understanding role of citations in scholarly

articles

Understanding fair use of copyright

material

Discrepancies in perceived vs. actual skill

These students felt confident about their ability to determine the credibility of sources, with

over 65% of them reporting that this task is either very easy or somewhat easy. However,

only 20% (2014) and 23% (2015) of the students were able to correctly identify the source

that would be least appropriate to cite in a paper.

Over 60% of these students felt confident about documenting sources, including when

and how to cite sources, but they struggled with matching sample citations with different

kinds of information sources (book, article, book chapter) and understanding when a

citation was not needed.

What are the next steps?

Where do we go from here?

The A Team

The A Team plans to use the results of the HEDS and MAP-Works in order to…

start developing tiered information literacy learning outcomes (i.e. beginning,

intermediate, advanced)

continue refining our approach to information literacy instruction, both in the

classroom and out of the classroom (i.e. research consultations, reference

interactions)

begin preliminary conversations about how to best tier or scaffold information

literacy instruction in particular disciplines

Teaching Faculty (You!)

For teaching faculty who are interested in becoming more involved in this process,

you can…

indicate your interest on the sign-up sheet that is going around.

read through the detailed HEDS and MAP-Works reports.

think about what information literacy means in your discipline and how a collaboration with the librarians could benefit your students (and potentially your

sanity).

Thank you!

http://pitt.libguides.com/ateam