Moving From Traditional BI to an Integrated Information Literacy Program

Ilene F. Rockman, Ph.D.

Manager, Information Competence Initiative

The California State University

Office of the Chancellor

Presentation to SCIL Spring Program

May 16, 2003

Why Important?

Electronic information increasingly comes to us in unfiltered formats, raising questions about authenticity, validity, and reliability

The uncertain quality and expanding quantity of information (text, graphic, aural, spatial) poses new and special challenges for users

Why Important?

Students are entering colleges and universities lacking basic research and information competence skills (including critical thinking, decision making, self-directed learning)

Technology is transforming teaching and learningconcomitant with a proliferation of information formats and choices

Assessment efforts are indicating student over reliance on the web as an information source

Why Important?

Faculty want to see an improvement in the quality of student work, an increase in the effectiveness of student research, and students taking more responsibility for their own learning

Students want to complete assignments with less difficulty and more satisfaction

Employers want to hire graduates who are “competent”, take responsibility, can solve problems, and produce new ideas/directions

Why Important?

Accreditation bodies (regional, state, professional) want to see a change in past practices

Society wants an educated, informed and productive citizenry

Not limited to USA; also in Denmark and Australia (Apr 22, 2003 workshop, “Emerging Visions for Access in the 21st Century Library”, presented by the Council on Library and Information Resources and the California Digital Library

The Reality

“For many teens, the Internet has replaced the library as the primary tool for doing research”

(“The Internet and Education”. Findings of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, September 1, 2001. http://www.pewinternet.org)

The Reality

“Less than half (48%) feel confident in their ability to find information—essentially, in the skills needed to research a topic.”

“A Report to Stakeholders on the Conditions and Effectiveness of Postsecondary Education.” Change 33:3 (May/June 2001), p. 29.

The Reality

“More than 31% of all respondents use Internet search engines to find answers to their questions. However, people who use Internet search engines express frustration because they estimate that half of their searches are unsuccessful.”

“OCLC White Paper on the Information Habits of College Students.”

June 2002, p. 2.

(http://www2.oclc.org/oclc/pdf/printondemand/informationhabits.pdf)

Business Community

“We are no longer teaching about technology, but about information literacy—which is a process of turning information into meaning, understanding, and new ideas. Students need the thinking, reasoning, and civic abilities that enable them to succeed in—and ultimately lead—a contemporary, democratic economy, workforce, and society.”

--Terry Crane, VP, AOL, Converge, Sept. 2000

Governmental Community

“Information literacy is needed to guarantee the survival of democratic institutions”

US Representative, Major Owens (D-NY), 1976, quoted in Student Learning in the Information Age, p. 34.

Educational Community

“Within today’s information society, the most important learning outcome for all students is their being able to function as independent lifelong learners. The essential enabler to reaching that goal is information literacy.”

--Patricia Breivik, “Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning: The Magical Partnership.” International Lifelong Learning Conference, Central Queensland University, 2000, http://elvis.cqu.edu.au/conference/2000/home.htm

Making the Case

Content mastered by graduation is soon outdated and/or forgotten

Ongoing personal and professional competence depends on knowing how to find, evaluate, and use information

Ability to find data, absorb and synthesize key concepts, organize and present information are desired “knowledge economy” skills

Making the Case

“The first year is the period when you are going to succeed in the greatest proportion of students, and conversely, you’re going to not succeed or lose the greatest proportion of students. Most institutions in the country have decided if they want to make students more successful, they have to pay more attention to the beginning college experience and make things happen by design.”

--John Gardner, Senior Fellow of the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina, Director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College at Brevard College, and Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina

Let’s Get Clear on Terms

BI coined 30+ years ago in print world traditionally, skill-based approach focus on tools and search interfaces (how to use an index, abstract, OPAC) tied to course assignment from professor; not all courses --in or outside the department isolated with limited transference of student learning within the curriculum

Information Literacy

Integral part of the curriculum (foundational underpinning)

Supports learning outcomes of academic programs (e.g. GE, degree, and non degree; upper and lower division electives, pre-professional programs, courses in the major)

Contributes to an increase in retention, student achievement, and graduation rates (GCC, CSUH)

Information Literacy

Speaks in higher education terms (critical thinking, first year experience, learning communities, distant education, educational engagement, information fluency, etc.)

Focuses on campus collaboration (Faculty, General Education, Assessment, Centers for Excellence, Student Affairs Professionals, Academic Programs, University Governance groups, Instructional Media Services—Blackboard, WebCT)

Information Literacy

Recognizes relationship to institution’s mission and goals, program review, accreditation criteria, outcomes-based assessment strategies

Reflects a collaborative responsibility and partnership between dept faculty (content) and librarians (process)

From Library Skills to Information Literacy

Past EmphasisPassive: tours, lectures, etcProf-identified topicsLocate informationPrint onlyEstablished authorityTerm paper productCourse level

Adapted from: Library Skills to Information Literacy: A Handbook for the 21st Century.

CSLA, 1997.

Current Emphasis

Active: coordinated

Student identified topics

Evaluate, use, comm info

Multiple formats and choices

Determine authority

Multiple options

Discipline/program level

What Does an IL Curriculum Look Like?

College or university-wide Inquiry, problem, performance, and resource

based Makes effective use of instructional

technologies Learner centered Integrated with learning outcomes

Ideal

Student introduced to information literacy in first year; reinforced in general education and courses in the major (vertically and horizontally)

Student continues to encounter IL throughout the curriculum, culminating in a senior level experience

“Rather than graduating based on which courses you have taken, you will graduate based on what you have learned” (CSU Monterey Bay—outcomes based campus).

Why Move?

Impact on learning—research by Keith Curry Lance and colleagues—test scores rise with collaboration between teachers and librarians

Increased student learning results when multiple opportunities to learn occur

Need process for helping students to address their immediate information needs, and to continue learning after they leave the college or university

How Move?

Find an administrative champion—Provost, VP of Student Affairs, Director of Residential Life, Coordinator of the First Year Experience, Head of Educational Mentoring, Coordinator of Distance Learning, Dean of Liberal Arts, etc.

Find a faculty champion—Chair of dept or college curriculum committee, Coordinator of GE, Director of English composition or the campus writing program, Chair of Academic Senate or chair of key campus committee (curriculum)

How Move?

Be a champion yourself—team up with new faculty at orientation, mentor new students, meet with career center or alumni director, become an indispensable campus leader as a member of a key campus committee (e.g. curriculum/instruction so strategic placement of IL within learning outcomes of new course proposal submissions, and degree programs)

Ask questions of faculty—are you pleased with the performance of your students? How do you define IL in your discipline? How can I help you?

How Move?

College or university-wide IL committee to recommend action agenda and take next steps

Cal Poly, SLO; Visionary Pragmatism (http://www.calpoly.edu/~communic/univ/visionary.html)

GCC: Research Across the Curriculum TF(http://www.glendale.edu/senate/RAC%20Report.htm)

How Move?

Take advantage of timing—accreditation or program review, strategic planning efforts, grants

Start small—build support one dept/program at a time; then move from dept to college or university level

Learn from experiences of WAC—Jim Elmborg’s article in RSR 31:1 (2003)—”Information literacy and writing across the curriculum: sharing the vision” (find common ground; right place in curr)

How Move?

Refer to professional association documents for support:

--WPA Outcomes Statements for First-Year Composition, adopted by the Council of Writing Program Administrators, April 2000

--includes critical thinking, reading, and writing and notes that “by the end of the first year, composition students should understand a writing assignment as a series of tasks including finding, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing appropriate primary and secondary sources.”

(http://www.english.ilstu.edu/Hesse/outcomes.html)

How Move?

Refer to non-library publications:

Bean, John C. Engaging ideas: the professor’s guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom. SF: Jossey Bass, 1996.

(ch 12: Encouraging engagement and inquiry in research papers—includes how to ask research questions; find, manage, cite sources)

How Move?

Give presentation to student clubs; build advocacy

Work with IT on development of “smart” classrooms

Work with Faculty Development to co-sponsor programs on plagiarism (natural tie-in to IL)

Work with any/all campus stakeholders to find “window of opportunity” to promote IL

Gentle Reminders

IL skills are vital to future growth, development, and success

IL skills contribute to a higher level of learning which is long-lasting

Students need multiple opportunities to acquire, practice, and hone IL skills inside and outside of the classroom

Gentle Reminders

Not easy to write good assignments—faculty can benefit from working with librarians and Faculty Development Center personnel

Assignments need to be creative, structured, and focused on identifying, locating, accessing, evaluating, and integrating information into the content presented (lead to student success)

Research is not always a linear process

Gentle Reminders

Decades of research on college student development shows that the more time & energy students invest in activities related to desired college outcomes, the more likely they are to benefit. (same holds true for IL)

(George Kuh, ACRL 2003 Conference)

Use Appropriate Language

Use language understandable to faculty and administrators

Speak to “their” issues so they will (in turn) support yours (relationship building)

Teaching-learning-technology, educational mentoring, portfolio assessment, residential learning communities, service learning, honors program, first yr experience, international educ, interdisciplinary learning, capstone experiences

Language of 21st Century Literary

Technological literacy—ability to use media (Internet) to communicate effectively

Media Literacy—ability to produce and distribute content ethically and responsibly

Global Literacy—ability to collaborate effectively across cultures

21st Century Literacy Summit, Mar 7-8, 2002, Berlin, Germany, sponsored by AOL Time Warner Foundation and Bertelsmann Foundation. http://www.21stcenturyliteracy.org/

Add More Language

Emotional literacy

--develop self esteem

--fit into information society

--become socially and educationally successful

Language of Accreditation

“Baccalaureate programs engage students in an integrated course of study…these programs also ensure the development of core learning abilities and competencies including college-level written and oral communication, …quantitative skills, information literacy and…critical analysis of data.”

(WASC Handbook of Accreditation, Standard 2, January 2001 p. 20.

http://www.wascweb.org/senior/handbook.pdf)

More Language

“They (teacher education candidates) are able to appropriately and effectively integrate technology and information literacy in instruction to support student learning”

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Professional Standards for the Accreditation of Schools, Colleges, and Departments of Education, 2002, page 19.

(http://www.ncate.org/2000/unit_stnds_2002.pdf)

More Language

“Each participating teacher designs, adapts, and uses lessons which address students’ needs to develop information literacy and problem solving skills as tools for lifelong learning”

California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (CTC). Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for Professional Teacher Induction Programs. Program Standard 16. September 2001, p. 21.

(http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-standards/AdoptedPreparation/Standards.pdf)

More Language

“Students will demonstrate information competence and the ability to use computers and other technology for many purposes”

American Psychological Association. Board of Educational Affairs. Undergraduate Psychology Major Learning Goals and Outcomes: A Report, 2000. http://www.apa.org/ed/pcue/taskforcereport.pdf

More Language

The American Chemical Society states that “ a student who intends to become a practicing chemist, or who will use chemistry in allied fields of science and medicine, should know how to use the chemical literature effectively and efficiently”

http://www.chemistry.org/portal/Chemistry?PID=acsdisplay.html&DOC=education%5Ccpt%5Cts_cheminfo.html

More Language

“The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication requires that, irrespective of their particular specialization, all graduates should be aware of certain core values and competencies and be able to conduct research and evaluate information by methods appropriate to the communications professions, audiences, and purposes they serve.”

ACEJMC Committee on Standards and Assessment. Accrediting

Standards, 2002. (http://www.ukans.edu/~acejmc).

More Language

Academic Literacies: A Statement of Competencies Expected of Students Entering California’s Public Colleges and Universities (Intersegmenal Committee of UC. CSU, CCC)—includes information competence

Information Competency: Challenges and Strategies for Development (Academic Senate of the CCC, Fall 2002)

Focus on Outputs

Measurable learning outcomes

Embed IL in GE assessment

What distinguishes a graduate of your program, department, college, or university from that of another?

More Roles For You!

Be aware of obstacles and work with key people—”keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” (M. Brando, Godfather I)

Add value to the curriculum—provide faculty with tools that are easily integrated into class (in class worksheets, out of class assignments, web-based tutorials, toolkits to integrate e-handouts into management systems)

More Roles For You!

Identify scope and sequence of competencies for your liaison departments—demonstrate how IL skills can build progressively within the major/discipline

What is needed in the lower division, upper division, capstone experience?

Be an integrationist—connect teaching and learning to library resources and services across communities

Successes Within CSU

System-wide and campus level

Academic Senate resolutions; grant funds to reshape curriculum, offer summer faculty workshops, support faculty retreats and release time, create assessment instruments; conduct research studies—info mounted on CSU website

Share successes across campus through discipline IL workshops so all can reap benefits and share in the success

Successes Within CSU

Introduction in freshmen transition courses, lower and upper division general education courses, junior level courses for transfer students, honors courses

Reinforcement in courses in the major, service learning, senior capstone experiences, or portfolio assessments—all raise visibility of IL on campus

Other Successes

Small liberal arts colleges (St. Olaf and Gustavus Adolphus)—Journal of Library Administration vol 36:1/2 (2002)

Oberlin College (“Information Literacy and the Oberlin Education”)

http://www.oberlin.edu/library/servinfo/reference/

infolit/infolit.html

Planning for Campus-wide Program

Strong leadership (from top, middle, and bottom)

Support of key teaching faculty/campus leaders

Advocacy by Faculty Development—how IL and assignments can help faculty achieve (and exceed) their teaching goals

Collaborative approach—administrators, faculty, librarians, IT, Media, Faculty Development, GE faculty, assessment staff, peer mentors (students)

Planning for Campus-Wide Program

Develop a definition of IL which suits your institution

Determine if IL will be integrated into existing courses, be a separate course, part of GE, etc.

Develop clear IL learning outcomes which can be included on course syllabi and successfully measured

Planning For Campus-wide Program

Define appropriate instructional strategies

Design effective student assignments

Develop effective methods of evaluation

Remember

“Faculty commitments and capabilities make or break the implementation of curriculum change, and they are central to sustaining program vitality.”

Strong foundations: twelve principles for effective general education programs. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges, 1994, p. 44.

Remember

“Faculty need learning opportunities to explore new ideas and build their confidence to implement new types of curriculum change.”

Jones, Elizabeth A. Transforming the curriculum: preparing students for a changing world. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Vol 29:3, 2002, p. 81.

Remember

Building an IL program takes time

Offering faculty professional development opportunities for redesigning courses to include IL components can lead to future success

Integrating IL vertically and horizontally through the curriculum will reach a maximum of students

Remember

Sharing campus successes (e.g. Faculty Development workshops, “Teaching Tips” listserv, etc.), can inspire and motivate faculty to move forward in a positive direction

Experience-based learning activities can contribute to “deep learning” (behavioral change) and transference of knowledge from course to course

Finally

Help is available:-Guidelines for Instruction Programs in Academic Libraries (C&RL News, Nov 2002, pp. 732-735)

-Characteristics of Programs of Information Literacy that Illustrate Best Practices (http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ACRL/Standards_and_Guidelines/Characteristics_of_Programs_of_Information_Literacy_that_Illustrate_Best_Practices.htm)

--SCIL colleagues

Thanks Very Much

Dr. Ilene Rockman, ManagerInformation Competence InitiativeOffice of the ChancellorCalifornia State University(510) 885-2446irockman@calstate.eduhttp://www.calstate.edu/LS/infocomp.shtml