ACADEMIC SUCCESS STARTS WITH INFORMATION LITERACY

A Pilot Program

Mission Statement

To develop a model for integrated faculty-librarian teaching in a general education course to equip students with information literacy skills that lead to success in future academic and life pursuits.

Background/Context

The California State University offer two 3-unit lower division English classes

All students must pass the English Placement Test (EPT) & ENGLISH 90 before taking ENGLISH 100

First semester English class (ENGLISH 90)—focused on personal experiences

Second semester English class (ENGLISH 100)—focused on basic research strategies

“The CSU is a leader in high-quality, accessible, student-focused higher education”

Background/Context

Librarians will work with the Department of English and Comparative Literature.

The English department is solely responsible for teaching First Year Composition

Each class is typically around 25 students

The English department offers some web-supplemented and mixed mode courses

The English department has a standing Composition Committee that deals with all the activities related to writing instruction

The Need

Why is information literacy important?The Association of College & Research Libraries recognizes that "by ensuring that individuals have the intellectual abilities of reasoning and critical thinking, and by helping them construct a framework for learning how to learn, colleges and universities provide the foundation for continued growth throughout their careers, as well as in their roles as informed citizens and members of communities.“

Target Audience:Undergraduate Freshmen enrolled in ENGLISH 100

The Service

During the Fall 2010 semester, three Instruction/Reference Librarians and three self-volunteered ENGLISH 100 instructors (each instructor teaches 2 classes of 25 students) will develop and integrate research-based learning activities that involve information literacy and library resources. At the beginning of the semester, students will be given an

evaluation of different information literacy tasks The ENGLISH 100 instructor and Instruction Librarian will

teach in the classroom together for predetermined class sessions.

Students will participate in progressive classroom activities that teach the five standards for information literate students as defined by ACRL

The Results

Problem Solved:Students finishing ENGLISH 100 will be able to apply information literacy skills to a wide array of tasks in their undergraduate education and in their personal lives. Students will have greater opportunities as self-directed learners that allows them to reason about course content at a deeper level in their future major coursework.

The Benefits: The pilot program will prove a correlation between

information literacy instruction and enhanced student achievement.

The pilot program will provide valuable insight into collaboration between general education instructors and librarians.

Resources Required Access to faculty to determine

curriculum needs and activities ENGLISH 100 class syllabus, assignment

descriptions and deadlines for the librarian

Budget The technology crew/ Technology

support ENGLISH 100 LibGuide & handouts White board Access to course management system Big room

Marketing and Communication Plan

Participating librarians will attend English department meetings to introduce faculty to the new program and provide updates.

Library and English department will distribute flyers and posters to campus members.

Electronic announcements will be placed on library/English websites and Facebook pages.

Pilot program will be billed as learning innovation to serve as recruitment tool in college tours and presentations.

Key Message: Students will achieve a higher quality of education through early introduction to information literacy skills.

Evaluation Plan

Library personnel will conceive and begin to build the program and then develop and implement with English department support.

Follow-up surveys of participating students will be conducted by library throughout students’ careers to compare academic success with control group that did not participate.

Critical Success Factors University financial support Commitment of instructors to see pilot program through

to the end 85 percent of students report satisfaction with program

value 70 percent of students show higher self-reported library

resource usage