Last week’s LTC lunch was a thoughtful presentation of various examples of teaching and assessing information literacy in different places across the curriculum. If you have ever wondered exactly what information literacy entails, Gould Library’s framework for information literacy is an excellent place to start.
Twenty-seven of Carleton’s 46 departments include information literacy in the departmental assessment framework, and yet we don’t always do a good job of sharing our approaches with each other, which means that sometimes we reinvent the wheel. To that end, the presenters included several examples of the rubrics that different departments use to assess information literacy. In the interest of sharing approaches, here are links to three of the rubrics being used:
- Information Literacy in Student Writing Rubric used by the library in assessing writing in sophomore writing portfolios
- Analyze Evidence and Communicate and Argue Effecitvely Rubrics from the college-wide assessment framework that have been used by the biology department to assess information literacy
In addition, the history department has developed a survey that it gives to its majors to assess their information literacy skills. Last year that survey was administered by six departments, in both the arts and humanities and the sciences. Other departments are welcome to use the survey as well.
The presenters made a compelling case about the importance of partnerships between faculty and library staff in promoting information literacy. I particularly appreciated the comment from presenter Iris Jastram that part of the work librarians do is to help students with context-building. Carleton’s librarians have put together several good information literacy resources:
In short, any faculty member thinking about how to incorporate information literacy into their courses should reach out and chat with their local librarian.
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