Incorporating Information Competency into the Curriculum

1. Incorporating Information Competency into the Curriculum Carol Womack Santa Monica College Library http://homepage.smc.edu/womack_carol/Library15/default.htm

2. The Project • Present the project as you would give it to your studentsGoals:  identify (or quantify) what you are trying to accomplish and what students will learnTopic or range of topics • limit as much as possible • set parameters • identify timelines, if necessary

3. History • Academic Senate resolutions for IC graduation requirement • 2002 Board of governors • Present: on hold

4. The Grant • Santa Monica College • Fund for Instructional Improvement • $97,048 • Fall 2001 – Summer 2002+

5. Background • Initiated by faculty • Info comp need • Info Comp Task Force • SMC • 30,000+ students • 90+ academic programs • 20+ vocational programs

6. The Goal • Promote innovation via faculty/staff development • Develop lifelong learners

7. The Objectives: • To establish a common core of understanding: • what information competency is (and isn’t) • its importance in instruction • faculty required to incorporate information competency assignments in their classes.

8. The Objectives: • To create information competency assignments • To increase students’ level of competency • To create an information competency course • To present the course online

9. The FII Grant Team • Director of Academic Computing • Assistant Dean, Library • Dean, English Dept. • President, Academic Senate • Chair, Professional Development Committee • Chair, Curriculum Committee • BI Librarian

10. Create a series of modules covering info comp issues Technology changes Pedagogical impact Best practices Faculty practicum (summer session) Pilot Test (History 10) Distance ed class for students The Procedures:

11. For Faculty: Understanding concepts of info comp For Students: Development of info comp skills For the California Community College System: Presentation and dissemination of info comp professional development curriculum Benefits:

12. Info Comp task force recommendations Content Audience Creation of 2-unit class Pedagogy Assignments Organization Presentation The Process:

13. The Info Comp Team • Project Director - Jennifer Merlic, Director of Academic Computing • Faculty • Carol Womack (Library)—Team Leader • Lawrence Driscoll (English) • Nancy Grass-Hemmert (Speech) • Richard Bailey (Business) • Information Competency Task Force

14. The Product • Library 15/Education 15—2 unit class • Debut: summer 2002 • Faculty: English, History, Business, Nursing, Library http://homepage.smc.edu/womack_carol/Library15/

23. Research planning and design Planning • define the writing assignment/assessing the situation • specify general purpose (inform, persuade, entertain) • specify audience (teacher, classmates, professional organization   • specify recency required (10 yrs. vs. 6 months--is old info still relevant?)  • specify the scope of the topic to be covered

24. Research planning and design • exploring the topic • generating ideas • quantity not quality

25. Research planning and design • Creating a working thesis

26. Research planning and design • Creating a research plan

27.  Process: • Current or historical information needed • Select books:  Library online catalog • Select periodical articles:  Library databases--indicate which ones • Select websites:  search engines • Evaluate sources • Cite sources(?) • Annotate bibliography or rank sources and explain ranking

28. Class Plan: • students will present a class assignment they have designed, incorporating information competency elements. • Presentations may utilize PowerPoint, eCompanion, web page or other presentation software.   • Information exchange:  students will compare/contrast assignments, recognizing differences required by discipline, offer advice and suggestions. • Class evaluation.

29. The Nature of Research, by Discipline Arts & Humanities: • current and historical research • primary and secondary research • criticism of the work itself

30. The Nature of Research, by Discipline Social Sciences • current and historical research • statistics • behavior studies

31. The Nature of Research, by Discipline Business • current research for competitive intelligence • historical performance data

32. The Nature of Research, by Discipline Law: • historical precedent case law • current competitive intelligence

33. The Nature of Research, by Discipline Science • current info needed most; historical info important • clinical trials, experiments • search for proof • blends logic and imagination

34. evaluating websites • Go to this website: website: http://pubweb.acns.nwu.edu/~abutz/di/dc/camps.html • Is this a valid site?  Why?  or Why not?  Use the FIVE CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING WEB PAGES in your response.

35. Searching a library database • Find the 10 colleges in California which offer a master's degree in sports medicine. • Name the schools.  (5 points) • Describe how you found them. (5 points) (CollegeSource)

36. Searching a library database • Find the most current home prices for your neighborhood. Where did you look first?  why? • Where did you find the answer? (RAND California)

37. Searching a library database • Find a copy of Martin Luther King Jr's I Have a Dream speech. Where did you look first? • Where did you find it? (Landmark Documents in American History)

38. Researching a Country • Look up a country in CountryWatch.  Look up the same country in the CIA World Factbook • http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html • Do both sites say the same things about the country?  Where are there differences?

39. Searching a library database • Ford recently announced that it would market its Jaguars, Aston Martins, Land Rovers, and Volvos to a particular population group in the U.S.  Find an article that identifies that group. • Where did you look first? • Where did you FIND the article? • What is the population group?(ABI/Inform)

47. Creating Assignments http://library.smc.edu/webresearch.html#Teaching http://www.sacollege.org/students/library/nealley/pathfinders/effective_assignments.htmhttp://www.lib.umich/edu/instruct/assignments.tips.htmlhttp://servercc.oakton.edu/~wittman/find/assign.htm http://www.sacollege.org/students/library/nealley/pathfinders/effective_assignments.htmhttp://www.csuchico.edu/lins/assignments/promoting_infolit.htmlhttp://www.library.fullerton.edu/information_comp/Assignments.htmhttp://www.library.csuhayward.edu/library_assignments.htmhttp://library.csun.edu/assign.htmlhttp://dometest.sdsu.edu/about/depts/instruction/pitfalls.shtmlhttp://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Tips.htmlhttp://library.tamu.edu/reference/instruction/successassign.htmhttp://www.lib.umd.edu/UES/assignment.html#PIThttp://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Steenbock/bipage/assignqu.htmhttp://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/infosrv/lue/effectiveassignments.htmlhttp://www2.canisius.edu/canhp/canpub/ciq/CIQ_May96/library.html

48. Term Paper Alternatives: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/PaperAlternatives.html Writing Learning Outcomes: http://www.aallnet.org/prodev/outcomes.asp Improving Assignments: http://www.csulb.edu/~ttravis/GESI/revised.htm

49. Future: • Expand scope—lifelong learning • Work with other faculty and librarians • K-12 • 4-year higher ed institutions