Teaching information skills effectively

Mini-lecture key points: 5 suggestions: Start with easy wins. Beware cognitive overload. Don't stack learning outcomes. Let students show the way. (Assess & then assign). Identify tripping points.

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Sample assignments/lessons:

A variety of sample assignments and lesson plans are available here

Hello! My name is John Oliver, and I'm the Information Literacy Librarian at The College of New Jersey "Information literacy" is a phrase that's commonly misunderstood, even in higher ed settings. Many equate it with phrases like "library research" or "how to use the library," but it's much more than that. In the video at right, I discuss how information literacy is essential to any course for first-year students, plus I explain why course instructors play a key role in facilitating students' information literacy learning.

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As you work through the various chapters in this module, consider how the following practices and behaviors factor into learning how to read, think, and write at the college level:

• Engaging in discourse amidst contradictions and disagreements
• Students incorporating their own voice among others' perspectives
• Allowing course materials to pique curiosity or inspire evolving inquiry
• Reading closely with an appreciation for nuanced perspectives Evaluating what sources are credible (and what role the topic plays on that evaluation)
• Whose voices are missing from scholarly discourse?

The various chapters on this page address these questions and more. As you're working through the materials, please feel free to reach out: oliverj@tcnj.edu What's missing? How can I help?

Mini-lecture key points: Scholarship is a conversation: Academic writing involves grappling with multiple perspectives. Start with info foundations for first-year students, especially using and applying info: interpreting evaluating integrating summarizing paraphrasing quoting directly [all with sources provided by the classroom instructor] [all without asking students to independently find sources]

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Mini-reading:

Two-page excerpt about "Scholarship as conversation" (Bravender, et al, 2019) [link to full e-book]

Reflection:

How could you convey the interplay of multiple perspectives? What is a multifaceted conversation/controversy likely to emerge in your first-year course? List some of the competing perspectives on that controversy. How could you convey this interplay of voices to students?

Sample assignments/lessons:

Use the navigation in the left margin of this page to find a variety of sample assignments and lesson plans. Here are two examples:

Interacting with others' voices: A sequence of activities for building fundamental research and writing skills like summarizing, paraphrasing, and direct quotations. [link]

Researchers in dialogue ("Are you talking to me?"): This activity uses any two articles in which researchers (or other persons with differing perspectives) directly engage with one another. [link]

Mini-lecture key points: Evaluating credibility of materials: Requires an understanding of the topic and its context Is a challenge for novices Is always complicated (even for experts) Is best facilitated by classroom instructors

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Mini-reading:

One-page excerpt about "Authority is constructed and contextual" (Bravender, et al, 2019) [link to full e-book]

Reflection:

What are some different viewpoints surrounding a hobby of yours, and how do power and privilege shape that discourse? Who are the most well-known authorities? Who provides a less well-known viewpoint? How might power dynamics like these be reflected in the topics covered in your first-year course?

Sample assignments/lessons:

Use the navigation in the left margin of this page to find a variety of sample assignments and lesson plans. Here are two examples:

Everyone's an expert on something: By asking students about areas in which they are an expert themselves, we can help them recognize factors that confer expert status. [link]

Guided tour to demystify credible sources: An instructor-led guided tour of examples of credible sources (scholarly articles or otherwise) can go a long way toward helping students understand how to read, evaluate, and interact with sources. [link]

Mini-lecture key points: Writing and info skills are difficult. Instructors in first-year courses can help: Mind the "curse of knowledge" Pay attention to students' abilities Plan/sequence learning activities thoughtfully Name and discuss the challenges

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Reflection:

• What is some aspect of writing that you can recall struggling to learn? (For me, it was creating transitions from paragraph to paragraph).
• To overcome this, were you helped by any particular experiences, tactics, or attitudes?
• Now, imagine vividly that half of the students in your first-year course has this exact same challenge.
• What value, if any, might there be in sharing what your learning experience has been like?

Mini-lecture key points: Research is an evolving inquiry We find more questions, not just answers Novices misunderstand the purpose and the process of research Sources dictate the questions (not the other way around) Suggestions for learning activities

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Mini-reading:

Two-page excerpt about "Research as Inquiry" (Bravender, et al, 2019) [link to full e-book].

Reflection:

• How might your students benefit from you sharing your own curiosity?
• What is something that you read/viewed that made you curious enough to learn more? (In the academic realm or beyond).
• How might you use that experience/example to foster a discussion about curiosity and inquiry in your first-year course?

Sample assignments/lessons:

Use the navigation in the left margin of this page to find a variety of sample assignments and lesson plans. Here are two examples:

Inquiry worksheet: Shed new light on the ways that sources shape a research question (and the overall research endeavor). [link]

Research is a curious phenomenon [learning activity]: Shed light on how curiosity plays a role in college research. [link]

Mini-lecture key points: Inclusive pedagogy benefits all learners Some foundational skills always need practice (even in experts) All writing is discussing across difference Info is not neutral: Some suggested information privilege topics

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Sample assignments/lessons:

Use the navigation in the left margin of this page to find a variety of sample assignments and lesson plans. Here's one example:

Interacting with others' voices: Every learner and every writer benefits from building fundamental research and writing skills like summarizing, paraphrasing, and direct quotations. [link]