Information Literacy in the Seminars

The university - Dominican University

Private, Catholic, Liberal Arts, comprehensive 4 year university

Total enrollment currently 3500 students (grad and undergrad -- about half and half)

Mission driven:

• To Pursue truth
• To Give compassionate services
• To Participate in the creation of a more just and humane world

Emphasis on education of 1st generation college students

The Seminar Program and the Freshmen Seminar in particular

Liberal Arts and Sciences Seminars in which student consider mutiple perspectives on personal, social, and philosophical issues by reading, discussing and writing about the seminar topics.  The Freshmen Seminar considers the Dimensions of the Self

Taught by instructors from a variety of departments to represent alternative approaches to different topics. 

Thematic and build upon prior semesters.  The questions are meant to be both universal and urgent and engage the whole person throughout life.

Integrative - help see students see and articulate connections between their coursework and their lives beyond the classroom. 

Specifically, the seminars help students:

•    develop their skills in critical thinking, reading, writing, and speaking;

•    synthesize knowledge they are drawing from other courses;

•    learn to collaborate with others in building knowledge and understanding;

•    reflect on matters intellectual, moral, and spiritual.

The Tradition & the Problems

Library Instruction had been a part of the Freshmen Seminar as long as anyone could remember and generally believed to have begun prior to 1970.  The first coordinated and structured relationship began in 1997 when Mary Pat Fallon joined the library faculty.  At that point the Academic Bulletin and the University By-Laws already included a library instruction foundation requirement coupled with the Freshmen Seminar.  In 2002 the discussion of altering this relationship began.  There were two driving forces: The English Department and the Library.  They eventually collaborated the solution arose from two separate questions. 

1. What do students need to know about academic writing?

2. Information Literacy vs. Library Instruction?  Can we address students' needs in a one-shot guest lecture session in the Freshmen Seminars? 

1. “English 102 and the Disciplines, What do students need to know about academic writing?”  Described as follows: “English 102 is many students' first sustained and in-depth introduction to formal, even "disciplined," academic writing, yet there is no universal agreement on what students need to know.  Do they need to know how to do independent research projects and write "research papers"?  Is it better to spend more time and focused effort on component skills like critical reading, summarizing, analyzing, and synthesizing rather than devoting the extended time and effort needed to write independent research papers?  Is English 102 the place to introduce students to "writing across the curriculum"?  The English department has been discussing these questions, but what we teach in English 102 may have a direct impact on the writing you get in your classes, so we need your perspective.  At this seminar we will describe an approach to English 102 that gives students in-depth practice with the component skills of academic writing and at the same time provides a broader introduction to the nature and functions of academic writing.”

2. “The ability to locate, retrieve, and evaluate information sources is a Dominican graduation requirement.  The increasing complexity and quantity of information and information tools makes effective instruction in its scholarly use difficult to accomplish in a one-shot guest lecture class.  The Library faculty would like to propose that Literacy Instruction be uncoupled from the Freshman Seminar and established as a stand-alone course with academic credit. (The stand-alone course was eventually scrapped for a variety of reasons -- not the least of which were staffing related but instruction in a vacuum was a factor as well).

The Benefits

1. Increased instruction requests and more opportunities for collaboration.

2. Increased recognition of need for instruction on the part of faculty.

The Problems

1. Instruction in a vacuum - successful learning occurs when practice is placed within an immediately relevant context

2. Student engagement - just in case was a recipe for study apathy (at best)

3. Faculty involvement - faculty participated because they saw value in the instruction but not because it filled a specific need in the context of the class.

4. Librarian frustration - the evident apathy and ennui of the students dampered enthusiasm

5. Assessment - a quiz was used intitally, then a worksheet handout.  Perceived busywork and no teeth.

A Collaborative Solution

• 2 librarians
• 3 English Department Faculty
• Proposals, presentations and a by-law change

The move to English 102

The language for the Information Literacy Requirement now reads:

Foundation Requirement #4

The ability to effectively find, evaluate, and utilize information is defined as a set of skills called information literacy.  Introduction to these skills will take place in English 102 where students will learn the basics of library research including the ability to search library databases for articles and books; effectively use the Internet for academic purposes; evaluating the information critically; and using the information ethically and legally.