Developing a Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Course

Course Description

The one-shot is still the most common mode of teaching information literacy, so most library-focused professional development opportunities reasonably focus on that model. However, that leaves librarians who are asked to teach a semester-long information literacy course to seek strategies elsewhere. This class is designed to fill that gap, to translate skills honed in one-shots to a new format.

We will start with the assumption that you have some background in techniques for designing active, engaging exercises, but that you have not been solely responsible for grading student work or managing class dynamics across a full semester. Embedded in the discussions of class planning and classroom management, we will also discuss ways that this format provides opportunities to enact feminist and critical pedagogies. This class will focus on designing a semester-long information literacy course, but it may also provide insight that could be useful in working with other faculty to incorporate information literacy into their courses.

By the end of this course, participants will have:

• Practiced developing and connecting lesson-level learning outcomes and overarching course-level outcomes
• Explored different assignment types in order to determine the most appropriate method of assessment for the course learning outcomes
• Examined the value of rubrics for use in grading
• Compared syllabi in order to discuss elements you may like to include in yours
• Discussed classroom management strategies

This course can be taken as one of the courses in our eight-course Certificate in Library Instruction, but can be taken as a stand-alone course as well.