Information Literacy - 21:248 Spring 2009 Monday 9:30-12:15

Course Policies

Course Description:

Information Literacy is a course that prepares students for instructional work as information professionals. This work is complex for various reasons that we will explore in this class. In addition to bibliographic knowledge, it involves instructional design, curriculum development, learning theory, and pedagogy, all of which must be correlated to library practice. Overall, it means that librarians are working in more extensive relationships with those outside the library than they have historically done. This work is challenging but it can be exciting and rewarding. Information literacy has been referred to as a "Revolution in the Library," (see Brevik and Gee, Information Literacy: A Revolution in the Library), and, as with most revolutions, the transformative power of information literacy comes with some controversy.

This course is designed to prepare students for careers in Instructional Services in all types of libraries, but it should be noted that effective instructors are always avid learners, and you should consider this course an introduction to teaching in the library. You will never stop learning to teach.

Goals:

• Students will become familiar with perspectives for understanding teaching and learning, as these practices relate to individuals in society and in libraries.
• Students will learn to recognize diversity in learning styles and cultural contexts and learn various instructional strategies to adjust to these variables.
• Students will become familiar with approaches to developing instructional programs at different kinds of libraries, including ways of organizing instructional programs and the issues that arise in daily managment of such programs. These issues include questions of collaboration with constituents and approaches to assessment of learning, instruction and programming.
• Students will work toward an individualized teaching style that is appropriate for learning level and instructional context. Students will define a teaching style and present it to the class.

Assignments

Midterm Essay

Roughly the first half of the class will be devoted to a set of core readings.  These will be designed to introduce successive concepts to help you build an understanding of literacy and information literacy.  On March 20 (a Friday), you will submit an essay, which will be the culimating exercise of this first part of the course.

Teaching Presentation

With a partner, you will present one fifteen minute teaching session to the class. You will choose the material to present, and you will design and execute the session. The class will provide a critique of each teaching session. Your presentation should represent your thinking about effective classroom instruction and should stretch your abilities to create an effective learning environment for students.

Panel Presentation

As part of a panel, you will present information literacy "in context." This presentation will take the form of a strategic planning exercise. You will explore the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that define information literacy in the context of a particular information organization.

Final Paper
The observation and reading will culminate in a final research paper. This paper (15 pages) will link the readings you do to the observations of teaching sessions. Your goal is to use the ideas from the readings to analyze instruction. The paper will be evaluated based on your ability to read the research well and to connect it to the observations in meaningful ways.

Midterm Essay : 25%
Teaching Presentations: 20%
15 page research paper: 25%
Panel Presentation 20%
Class Participation / Exercises: 10%

Grading:

Grades will be assigned from A+ through F. It is assumed that you can do graduate level work, and you will be graded on that standard. In general, that means that you can do independent research, and that you can write up the results of that research in an acceptable, professional style. It also means that you can convey sophisticated content in a clear and accessible manner, both writing and speaking. Finally, it means that you can treat the class as a pre-professional experience, which means that you will attend class regularly and participate in an engaged and mature way.

Class Participation

During the course of the semester, we will discuss readings, do presentations, and make excursions out into the library. You will do assignments both in class and out of class. You will work individually and in groups. These activities will comprise the class participation component of the grade. Your participation should be considered a service to the rest of the class, and the quality of class participation depends on how useful your presence is to class as a whole. Excessive absences (more than two) will affect the class participation component of the grade.

A Note on Creating a Positive Classroom Environment-

Each classroom is a collective effort on the part of the students and the instructor(s) to do meaningful work. In the best classrooms, students and teachers learn together. These classrooms don't just "happen:" they are the result of commitment to the process and the work we are here to do. Your instructor for this class is committed to this approach. I ask specifically for your attention to the following

• Be Here Now. You should be in class emotionally and intellectually. Turn off your cell phone. Put aside distractions and focus on your work for this class.
• No Excuses. Your work in the class should represent your best effort. Anything less is the result of compromises. Please don't share the compromises you make about the quality of your work with your instructor, and don't expect external factors to play a part in your instrctor's evaluations of your work. You should strive to get your work done on time, and you should strive to make the work that you do your best work.
• Play by the Rules. You are expected to turn in all assignments on time. You are expected to do your own work. If you take ideas or language from others, you are expected to acknowledge your original sources. There are penalties for failing to play by the rules. Late papers are penalized one letter grade for each class session that meets past the deadline. Plagiarism will be handled according to the rules of poloicies of the Graduate College. You should familiarize yourself with the policies of the Graduate College as they relate to student rights and responsibilities.

Special Accommodations-
Your instructor would like to know about any circumstances that might affect our expectations about your work in the class. Student Disability Services exists to advise students about their rights to accommodations. Please initiate this process soon in the semester either by speaking to me or by contacting S.D.S.