Skip to Main Content

Integrating Information Literacy into the Curriculum

Instructional Information Literacy

Information Literacy Assignment Ideas

Embedding Information Literacy Across Disciplines

Standards

Art

Evaluating Pictures Activity

Learning Outcomes:

  • Students will learn to apply evaluation criteria to pictures
  • Students will learn to consider what information has been left out of the picture.

Credit: Burkhardt, Joanna M. Teaching Information Literacy Reframed. Neal Schuman, 2016, p. 93.

Communications

According to the National Communication Association, Communications graduates should be able to : Locate and use information relevant to the goals, audiences, purposes and contexts (National Communication Association, 2015).

The National Association of Media Literacy Education believes "that effective media literacy education expands the concept of literacy to include all forms of media and integrates multiple literacies in developing mindful media creators and consumers" (National Association of Media Literacy Education, 2023).

FMTH

Standards:

According to the Council of Writing Program Administrators, by the end of first-year composition, students should

  • Locate and evaluate (for credibility, sufficiency, accuracy, timeliness, bias and so on) primary and secondary research materials, including journal articles and essays, books, scholarly and professionally established and maintained databases or archives, and informal electronic networks and internet sources
  • Practice applying citation conventions systematically in their own work (Council of Writing Program Administrators, 2019)

 

Pedagogy

Activities/Lesson Plans

Standards

General Science

Chemistry

Environment

Engineering

Psychology

Examples of Non Term Paper Assignments

  • Poster Sessions/Research Posters
  • Create a web site or storymap
  • Record a video or podcast
  • Debates or panels
  • Simulations of real life projects: project proposals; grant applications; Business/marketing plans;  letter to government; presentations to a community group, etc.
  • Annotated Bibliographies
  • Research Logs
  • Create a lesson plan
  • Create a brochure or flyer
  • Create an infographic
  • Blog post

Tips for Creating Research Assignments

  • Reach out to the Library Faculty. We know our collections and our students! We can help you identify which resources are the best match for your assignment. We may not have the resource or title that you used in graduate school, or in your own undergraduate experience, but we will collaborate with your to identify other appropriate resources for your assignment.
  • Test your research topic choices and source availability in our databases before offering them as an option. Is there enough to support this topic? Is there anything we need to order?
  • Provide an example of a successful student assignment from the past.
  • Consider the “mismatching” or misalignment of topic and source types. 
    • Think about the level of detail required of the topic before determining what types of sources should be used. Remember that peer reviewed articles are written by experts *for* experts in a given field of study, and the level of detail being discussed in a scholarly article may not be appropriate for the topic being researched.
    • When setting time limitations (eg. published in the last 5 years) keep in mind the length of time required to publish certain types of sources, as well as availability of most recent titles (due to embargoes on publications).
    • Evaluating sources of all types is a useful real life skill, and is valuable practice in considering how different types of sources are useful in different contexts.
  • Remember the books and ebooks! HACC library is continuously expanding its ebooks holdings. Often a book chapter or section or a reference book article is the perfect match for a student topic. Ask for a “books” orientation.
  • When setting a minimum number of sources, consider the amount of information you would want them to cite. If a student is citing 8 sources for a two-page paper, there is little room left for original thought. Additionally, students may end up placing more effort in finding “any old thing” in order to meet the requirement than in critically evaluating a more manageable number of sources.
  • Consider implementing “source checks” before the assignment is due, to see if students need additional 1: 1 with a librarian, or to redirect them  if necessary. 
  • Emphasize the ethical use of information in terms of paraphrasing and citation. However, don’t overemphasize the mechanics and minutiae of individual citations. Librarians have found that students focus on these details at the expense of identifying quality sources.
  • Avoid assumptions regarding students’ prior experiences with research in high school. Many may have little or no experience with searching library databases and catalogs.