Britt Fagerheim

Integrating Information Literacy with a Sequenced English Composition Curriculum

This article details the process of implementing a sequenced information literacy program for two core English composition courses at Utah State University. Anextensive needs assessment guided the project, leading to a curriculum design process with the goal of building a foundation for deeper critical thinking skills. The curriculum development and implementation process highlights several of the advantages of using the course-integrated model of instruction to develop a more comprehensive information literacy program.

An Information Literacy Snapshot: Authentic Assessment across the Curriculum

This paper outlines the process and results of an authentic assessment of student work using a revised version of the AAC&Us Information Literacy VALUE rubric. This rigorous assessment, which included the scoring of nearly 900 student papers from four different stages across the undergraduate curriculum, revealed much about the process of authentic assessment of student learning, the struggles and competencies of our students, and a clear path forward for improving practice. It also gave us a broad view of student learning, allowing us to immerse ourselves in student work and providing a stronger narrative to share with stakeholders.

Instruction in a Virtual Environment: Assessing the Needs for an Online Tutorial

Abstract In 2002, librarians at the Utah State University (USU) Libraries were awarded a grant to develop online tutorials. The major design challenge was to create tutorials specific to USU resources and students, including distance learners, while also making them flexible so that other Utah colleges and universities can adapt them for their own needs. The tutorials also needed to address the information behavior of a new generation of students accustomed to using computers and the Internet. While recent studies have begun to address some gaps in our knowledge of the information behavior of the Web Generation, we conducted a needs assessment to help us create a tutorial that more accurately addresses the existing knowledge and behavior of undergraduates at USU. We used multiple methods to determine the learning needs of our audience and to provide guidance for the design process.

Using focus groups to assess student needs

Purpose – Reports methodology and findings of focus groups conducted at Utah state university to assess students’ needs in the library’s new information commons.Design/methodology/approach – A joint committee of computer services personnel and librarians, with assistance from undergraduate library peer mentors, undertook a series of focus groups with participants from the Utah state university student population. The goals were to assess the undiscovered needs of students and students’ preferences in a new library.Findings – After the focus group responses were organized into eleven categories, we recorded several key traits and sets of comments from our user population; our users spend a good deal of their study time in the library either working individually or as a group, participants differ in their preferences for seeking help in the library, and participants consider noise levels and adequate space to study important concerns.Practical implications – By following a few standard procedures, focus gro...

Librarians and Instructors Developing Student Learning Outcomes: Using Frameworks to Lead the Process

Purpose – The purpose of this paper if to design a workshop that effectively facilitates the collaborative revision of student learning outcomes based on current research relating to competencies in information literacy (IL). Design/methodology/approach – This case study describes collaborations between librarians and writing instructors throughout an eight-week workshop. The workshop focused on using the results of assessments to revise learning outcomes and restructure instruction practices to help students in the areas they struggle with the most. Three significant frameworks, including threshold concepts, backward design and decoding the disciplines, were used to facilitate effective discussion and revise learning outcomes. Findings – The structure of the workshop based on three key frameworks stimulated innovation, fostered collegiality, prompted future collaborative opportunities and garnered buy-in for the importance and implementation of IL initiatives. This collaboration served as a pilot worksho...

Online Plagiarism Training Falls Short in Biology Classrooms

This study compared three plagiarism-avoidance training formats (i.e., no training, online tutorial, or homework assignment) in several undergraduate ecology courses. The authors found that students trained with the homework assignment more successfully identified plagiarism or the lack thereof than did untrained students or students trained with the online tutorial.

Reaching Beyond Library Employees: Assessing IT Student Workers

ABSTRACT This article examines a collaboration between academic librarians and campus IT to provide library training and assessment for computer lab consultants who work in the library. Pre- and post-tests were used to gauge lab consultants’ ability to answer frequently asked library questions using online guides. This research project also served as a pilot for collaborations between the librarys Coordinator of Outreach and Peer Learning and supervisors of student workers in the library.