Freshman core curriculum initiative embeds information literacy in signature courses.

The Libraries’ proposal to integrate baseline information literacy skills into the new core curriculum (to be in place by 2010) has been accepted and the program is being developed. Freshmen will all be required to take a signature course, which is either a small seminar with a faculty member or a large lecture course with small discussion sections. Library staff will integrate the approved learning outcomes into each signature course using a course-specific approach. Library staff will work with faculty members to determine the best method of integration for their course, which may include a library instruction session, embedding a librarian in the course virtually, exercises/assignments, tutorials, or a “train the teacher” approach. The Libraries have used many of these approaches already with the signature courses developed thus far. Library staff members are also developing an assessment tool to measure student learning for those approved learning outcomes. This program is under development and will ramp up with the addition of signature courses over the next two years, with the expectation of being in every signature course by the time the core curriculum is finalized in 2010. However, we expect that the information literacy component will continually evolve based on assessment results, changes in learner characteristics and any new best practices in information literacy instruction.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/faculty/literacy/core.html

Goals:

• Students will be able to create and execute a research strategy.

• Students will be able to critically evaluate information.

• Students will be able to use citations.

Assessment:

See above

Assessment of library instruction sessions.

For the past 2 years, we have been working with RHE 306 (basic writing course) and core curriculum signature courses to develop an effective multiple-choice assessment tool tied to the learning outcomes identified above. We use SurveyMonkey to pre- and post-test every class with a library instruction session. Pre-tests are distributed to each class at least a week before the library instruction session so that we can use the information to guide the content of the session. Post-tests are administered after the first research assignment so students will have had time to apply the skills to their research problem. We have worked with the campus Measurement & Evaluation Center to do item analysis each semester and use the results to improve the tool. We also ask for faculty feedback. For classes for which we create exercises/assignments or “train the TA,” we may use any combination of this tool, faculty feedback, or analyses of completed assignments.

Goals / Assessment:

See above

Plagiarism prevention program for freshman interest groups.

The Libraries are working with Students for Academic Integrity (part of student government), the Writing Center, the Writing Across the Curriculum program and Student Judicial Services to educate freshmen about plagiarism issues. Freshmen enter UT bound by an honor code but many do not know how to avoid plagiarism. Two-thirds of students place out of the core writing class where that content is first covered. Many freshmen enroll in learning communities, called FIGs (Freshmen Interest Groups). The new core curriculum scheduled to be completely in place by 2010 will require all freshmen to participate in a FIG. Beginning in Fall 08, the group above, led by the Libraries, will train FIG mentors (upper division undergraduates who work with a FIG) to teach their FIG members about plagiarism. A brief online tutorial about the process UT employs when a student is suspected of an academic integrity violation has been created and all FIG members will be asked to watch it. Then the FIG mentors, during one of the 1-hour weekly meetings they have with their FIG members, will use a curriculum the group developed to teach the FIG about why, how and when to cite sources. The curriculum, still being finalized, consists of active learning exercises such as a “cite it” game and a “you be the judge” small group discussion. We believe that peer-to-peer learning is a very effective method for this type of content because any fears and concerns students may have about honestly talking about issues of plagiarism in front of “experts” or authority figures will be moot.

Goals:

• Students will understand the basic process of what happens if they are suspected of an academic integrity violation, their rights, the consequences and the role of Student Judicial Services.

• Students will understand when they should cite sources (ex: direct quote, paraphrase, using someone else’s idea, citing images, etc.).

• Students will understand the value of using and citing sources (ex: knowledge building, disciplinary conversations).

Assessment:

We have not yet assessed this activity because it won’t be rolled out until Fall 2008. We plan to assess this rather informally at first, by asking FIG mentors for feedback about what worked and didn’t work, changes they would recommend, comments they had from students and, based upon that feedback, decide if we should further develop the program and student learning outcomes assessment tools, or abandon it.

Tips and techniques for library instruction.

This is a tutorial for library staff covering teaching fundamentals.
URL: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/tips/index.html

Goals / Assessment:

NA

“Mockumentary” portrays poor teaching techniques.

The Libraries developed a workshop for library staff instructors about effective teaching styles. Included in the materials is a humorous “mockumentary” portraying poor teaching and student reactions to it. Workshop attendees wrote down all the problems they saw and this was used as the basis for a group discussion. Not on the web but we keep meaning to put it up.

Goals / Assessment:

NA

Web 2.0 workshops.

The Libraries provide drop-in workshops on Web 2.0 technologies as they apply to finding/organizing/synthesizing information. Classes offered include Understanding Blogs & RSS Feeds and Social Bookmarking.

Goals / Assessment:

NA

Project to link library resources into Blackboard.

Currently working on automated content in Blackboard. This means that links to subject specialist librarians and subject/course research guides would automatically appear in a Blackboard course based on the course prefix (ex: HIS 350 would link to the history librarian/materials). This would primarily reach undergraduates (the largest users of Blackboard on campus) with the goal of raising the profile of librarians/library resources as starting points for research. This is still in development but we hope to measure effectiveness by monitoring research consultation/reference question statistics and web server statistics (hits to research guides).

Goals / Assessment:

See above

Wiki aids composition course instructors and students.

RHE Wiki. Created a wiki for RHE 306/309 courses, which are lower division composition courses. This wiki includes guides created for the program, handouts from library instruction sessions and links to RHE 306/309 librarians and to virtual reference services. All RHE instructors have the password for this wiki and are free to add resources/guides/research tips and comment on existing resources. We just rolled this out last semester and no RHE instructors have yet commented but we are hoping to get buy-in from the new instructors for next fall by talking to them about how their input would benefit their students during the pedagogy class required of new instructors.
http://wiki.lib.utexas.edu/rhe/

Goals / Assessment:

See above