Pedagogy Resources for Essential Skill 10: Information Literacy

Information literacy includes several nuanced and overlapping skills that lead to an ability to process information and make decisions in ways that employers routinely identify as highly desirable. With more information than ever more readily available than ever before, students must discriminate in terms of credibility and authenticity. They must also develop strategies for filtering information to decide what matters and in what contexts, and then use that information for novel and acceptable purposes.

Employers will expect graduates to synthesize new information and use available data to create new knowledge. Graduates who can acquire and use information responsibly and authoritatively will benefit organizations involved in the knowledge economy.

Teaching Information Literacy

Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education | Association of College and Research Libraries / American Library Association
Framework of core concepts (frames) related to authority, the creation and value of information, research and scholarship processes and purposes, and ideas for implementation for librarians, faculty, and instructors.

Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education | Association of College and Research Libraries
Comprehensive article defining information literacy and applying definition to contemporary higher education contexts to arrive at set of five standards, each with performance indicators, and recommendations for pedagogy and assessment.

GEARUP (Gather, Evaluate, Apply, Respect) with Information Literacy | Northern Kentucky University QEP 2019
Impact report from Northern Kentucky University’s 2019 information literacy-focused QEP ("quality enhancement plan").

“Teaching Information Literacy in an Age of Misinformation” | Faculty Focus
Article describing rationale and processes for teaching information literacy and evaluation of sources and data in a sociology course.

Integrating Information Literacy into your Courses | SUNY Oswego
Collection of rubrics, sample assignments, and best practices for integrating information literacy skills and abilities across the curriculum.

Kentucky Virtual Library Database with Information Literacy Instructional Resources
Click “Postsecondary” under “Level” to filter for resources specific to postsecondary education.

UNESCO’s Information for All Project
Project designed to provide access to information and improvement of information literacy skills in populations worldwide to prepare citizens for work and life in a digital society.

Common Sense Education’s Digital Citizenship project: Information and Media Literacy
Curriculum covering many aspects of information and digital literacy. The curriculum is designed for children through middle school age, but its tips for educators, approaches to information literacy assignments, and other support materials can be scaled up for college-level students.

Why Media and Information Literacy are Essential in the Age of Disinformation
World Economic Forum resource that examines the life cycle of disinformation, and teaching the importance of information literacy skills in discovering and challenging it.

The Role of Media and Information Literacy in a Digital World
Editorial from the non-partisan group Vision of Humanity examining the importance of critical thinking and leveraging information literacy as a means of leveling the socioeconomic playing field across global populations.

Assessing Information Literacy

“Developing an assessment plan for information literacy learning outcomes | Association of College and Research Libraries
Article that applies the framework for information literacy to short-term information literacy courses at the University of Northern Colorado. Article identifies Student Learning Outcomes from the courses and process for assessment of information literacy-related SLOs.

Information Literacy Assessment Toolkit from PALNI (The Private Library Network of Indiana) 

Site includes information on framing assessment, program-level assessment, course-level assessment, classroom assessment techniques, assessment tools and a bibliography of resources.  

American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) VALUE Rubric  

AAC&U's information literacy rubric developed to evaluate and discuss student learning, particularly on an institutional level. 

Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Sandbox  

Searchable resource for rubrics, lesson plans, and instructional materials. Librarians use the Framework to guide library instruction sessions and student learning outcomes. 

Rubric Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (RAILS)  

Helps librarians create and use rubrics for information literacy assessment. The organization's site links to several recommended rubrics sorted by institution and/or outcome. 

Information Literacy Rubric from Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles  

Rubric evaluating the ability to demonstrate (1) the skills required to find, retrieve, evaluate, and use information effectively and ethically; and (2) research skills and methods through the ability to gather, document, investigate, analyze, interpret and evaluate information. 

Information Literacy Rubric from University of New Orleans  

Rubric evaluating four information literacy skills on a scale from 0-3. The student learning outcome is to evaluate the extent to which undergraduate students demonstrate the ability to identify, find, evaluate, interpret, manage, and responsibly use information to answer questions as well as develop new ones. 

Information Literacy Rubric from University of Texas  

Rubric addressing the ability to (1) evaluate authority and credibility of a source, (2) evaluate the use of evidence in a source, and (3) cite a source with correct formatting. 

Teaching Decision Making

“Toward informed leadership: Teaching students to make better decisions using information” | Purdue University e-Pubs
Article arguing for integration of information into decision management as a leadership skill. Identifies strategies to support and develop decision making skills through information literacy practices and pedagogy.

“Teaching Expert Information Literacy Behaviors through Decision-Based Learning | College and Research Libraries
Article that provides methods for instruction in decision making and information literacy. Emphasizes decision-based learning pedagogy.