Achieving Information Literacy

Proposal to the University for an Information Literacy Program (July 2000)

4. Program for Students

4.1 Objectives for student achievement of information literacy

The objectives are to:

• optimise student's study skills so that they gain as much as possible from their course of study; and
• ensure that by the time students graduate they are equipped with the skills essential for effective operation in employment.
• Enable the accreditation of their skills, for those students who need it.

4.2 Critical Success Factors

The following factors have been identified as critical to the success of the student information literacy program:

• Level of support - financial and policy - for promoting information literacy.
• A Teaching and Learning Plan, documenting 'graduate attributes' including information literacy competencies.
• Commitment to providing students with a high-quality learning environment.
• All students who need help services or training know how to access them.
• Professional approach by those involved in coordinating/organising information literacy activities – eg programs developed & publicised well in advance.
• Wide availability of computer equipment (quality and access hours) to support learning.
• Availability of help through reference desks, information commons, web forms, phone and other means to respond to individual problems.

4.3 Competencies for ANU Students

Within the ambit of information literacy there appear to be two reasonably distinct requirements for students.

In order to function at even a basic level in almost any workplace now, and to complete any secondary or post secondary education, it is imperative that one can operate a desktop computer for the purpose of:

• Word processing
• Preparing simple presentations
• Using e-mail
• Preparing basic tables or spreadsheets
• Data management (eg saving of documents - directory structure), and
• Browsing and searching the Web

There is a further set of scholarly skills, which relate to the student's capacity to:

• identify what information is needed for the assignment;
• know where to look for it;
• develop a search strategy;
• evaluate the information found; and
• use it appropriately..

As the volume of information which is readily accessible increases, it is becoming important to be able to select from the many sources an amount of information which one can reasonably use and assimilate. Increasingly, information is not free and so choosing cost effective sources also becomes important to effective functioning. Students need to be aware of copyright and intellectual property issues.

The competency sets required involve both of the streams described above, namely:

• Basic IT skills
• Information retrieval skills, and
• Scholarly information access

4.4 Assessment of Competency

As far as possible, student competency will be assessed through the normal curriculum and/or by automated processes. Generic, automated on-line assessment forms, linked to the student system, will be provided by the Division of Information for the agreed basic IT and information literacy competencies. Students will be expected to demonstrate their competency in these basic skills by the end of their first year. An incentive, and a demonstration of the importance that the University attaches to these skills should be identified. For example, that the final mark for the year be withheld pending successful completion of the assessment.

The ILP should provide a range of learning opportunities and services which are promoted widely to students. The impact of the program should be measured. For example, user statistics should be maintained to enable the University to evaluate the success of the various strategies.

The Information Literacy Program should be reviewed at least annually. Elements of the program should be adjusted to ensure that the ILP continues to meet the University's objectives.

Each formal course undertaken through the ILP should include a brief quiz at the beginning of the course to assess students' abilities with a similar quiz at the end to assess how much learning has taken place. This will not only provide information about the success of a particular program but, when aggregated, provide: benchmark information for the overall program, whether new cohorts of students are entering the University with higher levels of IT and information literacy skills, and may also point to which demographic/s of students require help.

4.5 Content of Program

The following strategies are recommended:

• Provide a range of training and help opportunities which recognise the different styles of learning and requirements of students. This should include as a minimum:
  • Development, in consultation with academic staff, of resource guides for staff on information literacy resources and strategies available to assist in the incorporation of information literacy elements into the curriculum.
  • On-line information literacy assessment, with a database linked to the student system.
  • InfoPlace scope widened. This might, include more training opportunities than are can currently be provided.
  • Help services including: Library reference staff, IT staff, scholarly technology staff, virtual reference desk, web services, telephone services, email services.
  • On-line interactive IT training modules.
  • On-line interactive Information Literacy modules.
• Maintain links with the secondary school sector to fine tune our program in response to its success in producing students with IT and information literacy competence.
• Teaching and Learning Plan to encourage Departments to include information literacy elements in all courses. Make provision for rewards to Departments which are successful. Include as a criterion in departmental reviews, include as a Head of Department responsibility in duty statements.
• Overseas students to undertake bridging courses in IT literacy before taking up their studies.
• By the Year 2002, incorporation into coursework of measures for assessing students' abilities against agreed information competencies.

4.6 Promotion and Marketing

It is important to communicate the University's commitment to Information Literacy competency to Deans and Directors and faculty staff so that staff:

• recognise that use of electronic information resources is now fundamental to the curriculum and plan accordingly;
• encourage students to participate in information literacy programs within and outside of the curriculum.

It is equally important that students are aware of the training and help services being offered. Too often those who really need these services are unaware of them.

A high quality promotion campaign will be developed to ensure that students can take full advantage of the Information Literacy Program.