Project on Information Literacy in Teaching
Illinois College
2010-2013
Illinois College is proud to announce its Project on Information Literacy in Teaching. The project is a joint undertaking of the Schewe Library and the Office of Information Technology, with the goal of helping faculty integrate into their courses assignments and learning designed to help students locate, evaluate, use, and cite information well.
This three-year project is made possible by the generosity of the Mellon Foundation, which has provided encouragement, advice, and funding. We particularly thank Susan Perry, whose ideas helped shape this project. The Project is overseen by the Office of Academic Affairs and led by the Information Literacy Team: Michael Westbrook, Assistant Librarian and Associate Professor of Library Science, Pat Headen, Assistant Director of Information Technology, and Beth Bala, Assistant Librarian and Assistant Professor of Library Science. As part of the grant, the Information Literacy Team is visiting other colleges to learn about their programs and prepare Illinois College faculty and staff to help students gain information literacy.
The core of the Information Literacy Project is a series of summer seminars for faculty. In each seminar, ten to twelve faculty will work on projects for new courses or redevelopment of existing courses, integrating assignments designed to enhance students’ information literacy. Seminar participants will also become skilled at twenty-first-century technological tools for pedagogy in the classroom and for research projects. They will learn about the most recent developments in utilizing library resources, so that they can help students gain the same capability. The summer seminars are designed for faculty at all levels of technological competence. Some faculty may currently teach using a variety of technologies, but be interested in developing skills with new software. Other faculty may want to improve their level of sophistication.
Each summer seminar will have a theme. For July 2010, the theme is “Collaboration.” Collaboration among faculty and librarians, librarians and experts in information technology, faculty and students, librarians and students, and among students has become the hallmark of successful information retrieval and use. Research in all disciplines is entwined with technology. The 2010 seminar, entitled, “Collaboration: Technology, Research Tools, and Teaching,” will enable Illinois College faculty, librarians, and information technology experts to practice that collaboration, in aid of practicing it with students the following year.
Another significant aspect to the Information Literacy Project will be a speaker series lasting over the three years of the Project. Experts from other small liberal arts colleges will be invited each year to present to the campus about their own collaboration and pedagogical successes relating to information literacy, pedagogy, and student research.
