Zayed University’s Information Literacy Program

Fiona Hunt, MLISAcademic Advisor and Instructor, University College,

Zayed University, Abu Dhabi

ZU Information Literacy Program• Has been through many iterations since the

university’s inception

• Currently integrated across the curriculumo Learning outcomes for information literacy embedded

in appropriate courses at all levels

ZU Baccalaureate Program

• 1st three semesters = General Education Program (or the Colloquy Program)

• Final 5 semesters = Major Program

General Education

General Education

Major

Major

MajorMajor

Major

General Education

ZU Learning Outcomes (ZULOs)• Overarch entire baccalaureate program• Upon graduation, students are expected to

demonstrate competency in the following areas:o Information Literacyo Technological Literacyo Languageo Global Awarenesso Critical Thinking and Quantitative Reasoning o Leadership

ZU Information Literacy Program• Information Literacy in the Advising Streamo1st semester: COL 120

o Student success: research skills/IL, note taking, time management, test taking, etc.

o2nd semester: COL 105oCareer exploration and UAE world of work

General Education

General Education

Major

Major

MajorMajor

Major

General Education

COL 120Information Literacy outcomes for the course:

o Find, use and evaluate information (IL1, IL3)o Research using multiple information sources (IL2)

Also reinforces citations, though officially embedded in the English stream

ZU Information Literacy Program

COL 120 (cont…)IL content taught by advisors (course instructors) with librarian instruction in two class sessions

• Library visit/tour• Classroom trouble shooting session

ZU Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy ProgramCOL 120 IL Assessment

Annotated bibliography• Including information from books, web sites,

periodical articles, encyclopedia articles (10% of course grade)

Final exam • Multiple choice, true/false and short answer

questions on IL concepts (20% of course grade)

Teaching Information LiteracyConsiderations in the Gulf

o Language levelo Educational backgroundo GPA pressureo Difficulties with abstraction

Important to…o Provide sufficient motivationo Create a reason/structure for students to learn from/fix

their mistakeso Break material down into simple stepso Make it as experiential as possible

Information Literacy ProgramProviding sufficient motivation:• IL assignments are graded (total: 30+% of course)

o Provide sources for group project (which is worth 30% of course grade)

o Eg. 5 students per group IL assignments provide a total of 30 sources for the group project

• Group project portfolio requires evaluations of all sources found

THUS…IL assignments feed directly into other course work, making them highly relevant and useful for students

Information Literacy ProgramProviding structure for learning from errors:eg.Assignments 1 and 2 • Annotated bibliographies of three sources each• A1 = 2 web sites and a book• A2 = encyclopedia article and 2 periodical articles• 5 marks for completion (2.5% of course grade)• Detailed feedback

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy ProgramProviding structure for learning from errors:eg.Assignments 1 and 2 • Annotated bibliographies of three sources each• A1 = 2 web sites and a book• A2 = encyclopedia article and 2 periodical articles• 5 marks for completion (2.5% of course grade)• Detailed feedback

Assignment 3• Annotated bibliography of three sources• Sources taken from A1 and A2• Graded out of 30 points• Worth 10% of course grade

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy Program

Examples from the classroom:• Evaluating information• Search strings for database searching

evolution of my approach towards these two topics

Breaking material down into simple steps and making it experiential

Information Literacy ProgramEv

alua

ting

info

rmati

on

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy ProgramStudents in groups of three• One computer per group – tell Ss which website to look at• One card per group (see below)• One two-sided worksheet (previous slide) for each student to

write notes on

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy ProgramThen, they can handle the flow chart• Point out that

it’s what they’ve just done but all on one sheet

Information Literacy Program

Information Literacy Program

For access to this and other similarly designed activities, please feel free to ask me after the session.

Thank you