Information Literacy in Psychology & the

Librarian

Joli McClellandInstruction & Web Design Librarian

Queens University of Charlottemcclellandj@queens.edu

704-337-2591

Ba in Psychology, 2000

Queens College Undergraduate connections led to a partnership

between the library and the Psychology Department

In the beginning . . .

All Psychology Majors are required to take:

PSYC 306: Experimental Methods Must complete a publishable research paper

PSYC 400/401: Advanced General 1 & 2 Must complete Senior Thesis

Evolution of PSYC 300

Two parallel precipitating factors – Frustrations and

AssessmentFrustrations Faculty

Student papers did not reflect high quality literature Student presentations were weak on substance (but strong on

appearance)

Students Students unable to find literature for their papers Students unable to distinguish among different types of

literature in Psychology

Evolution of PSYC 300

Add a course to be taken after General (Introductory) Psychology to specifically

teach literacy skills

Select goals from APA standards to set up course objectives and literacy learning outcomes: 

Goal 3: Critical Thinking Skills in Psychology Students will respect and use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry, and, when

possible, the scientific approach to solve problems related to behavior and mental processes.

Goal 6: Information and Technological Literacy Students will demonstrate information competence and the ability to use computers and

other technology for many purposes.

 Goal 7: Communication Skills Students will be able to communicate effectively in a variety of formats.

Try to convince librarians to teach most of the classes and grade all of the papers

The Plan

QUILT – Queens Information Literacy Tutorial.

Must pass quiz with at least 80%

Class sessions, spread throughout the semester, on Library Instruction & Information Literacy topics.

Meet with students one-on-one for topic discussion and research guidance.

Presence in physical class and online LMS (Moodle).

The Curriculum

Results

00.5

11.5

22.5

33.5

44.5

Tech.report

Lit review Researchreport

Pre

Post

Pre-post differences for technical reports and lit reviews were significant at the .o1 level

Self-rated Proficiency for Types of Writing in Psychology

Question: How do you find articles on a topic in

Psychology? 61 % changed from no mention of a database on the pre-

test to mention of some database on the post-test

83% changed from general answers on the pre-test to specific answers on the post-test

Examples: Books → Databases

Internet → Psychological Databases

Databases → PsycINFO; PsycARTICLES

Results