Liberal Education & America's Promise (LEAP) Initiative’s

Impact on Information Literacy Programs

#ACRLLeapILElizabeth Dolinger, Keene State College

Brooke Gilmore, Southern NH UniversityAnne Zald, UNLV

What Do Employers Want?Intellectual and Practical Skills• 89% Written & oral communication• 81% Critical thinking & analytic

reasoning• 75% Complex problem solving• 68% Information literacy

Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn, a survey of employers conducted for AAC&U by Hart Research Associates and published in 2010.

What is LEAP?Liberal Education for the 21st Century

AAC&U’s response to the need for outcomes-based generaleducation programs that develop essential intellectual skillsand more engaged and informed citizens.

“Essential Learning Outcomes”

• Knowledge of Human Culture and the Physical & Natural World

• Intellectual and Practical Skills

• Personal and Social Responsibility

• Integrative and Applied Learning

Intellectual & Practical Skills

• Inquiry and analysis• Critical and creative thinking• Written and oral communication• Quantitative literacy• Information literacy• Teamwork and problem solving

Campus Action Network

Where are the librarians? • How are librarians answering the call for skill

development? • Is the call for skill development impacting the

roles of librarians on campuses and information literacy programs?

• Are librarians leveraging this call as an opportunity to contribute their expertise?

Essential questions• Has the LEAP initiative altered the conversation on

campus about information literacy?

• Has the LEAP initiative affected the information literacy curriculum?

• Has the LEAP initiative affected the teaching practices of librarians?

• Has the LEAP initiative affected the roles of librarians?

Methodology • Used the list of Campus Action Network members. • Identified the person(s) with responsibility of the

Library's Information Literacy instruction program, or used general library email.

• Sent 33 question Qualtrics survey to 377 emails at 316 institutions.

• 123 respondents, 80 whose institutions revised the general education program since 2005 or are in process of revision

• Interviews are ongoing

Awareness of LEAP

out of 123

51% of respondents were not aware of their

institutions involvement with the LEAP initiative

prior to receiving the survey.

Somewhat familiar

38%

Not at all familiar

43%

Very famil-iar

19%

Characteristics of General Education

at CAN Institutions• 80% have at least one required foundation course

• 36% have at least one required capstone or uppe- level course

• 68% are learning outcomes or competency-based: o 64% of these explicitly include information

literacy as a student learning outcome

Percentages based out of 74 respondents

Integrative Education“Connecting and applying knowledge and skills from

multiple experiences in a variety of settings.” AAC&U’s statement on integrative

learning

“The Dean of Assessment eliminated the formal information literacy program and position of Coordinator of Information Literacy. Information Literacy learning outcomes are now to be integrated and assessed at the programmatic level, in each individual program. To date, General Education is the only program that explicitly includes and assesses information literacy."

-Survey response

Respondents’ Job Titles

• 74% reported an increase in instruction sessions

• < 50% of these institutions also increased the number of librarians providing instruction

Out of 53

Institutions Who Have Reformed Gen Ed Based on

LEAP

Recognition of the Term “Information Literacy”

“Information Literacy” as an explicitly (using the term) identified student learning outcome

Prior to Gen Ed Reform

After Gen Ed Reform Based on

LEAP

19% 59%

Assessmentof Information Literacy

Awareness of IL Concepts on Campus

New IL Initiatives Since Adoption of LEAP

• Online tutorials• Changes in pedagogy **• Sharing of resources (lesson plans,

worksheets, etc.) • Professional development programs for

librarians & teaching faculty

Moving to Outcomes-Based Approaches

Prior to Gen Ed Reform

After Gen Ed reform based on

LEAP Initiative

43% 69%

If the LEAP initiative and institutions of higher education are looking for

expertise in the development of skills, are they looking to librarians?

Are librarians recognizing the opportunity and stepping up to

contribute?

Librarians & Gen Ed Reform

• 76% responded that librarians were involved in the General Education reform process.

• 50% responded that librarians participate in the leadership of the General Education program.

What Librarians Said:

“LEAP was adopted 3 years ago. The Instruction Librarian is currently the Chair of GE which is undergoing another revision now.”

“The General Education Committee includes representatives from each academic unit, including the Library.”

“Librarians were primarily responsible for information literacy being identified as one of the four core liberal arts skills.”

“Instruction Librarian invited to attend one committee meeting to explain information literacy concepts and tenets.”

“…Librarians were active in stimulating the campus conversation through faculty development workshops, campus conversations around general education and the desired outcomes of a degree at our institution.”

You!

Information Literacy & LEAP @ UNLV

Photo by flickr user by madlyinlovewithlife

UNLV Background• About 22,000 undergraduates

• 5000+ freshman• 70% full time• 75% retention rate• 40% 6-year graduation rate

• Budget cuts:• 16% reduction in faculty• 6% reduction in students

• Do more with less• Teach more efficiently• Increase retention & degree production• Enhance first-year experience

Institutional Context Motivating

Curricular Change

• Accreditation• New Administration• National Calls for Accountability in Higher

Ed• Budget Contraction• Larger Class Enrollments• Retention and Persistence• Academic Success Center established

General Education Revision Timeline

2007 – 2011

2007: Campus-wide general education retreat2007-08: General Education Advisory Committee refines / recommends University Learning OutcomesSummer 2008: Teams attend AAC&U General Education and Greater Expectations InstitutesFall 2008: Two retreats refine UULOs and consider how to integrate high impact practicesSummer 2009: Team attends AAC&U Engaging Departments InstituteFall 2009 & Spring 2010: GEAC develops reform modelFall 2010: GEAC issues report and recommendation for Gen Ed reform to ProvostSpring 2011: Task Force vets proposal with academic departments, develops implementation recommendationsSpring 2011: Faculty Senate Gen Ed Committee responds (negatively) to reportFall 2011: Proposal debated and approved by Faculty Senate

General Education Revision Timeline

• Spring 2012 : Faculty Institute for First-Year Seminar Course Design held

• Fall 2012: Offer 73 sections of 12 approved FYSs, serve 2358 students

• Spring 2013: Faculty Institute for Second-Year Seminar Course Design held

• Spring 2013: Offer 52 more sections of FYS; serve 1278 students

Recommendations... Administrators improve communication about LEAP

o Professional development opportunities for faculty through AAC&U

o Opportunities to look for models and for collaboration

Librarians improve awareness of national educational reform movements such as LEAP o Leverage opportunity, particularly when in one's area of

expertiseo Role of leader and contributor rather than reactor

A Call to Fellow Librarians:

Get your confidence on…

Photo from: social-dynamix.com 

…And Find a Seat at the Table

Photo from: http://www.dynamiccio.com/images/Pat.jpg

Thank YouQuestions?

edolinger@keene.edub.gilmore@snhu.edu / @brattylibrarian

anne.zald@unlv.edu