Short Description:
A two-credit online graduate information literacy course.
Learning Outcomes:
The student will: A. show an understanding of the complex current world of information resources; B. demonstrate the ability to formulate a strategy for research; C. show skill in identifying a research problem, acquiring a variety of informational resources to address that problem, evaluating those resources, and putting them to effective use; D. demonstrate an appreciation for planned research from topic to completed project.
Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated):
This is a required graduate level course for Associated Canadian Theological Schools of Trinity Western University. The course was implemented in 1987 and the online version has been operating without interruption since late 1999.
Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.):
Textbook: William Badke, Research Strategies: Finding your Way through the Information Fog (iUniverse.com). Other activities located in the assignments on the course website.
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips:
Online information literacy instruction requires intense involvement with students: Ready availability by e-mail, maximum 24 hour turnaround for queries and assignment grading, and extensive comments on student assignments following a formative rather than summative assessment pattern.