Sheila Beck

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Information Literacy Across the Curriculum Where
to Begin
Sheila Beck Devin McKay
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Profile

• About 15000 students
• 25 each
• White
• Afro-American
• Hispanic
• Asian

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Educational Objectives at QCC

• Communicate effectively through reading,
  writing, listening and speaking
• Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or
  problems and evaluate evidence in order to make
  informed decisions
• Reason quantitatively and mathematically as
  required in their fields of interest and in
  everyday life
• Use information management and technology skills
  effectively for academic research and lifelong
  learning
• Integrate knowledge and skills in their program
  of study
• Differentiate and make informed decisions about
  issues based on multiple value systems
• Work collaboratively in diverse groups directed
  at accomplishing learning objectives
• Use historical or social sciences perspectives to
  examine formation of ideas, human behavior,
  social institutions, or social processes
• Employ concepts and methods of the natural and
  physical sciences to make informed judgments
• Apply aesthetic and intellectual criteria in the
  evaluation or creation of works in the humanities
  or the arts

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Scenario 1

• You are working in a group to study criminal
  theory in its historical context. Your task is to
  inform the American Criminal Justice Association
  on this criminal theory.
• What type of information do you need to know?
• How would you use this information?

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Scenario 2

• In the Question and Answer period, an audience
  member asks what is the theorys current usage
  and its application to a well known criminal.
• What type of information do you want to know?
• How would you evaluate the information you find?

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Scenario 3

• You need to know everything about Charles Mason.
  You will need to find information on his life and
  crimes.
• How would you locate the information?
• What type of information would you expect to
  find?

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Sample AnswersScenario 1

• Pre Test You find the information depending
  on what matter you want to talk about
• Post Test I would need a primary
  document/source by the theorist

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Sample AnswersScenario 2

• Pre Test I need to find if my theory is still
  in practice with Google.
• Post Test I would evaluate by researching who
  and what and where the theory
  originated

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Sample AnswersScenario 3

• Pre Test Google, lots of miscellaneous items
  ranging from what I need to
  nonsense
• Post Test Information would be located on
  the schools databases in order to obtain
  correct information.

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Breadth and DepthPretest











BREADTH SCEN 1 SCEN 2 SCEN 3
MUSIC 2.705882 2.176471 2.294118
ENGLISH 3.115385 3.192308 3
CRIM JUST 2.910633 2.684389 2.647059
NURSING 4.242424 2.969697 2.666667




DEPTH SCEN 1 SCEN 2 SCEN 3
MUSIC 4.823529 3.352941 4
ENGLISH 6.846154 6.038462 7
CRIM JUST 6.705882 4.352941 4.294118
NURSING 8.424242 6.515152 5.484848









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Breadth and Depth Post Test
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Sources Used - Pretest
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Sources Used Post Test
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What we learned

• Students know less than they think they do
• They tend to believe they can find whatever they
  need on the internet
• Our study reflects what is in the literature
• Stressed students need more support
• The questions we asked on our scenarios were not
  clear enough

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Conclusion

• Further research will include revised pre and
  post tests
• Better assessment tool
• Using a control group that didnt have a library
  lesson would be more effective in determining the
  effectiveness of intervention

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Comments from Faculty

• The content of the papers looked pretty good. I
  could clearly see who got help from the library
  and who didn't. Last semester when I asked for an
  original source roughly one third of the class
  located one. This time well over half included
  it.
•  I feel that the library lesson was valuable in
  the sense that almost everyone had a better
  bibliography by far than I normally see.
• The papers were much improved and more effort was
  clearly put into them.

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Comments from Students
You need to know how to search the school
databases
I would use the school library now that I know how
Virtual Reference Library
Use journal articles scholarly papers
The composers biographies from internet resource
or book
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sbeck_at_qcc.cuny.edu

• dmckay_at_qcc.cuny.edu