Paul Blowers Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Barbara Williams Science-Engineering Library Deconstruction of an Engineering Syllabus for Information Literacy

2 Instructional Partnerships Created for the purpose of positively impacting the overall student learning experience. These instructional partnerships are normally created as a by-product of connection development activities.

3 Connection Development (CD) “One aspect of CD is the cultivation of teaching partnerships between librarians and faculty for the purpose of incorporating information literacy skills into the course curriculum.”

4 Life Long Learning …a continuous learning process meant to supplement one’s formal education… Central to this learning model is the belief that the responsibility for teaching learners how to learn across their lifespan is the shared responsibility of the individual and the subject specific curriculum. CONTINUOUSCONTINUOUS

5 Infor mation Liter acy for Engineers Infor mation Liter acy Skill Sets for Engineers Students must be able to maneuver the information super highway! Access Communication Skills U the M of K Synthesize

6 Student Learning Experiences “the development of a skill set, which integrates both lifelong learning and information literacy skills into the engineering subject curricula as a pedagogical approach to learning enhances the overall student learning experience”

7 of In Search of Teachable Moments “In corporate America there are tangible benefits to those who have mastered the ability to speak precisely which comes from: comprehendingunderstanding comprehending/understanding the meanings of many words.”

8 Understanding the Syllabus  Responsibility  Teachable moments to reinforce information literacy skills.  Clarification skills

9 Deconstruction of a Syllabi (I): Objectives Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students should: 1.Be able to solve thermodynamic problems using both hand and computer programming techniques, building on ChEE 202 and ChEE Be able to derive working equations for the solution of practical problems in thermodynamics starting from basic principles. 3.Be able to compute thermodynamic properties of pure and mixed ideal and real gases. 4.Be able to construct phase diagrams for ideal and real mixtures of gases, liquids, and solids. 5.Be able to construct and use a model of phase behavior using limited experimental data for VLE and LSE. 6.Be able to formulate and solve chemical equilibrium calculations that may include multiple reactions.

10 Deconstruction of a Syllabi (I): Objectives Other metaconcepts the students should be proficient at: 1.Be able to comfortably organize and present group or individual material to the class. 2.Be able to add equilibrium thermodynamic knowledge to your existing framework of chemical engineering problem solving techniques. 3.Be able to identify personal difficulties during problem solving and to take corrective action. 4.Be able to knowledgeably think of everyday examples where equilibria are important. 5.Be able to search for and use information from published sources.

11 Deconstruction of a Syllabus (II): Information Literacy Homework Attempt to find Pxy, Txy, or xy data for the acetone- cyclohexane system in a published reference. If you do find one, compare the published data to your plots by showing the data on the same graph. Verbally describe how well your data agrees with the published data. If you cannot find any data for this system, describe your search strategy.

12 Deconstruction of a Syllabus (II): Objectives Course Objectives: Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students should: 1.Be able to comfortably use unit conversions while solving problems. 2.Be able to confidently transfer a verbal problem statement into its mathematical representation. 3.Be able to write and solve mass balances for a process. 4.Be able to use the appropriate gas law while solving mass and energy balances. 5.Be able to use phase diagrams to solve mass and energy balances. 6.Be able to apply Raoult's law in mass and energy balances. 7.Be able to estimate computational errors using computer applications to solve problems. 8.Be able to develop Taylor series approximations for general functions. 9.Be able to apply linear algebra techniques to solve systems of equations.

13 Deconstruction of a Syllabus (II): Objectives Other metaconcepts the students should be proficient at: 1.Be able to comfortably organize and present group material. 2.Be able to identify and rectify group conflicts. 3.Be able to identify personal difficulties during problem solving and to take corrective action. 4.Be able to knowledgeably think of everyday examples where material and energy balances are important. 5.Be able to conceptually link levels of information and ideas in a problem solving framework.

14 Deconstruction of a Syllabus (II): Literacy Homework There are a lot of resources on campus that will help you during your career here at the University of Arizona. The purpose of this project is to have you learn how to use some of the tools that are here or available elsewhere. Find the following information and describe the tools/paths you used to find them. Credit will only be given if a clear path for finding the information is given. 1.What is the call number for the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics in the U of A library? 2.What is the boiling point of carbon tetrachloride at 1 atm? 3.Describe the research of one professor that interests you within your future department or another department, and who they are. 4.What is the tensile strength of steel? 5.Approximately how many faculty at the U of A are involved with materials research? 6.Who wrote The Age of Missing Information? 7.Who has cited a paper Dr. Blowers wrote in the Journal of Catalysis with R. Masel, L. Ford, and H. L. Nigg other than one of the authors?

15 Mixed-Method Evaluation of Student Outcomes NSF suggests using the following types of evaluation to measure the success of new educational materials Use quantitative numerics to measure improvement Use qualitative open-ended questions to capture aspects that cannot be measured Survey instruments, exam scores, and interviews can be used together to accomplish evaluation goals.

16 Mixed Method Evaluation Results: Numerical Self-Rating TopicAvg. Pre-scoreAvg. Post Score Ability to read technical papers Ability to use library resources to find information Ability to judge the accuracy of published articles Shift in Self-Rating: 1.83 to 3.26 on information literacy

17 Conclusions  Information literacy can be included in engineering courses in “teachable moments”  Collaboration between librarians and engineering faculty can lead to positive changes in curricula  The syllabus is a prime location for notifying students of how information literacy will impact their future and present successes.

18 Acknowledgments Funding was provided in part by the Office for the Vice-Provost of Research at the University of Arizona