1. Critical Information Literacy
What Students Will Know & Be Able to Do as a Result of
the CSUSB General Education Program
Barbara Quarton, MLIS

2. GE Transformation Assessment Work
4-5 faculty members per GE Learning Outcome
Bi-weekly meetings
Lively discussion, debate
Review of literature; best practices
Explore how other campuses approach assessment
Narrative and rubric for each GLO
Review of narrative/rubrics by the GET Committee
Revision of narrative/rubrics by GLO subcommittees

3. GE Breadth Requirements: Executive Order 1100
Relative to Information literacy:
“Courses approved for GE-Breadth should be responsive to the need for students to have developed knowledge of, or skills related to, quantitative reasoning, information literacy….” (Article 3.1)
“Within the LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes framework, campuses may identify more specific outcomes, such as students’ ability to: demonstrate information competency—finding and examining information critically….” (Article 3.2)
“Students will practice the discovery, critical evaluation, and reporting of information….” (Article 4)

4. Goals for today
Share the definition of information literacy adopted by the Assessment Committee
Overview the concepts and abilities encompassed by critical information literacy
Intro the requirements for courses to fulfill critical information literacy
Share a rubric that describes what students will know and be able to do at specific points in the curriculum

5. Critical Information Literacy: Definition
Information literacy is a set of integrated abilities, encompassing
the reflective discovery of information;
the understanding of how information is produced and valued; and
the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning
(Association of College & Research Libraries 2015)

6. Threshold Concepts
Core ideas and processes that define the ways of thinking and practicing in a discipline
Often taken for granted by experts, but difficult for students to grasp
Like a portal, through which students must travel
Mastery transforms students’ approach to the discipline
Meyer, J., & Land, R. (2003). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines. Enhancing Teaching-Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses Project, Occasional Report 4. Retrieved from _threshold_concepts.pdf

7. CIL Threshold Concept One
Searching as strategic exploration: Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops.

8. CIL Threshold Concept Two
Information creation as a process:
Information in any format is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method.
The iterative processes of researching, creating, reviewing, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting product reflects these differences.

9. CIL Threshold Concept Three
Authority is constructed and contextual:
Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used.
Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority.
It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.

10. CIL Threshold Concept Four
Scholarship as conversation:
Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations.

11. CIL Abilities: What We Want Students to Be Able to Do
Design and use search strategies in various information resources
Examine the values, perspectives, and processes that shape information across the information cycle
Evaluate, select, and synthesize authoritative sources for the information need at hand
Analyze and practice attribution across various contexts

12. Advanced (3)
Developing (2)
Emerging (1)
Initial (0)
Student searches for information strategically
Generates productive search strategies in both discipline-specific subscription databases and public search engines, adapting search tools and strategies to the information need at hand.
Analyzes the ways that collections of information are organized in order to access relevant information. Refines search strategies as necessary, based on search results.
Compares searches in subscription databases and public search engines, noting the benefits and drawbacks of both to the information need.
Uses information from random sources.
Student critically examines the values, perspectives, and processes that shape information and its access
Reflects on the connections among social, cultural, and historical contexts in order to critique information sources, their content, and the processes that produce them.
Analyzes how power manifests in the production and distribution of information by examining the ways that social, cultural, and historical contexts affect what type of information is created, who can create information, and what people know over time.
Explains how and why review processes and perspectives differ across the information production cycle.
Demonstrates limited capacity to recognize that different perspectives and processes are at work in information.
Student selects authoritative sources that are relevant to the information need
Selects relevant sources whose authority meets the requirements of the information need.
Analyzes the constructed and contextual nature of authority, distinguishing sources whose authority is appropriate to the information need.
Classifies information sources according to authority, purpose, and audience. Matches source type to information need.
Evaluates information based on whether it agrees with their beliefs
Student engages ethically and legally in information sharing and creation
Produces artifacts that make attribution to their sources according to disciplinary and/or social conventions.
Examines the purposes of and differences in attribution across academic disciplines according to the disciplines’ scholarly conversations or research practices.
Describes the importance of attribution in terms of either the historical record or the scholarly conversation.
Notes the requirement to cite sources to avoid plagiarism.

13. To Satisfy this GLO, Your GE Course Will Include
Intentional discussion, reflection, and study of implications of CIL concepts
Instruction, practice, and feedback on CIL abilities
Required coursework that makes use of information sources
At least one research project

14. What Support Is Available?
Librarian Collaboration
Critical Information Literacy Lab for Faculty
Library Guides
Linking to Library Resources
Critical Information Literacy Instruction
Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education
Pfau Library Critical Information Literacy Program

15. One way of approaching this
What is the GE course?
What is the CIL performance level you are aiming for?
Choose the CIL learning outcome(s) that blend with your course content.
Using this information, locate the corresponding cell(s) of the rubric.
Design your coursework and assignments.
Write a CIL rubric for your specific course.