Eyes Toward the Future: Framing For-credit Information Literacy Instruction

Abstract

LSU Libraries recently redesigned its one-credit hour information literacy course taught by librarians for undergraduate students. This redesign coincided with a shift from face-to-face to online course delivery at a local level alongside the implementation of the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) on undergraduate research that would lead to increased course enrollment at the university level. At the national level, there was a transition to ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (Framework).  The Libraries’ Instruction Committee engaged in a holistic reconceptualization of the course, beginning with debating and designing new student learning outcomes (SLOs) and attributes before considering content and assessment. Although for-credit courses provide librarians with an avenue to impact information literacy growth more deeply than a single instruction session (commonly referred to as a “one-shotâ€), these courses are increasingly rare. Nonetheless, the Framework represents an opportunity for librarians to redesign existing instruction on small and large scales.