Dean Charles Kratz announced the names of the recipients of the Information Literacy Stipends granted by the Weinberg Memorial Library to help faculty integrate student learning outcomes related to information literacy into their courses. This is the sixth year that the Weinberg Memorial Library has awarded these stipends.

Two of the stipends are for courses that are being taught during the spring semester of 2010:

Satya P. Chattopadhyay will use a rubric to assess the information literacy learning in Marketing Research (MKT 561). After a demonstration of advanced searching techniques by Librarian Mary Elizabeth Moylan, students will search library databases such as ABI/INFORM, Business Source Elite, and Lexis-Nexis for conceptual and operational definitions of a marketing concept. They will then critically review the data in a report utilizing correct American Marketing Association citation format.  Click here to read the final report.

David Dzurec and Librarian Kevin Norris will collaborate to integrate the following four critical information literacy skills for students in The Craft of the Historian (HIST 140): the ability to locate historical sources; the ability to evaluate the quality and reliability of any given source; the ability to recognize the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources; and the ability to correctly format citations. Student learning will be assessed through a pre/post-test, a response paper on the importance of sources in historical research, and through a special focus on students' use of a variety of sources in their bibliographies. Click here to read the final report.

There are three courses being taught in the fall semester of 2010 for which stipends will be given:

Aukje Lamonica will collaborate with Librarian Bonnie Oldham to insert an information literacy component into Health Education: Theory, Research and Practice (CHED 310). Objectives include the ability to differentiate between popular and scholarly information, the ability to create effective search strategies, and the ability to select appropriate sources and develop criteria to evaluate these sources, and finally the ability to evaluate the contents of various Web sites. Students' ability to apply these skills will be evaluated through course assignments such as the presentation of a scholarly article that focuses on a behavioral theory, an extensive literature review of a health issue, and a media critique that demonstrates the influence media can have on the consumer.  Click here to read the full report

Students in Leadership in Occupational Therapy (OT 501) taught by Rita Fleming-Castaldy will develop fluency in information literacy in particular with regard to the acquisition of primary research skills. Dr. Fleming and Librarian Bonnie Oldham will collaborate to design a course specific assessment of the information literacy skills identified as essential for students to master using the information literacy standards of the Accreditation Council for OT Education and the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. This measure will include both Likert scale items and open-ended questions and will be administered as a pre/post-test. Click here to read the full report.

Renée Hakim will include an information literacy component in Neurological Physical Therapy II (PT 712). This assignment will model a lunch time in-service that practicing physical therapists would experience in the workplace. Librarian Bonnie Oldham will demonstrate how to find full-text articles using freely available Internet resources as well as resources available to American Physical Therapy Association members. Students will use a rubric to analyze and critique two relevant articles.  Click here to read the full report.

The final two stipends are for courses that will be taught during the spring semester of 2011:

Rhetoric and Social Media is a new course being designed by Teresa Grettano as a Special Topic in Writing (WRTG 284). She will collaborate with Librarian Donna Mazziotti to incorporate student learning outcomes for information literacy that include the ability to determine options that they have for communication and make effective choices based on their rhetorical situations, to engage in public discourse in informed, responsible ways, and to illustrate awareness of and respect for copyright standards and practices.

Peter Leininger will be collaborating with Librarian Bonnie Oldham to integrate information literacy objectives into Orthopedic Physical Therapy I (PT 713). After a demonstration of advanced searching techniques by Librarian Bonnie Oldham, students will search library databases such as CINAHL, PEDro, and Medline for information that will enable them to critically review orthopaedic assessment techniques and rehabilitation interventions. Dr. Leininger will compare the literature searching strategies and practices of the students in this class to those of students who have previously taken this class without a library faculty intervention with the expectation that there will be significant improvement from this class. Click here to read the full report.