INFO LIT: KEY TO COMMUNITY BASED / EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING – CRN: 1660 – LIBR 042
Below is the course description for an Information Literacy (AOI) course for Jterm 2016.
The course is designed for first- and second-year (and transfer) students, and satisfies the Info Lit AOI. It is offered by Cowles Library Professor Bruce Gilbert, who must approve all student enrollment in this course; his contact information is at the bottom of this post.
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Course description:
Modern students and modern learning are enmeshed in the various communities that give education its context. This course will explore the relevance of information literacy in the community-based environment and impart an understanding of how intelligent use of information resources can benefit both the student and the community. Emphasis will also be placed on preparing students for experiential learning (both within the academic curriculum and as a lifelong perspective). Students will be challenged to engage and research community-based resources, create at least one artifact of that involvement (such as an interview, oral history, or research project) and reflect upon the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to marshaling information, especially in the context of experiential learning and community engagement. NOTE: This course takes a “blended” approach to course delivery. In this case, that means that most of the course is transacted online, but there are also mandatory in-class sessions at the beginning and end of the course.
Texts and Readings:
Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich. Other selected readings will supplement core texts.
Learning Objectives:
• Gather relevant information to support and address a research topic
• Demonstrate the use of critical thinking and information literacy skills
• Analyze and interpret information relevant to his or her needs
• Retrieve, evaluate, synthesize and cite appropriate information
• Articulate the social and ethical implications of information use and misuse.
• Select and employ the appropriate method and data for disciplinary research, problem-based learning, experiential-based research, and/or reflective/integrative coursework.
Projects and Assignments:
Students will visit one or more cultural organizations in their home community and gather background information about that organization. The primary assignment will be to use the results of that information to create an informative artifact (such as an electronically-captured interview, oral history, or research project) that will further awareness of the organization. Finally, the students will write a brief reflection paper about the process of learning about their community through engagement; both of these projects will require proper attribution of information resources.
Please contact Professor Gilbert (bruce.gilbert@drake.edu or x4821) if you would like to be added to the class and if you have any specific questions about the class.