Works in Progress: Integrating information literacy into a multi-disciplinary first-year engineering program

Abstract

Motivation This Work in Progress paper describes a pilot program of integrating a librarian-led guest lecture into a first-year engineering program. While many first-year engineering programs historically have provided students with a lecture-based survey of the different potential pathways for an engineering career, students increasingly are expected to complete meaningful design projects within these programs. This change creates opportunities to introduce first-year engineering students to the complexities of the engineering information landscape via information literacy instruction. Background on problem being addressed The engineering education and library science literature suggest several best practices for creating information literacy instructional (ILI) interventions. ILI interventions are most effective when contextualized to the specific needs of learners [1], [2] through integrating information literacy into the curriculum [3] and establishing the relevance of information literacy by aligning these skills and concepts with students' authentic interests [4]. This process is best achieved strategically, in which academic faculty and library staff collaborate to identify courses at the curricular level where information literacy skills will be directly relevant to the tasks students will be completing [5], and then work collaboratively to design rigorous inquiry-based assignments and effective instructional interventions for individual courses that will both challenge students and provide them with the skills needed to succeed [6]. In-person instructional interventions can be enhanced and supplemented by online learning objects [7]. The literature reflects the increasing popularity of using online learning objects as a supplement to in-person instruction in order to facilitate a flipped classroom, in which the traditional model of lecture followed by homework is reversed [8]. Chief among the many possible benefits of a flipped classroom is that this model may allow for more active ILI, which research suggests can lead to increased perceived relevance and increased engagement among students [9], especially for students in science, engineering, and mathematics courses [10]. While some engineering educators partner with information specialists to introduce students to information literacy topics, these partnerships often take place in upper-level, inquiry-based courses such as senior design sequences [11]. As a result, many engineering students complete the majority of their undergraduate coursework before ever working with a librarian who can connect them with the technical, engineering-specific resources needed to complete their assignments efficiently and effectively [12]. Previous efforts to design, implement, and assess ILI interventions for first-year students in engineering [13], design [14], and applied technology [15] have shown mixed success. The large enrollment, multi-section design of first-year engineering programs creates several challenges that inhibit the application of ILI best practices. These courses are often taught by several, if not dozens of individual instructors, limiting the collaborative design opportunities between library staff and teaching faculty. At many institutions, these courses are highly standardized to ensure equivalent content for all students and may lack a substantive research component that fits well with information literacy instruction. Finally, many engineering programs are hesitant to integrate a substantive information literacy component into an already oversaturated first-year curriculum. As a result, many of the in-person ILI programs described in the literature take the form of large, generic orientation sessions presented in a lecture hall [16]. The assessments of these training programs often rely on multiple-choice assessments, which while scaling effectively, cannot provide insights into student achievement of higher level skills [17]. In order to gain more nuanced understandings of student learning, the literature suggests designing authentic assessments that evaluate student performance using rubrics [18] [19]. Other experimental methods discussed are elective online tutorials or in-person tutoring sessions; however, librarians have reported that optional training opportunities regardless of format generate limited interest and are often poorly attended [20].