Teaching and Learning at the Campus Library: Learning Goals

Introduction and Statement of Purpose

The Campus Library information literacy teaching and learning program values and strives to build upon UW Bothell and Cascadia College students’ prior lived experiences and knowledge in order to foster their research and information seeking skills and related habits of mind or affective learning dispositions. These skills and dispositions are grounded in critical inquiry, creative and reflective thinking, aptitudes for experiential and lifelong learning, and respect for the diversity of ways of knowing and understanding the world.

Complex and multi-layered, information literacy skills and dispositions are essential for the pursuit and development of knowledge, and include accessing, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, applying, communicating, and producing knowledge. These skills and dispositions are best developed and assessed in collaboration with faculty. Students build upon and learn these skills and dispositions most effectively through lived experience and research, and when integrated into program and institutional curricula and taught in conjunction with the companion skills of critical thinking, reading, and communication. For learners who are developing their information literacy abilities, these skills and dispositions must be introduced, applied, reinforced, and extended throughout a student’s educational career. Additionally, research and information literacies operate within a framework of distinct but often overlapping literacies, including data, digital, visual, and media. Students can develop information literacy skills in a variety of contexts, including through individual and team-based work, and through both research and creative practices.

Our student learning goals establish a broad vision for information literacy and research-related student learning at UW Bothell and Cascadia College, and were created by librarians and library staff with input from students, academic services staff, and faculty. These goals describe what we teach and hope our students will have learned, what they will be able to do at various stages of their academic careers, and what we hope students will take with them into their lives beyond the academic environment. These goals establish the basis for the Campus Library’s assessment of student learning within and across programs at UW Bothell and Cascadia College, and will be reviewed periodically in order to reflect shared learning goals and remain responsive to institutional changes and developments in the wider information, scholarly, and technological landscapes.

Campus Library Learning Goals
Develop and Engage in the Process of Inquiry	Students can… Identify an information need and articulate what information is needed Develop, articulate, and refine researchable questions Understand the iterative and time-intensive nature of research Recognize the emotional components of research and inquiry Develop and apply problem-solving and decision-making strategies at various points in the research process, using flexibility and creativity
Strategically Find and Select Information	Students can… Develop, use, and refine a variety of search strategies (e.g., Boolean searches, keywords) Select search tools and sources of information applicable to the need and context Navigate diverse information systems in order to find, access, and organize different forms of information (e.g., use appropriate database and catalog functions, citation managers) Determine when they need assistance and identify and get help from relevant resources (including people)
Critically Evaluate Information in Context	Students can… Distinguish between types of sources (e.g. scholarly article, website, news editorial, dataset) Recognize an author or creator’s authority and credibility in relation to a particular information source or need Identify a source’s intended audience and purpose Understand that all sources demonstrate bias and are useful in different ways
Engage and Synthesize Information	Students can… Understand how various types of information sources contribute to exploring a line of inquiry Develop and use strategies for processing information and ideas in a variety of formats (e.g., reading and analyzing complex texts, datasets) Recognize the value of seeking out and using differing perspectives Engage with contradictory or conflicting information to inform their understanding of a topic Synthesize information into their own knowledge base and apply it
Understand Information’s Value Constructs	Students can... Give credit to the work of others through attribution and citation Recognize that intellectual property is a legal and social construct that varies across time, region, and culture Acknowledge the purpose and characteristics of copyright, fair use, open access, and the public domain Understand that information has economic value, and that it functions in a market that both enables and inhibits access
Recognize the Social Construction of Knowledge	Students can… Appreciate, value, and incorporate different ways of knowing and producing knowledge Recognize and think critically about what voices are not present in a discourse Think critically about who has access to or creates certain kinds of information, and why or why not Develop a critical understanding of the people and processes involved in creating various types of information sources
Produce and Share Knowledge	Students can… Contribute knowledge to scholarly, professional, and/or community conversations Share and communicate their research across platforms while understanding how it fits into an information ecosystem Take steps to ensure both the accessibility and privacy of their work
Reflect on and Apply Learning	Students can… Apply learning to new contexts, questions, problems, and research situations (personal, community, civic, and professional) Identify individual strengths and areas for continued development as learners, researchers, and information producers/users Critically reflect on how their own background, worldview, and educational goals affect their approach to information creation and use

What is Information Literacy?

Click on the image to learn more about information literacy or review our learning goals.

Image: Information mag glass. n.d. utrconf.com. Retrieved 16 June 2015.

Download the Campus Library Learning Goals

Campus Library Learning Goals

Teaching and Learning at the Campus Library: Learning Goals

Introduction and Statement of Purpose

Develop and Engage in the Process of Inquiry

Strategically Find and Select Information

Critically Evaluate Information in Context

Engage and Synthesize Information

Understand Information’s Value Constructs

Recognize the Social Construction of Knowledge

Produce and Share Knowledge

Reflect on and Apply Learning

What is Information Literacy?

Download the Campus Library Learning Goals

Related Student Learning Goals & Outcomes