Extending the conversation between librarians and faculty: Working together to embed IL teaching in foundational research and writing courses

This session explores the development and implementation of two stand-alone information literacy (IL) workshops at the American University of Sharjah (AUS). These workshops were developed by the IL Librarian and a graduate teaching assistant working in close collaboration. This pilot partnership among faculty, librarians and students offered the opportunity to share perspectives on intentions and practices related to IL instruction and build curricula informed by that dialogue.

After reviewing literature around student-led constructivist learning approaches, the workshops were created in a tactile style to teach areas of information literacy not typically addressed in “one-shot” library instruction sessions. In the first workshop, students use paper, markers, and Post-It notes to identify, (re-)organize, and synthesize the different ideas within their research topic. In the subsequent workshop, students use the same tools to identify and understand the wider context and scholarly conversation around chosen articles for their research projects by linking ideas between their topic and previous research. Based on feedback received from both students and faculty, the Library is certain that these workshops have made a positive impact on student learning. There are improvements to be made and questions that the development team are interested in answering include: How can we use these workshops to “bridge the gap” between faculty understanding of what library workshops cover and thus enhance the IL learning experience in foundational writing/research courses? How can we offer increased librarian teaching given staffing, time, and resource allocation restrictions?