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Most faculty really care that their students are successful, not only academically, but also in their careers.
Apowerful tool for ensuring that success is information literacy, which the American Library Association defines as being able to recognize when information is needed and having the ability to locate, evaluate, and effectively use it.
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| Jed Lyons |
"Information literacy can guarantee that students will be able to do sound research while they're in college. But it also enables them to continue to learn and be successful in their personal lives and careers long after they leave school," said Jed Lyons, faculty director of the University's Center for Teaching Excellence.
As part of its mission of promoting excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching at the University, the center will sponsor a teaching excellence colloquium on information literacy from 8:15 a.m., to 1:30 p.m., Oct. 4 in the Campus Room of Capstone. The colloquium is open to faculty from all disciplines and includes a complimentary continental breakfast and buffet lunch.
The keynote presenter and facilitator at the colloquium will be Patricia Senn Breivik, a frequent speaker and writer on information literacy and resource-based learning. The former chairperson of the National Forum on Information Literacy is the co-author with E. Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State University, of Higher Education in the Internet Age. She also serves as vice president of Nehemiah Communications in Columbia, which provides support services for small and medium-sized businesses and non-profits.Following a keynote lecture and video on e-literacy, the colloquium will provide an opportunity for faculty to interact in small groups on the topic and look at what the University is doing to promote information literacy and what more can be done, Breivik said.
"The advent of digital technology and the Web have meant that an overwhelming amount of information is available for people today," Breivik added, "though there also is tons of information that is not available online."
Moreover, some information is erroneous or purposely slanted. "The challenge of information today is that it's a commodity that most people don't want any more of than they need for the job at hand," she said. "We're apt to take the first information we can find and assume it's good information. That might be OK for deciding what movie you'd like to see, but not for the important things in your life."
From the standpoint of University faculty members, added Lyons, information literacy, which includes many skills associated with conducting research and communicating information, is the empowerment tool that will help students become successful researchers and critical thinkers for life.
"Information literacy is not something that has to be tacked onto a faculty member's job, it's something integral to what we already strive to accomplish for students in our subject areas," he said. "The colloquium is designed to help make integrating information literacy easier for faculty."
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Patricia Breivik
