Faculty Toolkit for English 5 and 11 Information Literacy Tutorials

Starting fall 2023, the library's information literacy instruction for English 5 and 11 will be offered in an online, asynchronous format. All English 5 and 11 instructors are strongly encouraged to incorporate these tutorials into their courses to provide students with a consistent, common foundation for the more extensive research they will undertake in English 20 and other courses. 

For ENGL 10 instructors: If the research portion of your class is in the fall semester, of course please feel free to integrate these in the fall instead of the spring! 

Why is English 5 and 11 moving to an online format? 

• Allows for a consistent approach to information literacy instruction across all sections
• Avoids redundancy with library sessions taught for other courses (e.g., English 20 and Communication Studies 4)
• Improves the overall scaffolding of information literacy instruction across the curriculum
• Maximizes the number of first-year students who can participate in information literacy instruction
• Enables you, as the instructor, to customize how you integrate the tutorials into your course learning objectives
• Supports students to learn and review content at their own pace
• Tutorials go more in depth than possible to cover in a time-bound library research workshop

Is face-to-face information literacy instruction still offered for English 20? 

Yes, as a more research-intensive course, English 20 can include (and is recommended for!) face-to-face instruction with a librarian to support students' Writing Across the Curriculum research needs; the instruction will be tailored to the specific needs of the assignment. In general, English 20 library instruction builds on these tutorials' learning outcomes by continuing to practice those skills and mindsets as they learn more about discipline-specific research and inquiry. English 20 instructors can request face-to-face library instruction through our instruction request form.

What content is covered in the English 5 and 11 information literacy tutorials? 

Content in the two tutorials is aligned with the current First-Year Writing Learning Outcomes, specifically "Evaluate sources of information based on how those sources contribute to a specific writing task." The interactive tutorials introduce students to varying types of information and how they serve different modes of inquiry; the iterative nature of the research process and how that informs developing research questions; identifying main concepts and developing strategic search strings; and how to apply these skills to find relevant sources in Academic Search Complete, a popular and multi-disciplinary database that is great for general academic research. 

After completing the first module, Information Sources & the Research Process, students should be able to: 

• Distinguish the differences among common type of information sources, and how that will affect the usefulness of the source for specific information needs.
• Recognize the various stages of the research process, including how it can involve revising research strategies as you learn more about your topic.

After completing the second tutorial, Developing Research Questions & Finding Sources, students should be able to:

• Recognize search tools (such as library databases, online search engines, etc.) and differentiate what types of information sources they provide access to
• Identify select themes and several points of view within the "conversation" surrounding a particular issue or topic
• Develop, revise, and apply search strategies within databases relevant to your research needs

How do I incorporate the First-Year Composition information literacy tutorials into my course? 

Information literacy instruction is most useful within the context of a research assignment, so we encourage instructors to incorporate this module at a point in the semester when students will be conducting research. 

Throughout the module, students are prompted to answer quick quiz questions that assess whether they have read and understood the content, as well as to foster engagement and promote reflection. These are ungraded and correct responses are not required to proceed to the next lesson in the tutorial.

In the second tutorial, there are two activities for students to complete if you choose to assign them (a concept map and a searching worksheet). Technically, these activities are not required to progress through and complete the tutorials so can be skipped if not assigned. You can view the links to these activities in the Supplemental Materials tab. 

A certificate of completion is available for students at the end of each tutorial. Students can take a screenshot or there is a Print button so that they can Save to PDF. 

What if my students need more help? 

Please refer to the box below on In-Person Workshops for more information.

If students need additional research assistance after completing both tutorials, we will be offering in-person workshops later in the fall and spring semesters. Students are required to pre-register to ensure space. We will expand the number of drop-in workshops as needed if we reach capacity. Students are required to complete both tutorials in advance of the workshops; please have your student bring their certificates of completion to the workshop (screenshot is fine). 

Requiring workshops / assigning extra credit: We ask that you do not require workshops or give extra credit. These workshops are meant only for additional research assistance after students have completed both tutorials, and we do not have the staffing for every student in every class.

What if my student(s) cannot make the workshop times or need more personalized research assistance? Please have your students reach out to us - Samantha McClellan or Emily Merrifield - on the Contact a Subject Librarian webpage and we'd be happy to meet with them!