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Definitions |
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A brief introduction to the Five Colleges of Ohio Information Literacy Tutorial: Psychology Version.
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The ability to locate useful and reliable sources of information is essential for students' academic and professional careers, as well as for their participation in a society increasingly reliant on electronic information sources. It is often difficult to know where and how to look for information. In the vast world of information, there are many steps a researcher must go through in order to be an efficient and effective researcher. This tutorial is designed to teach introductory students in psychology information literacy skills by guiding them through the process of conducting effective research. Although anyone may benefit from this tutorial, it was designed for Intro. Psych. students at liberal arts colleges.
Information literacy is defined as a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." (American Library Association. Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. Final Report. Chicago: American Library Association, 1989). The need to teach information literacy skills is receiving increased attention on academic campuses around the world as the internet and rapid advances in techonology dramatically change how students and faculty conduct research.
The tutorial is divided into three sections:
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Critical
Lessons
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Supporting Concepts |
Specialized Tasks |
Each section contains several lessons, usually several pages in length,
that cover essential elements in the research process. These lessons will help students to:
The tutorial can be used in a variety of ways:
Lessons can be followed in the order listed on the Home Page, or users can pick and choose among topics they want to learn about.
A number of links to sites outside the tutorial are provided within lessons. these links provide opportunities to practice the concepts described. A series of "Try It" exercises are also included to reinforce the concepts and strategies described. These exercises may be collected and graded by an instructor, or may be used as reference sheets by students.
This Information Literacy tutorial is an ongoing project of the Five Colleges of Ohio (The College of Wooster, Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, and Ohio Wesleyan University), a consortium founded in 1995 with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Ellen Stoltzfus, Dept. of Psychology at Kenyon College, was awarded a semester of course release as the pilot project for the Mellon grant, Integrating Information Literacy into the Curriculum. She worked in collaboration with Jennie Duvernay to develop her proposal with Jasmine Vaughan, Librarian and Tchnology Consultant, to execute it. The proposal includes assignments and instruction for Introductory Psychology students and will eventually include modules for upper-level undergraduates in research methods courses.
This tutorial has been modified from the ATT tutorial, http://www.denison.edu/ohio5/infolit, created by librarians on the Information Literacy Committee of the College.
The idea of creating a collaborative web-based, interactive information literacy tutorial for students on our five campuses was first proposed in the Fall of 1998. The Consortium received an AT&T Learning Network Teaching and Technology Grant, which has supported development of the tutorial. The grant period extends from January 1999 to January 2001. During this time, the ATT tutorial is considered a "work in progress;"it will be piloted on each campus in Fall of 2000.
This tutorial will function best on Netscape 4.0 or higher, or Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher.
© 2000 Five Colleges of Ohio