Information Literacy – Core

Credo's Information Literacy – Core (InfoLit – Core) is a set of online videos, tutorials, and quizzes covering information literacy and critical thinking, as well as related topics and skills. The Mansfield Library has subscribed to the resource that aims to help students learn how to:

• find relevant and reliable library and other research materials;
• formulate appropriate, workable research questions; and
• synthesize what they learn into a final product such as a research paper, including use of citations appropriate to their field of study.

How do students access it?

• Students can access Credo's Information Literacy – Core three ways:
  • Integrated within your online class via Canvas (ungraded content and graded quizzes available),
  • Embedded or linked from any website, or
  • Outside of class as online learning objects via this guide.

What kind of content is available?

• All materials are mapped to national Information Literacy standards (ACRL, AAC&U).
• Videos are short (2-4 minutes) and produced in engaging motion graphic style.
• Tutorials support formative assessment with practice elements throughout.
• Quizzes can be applied to students’ final grade or used for extra credit.
  • Quizzes relate to specific topics in the videos and tutorials (there are typically 1-3 multimedia covered per quiz).
  • Use them in conjunction with multimedia to assess specific skills that are important for your course.
• Pre/post Tests
  • Cover all concepts in InfoLit – Core multimedia.
  • Best used when you are covering lots of IL-related topics.
  • Two sets of 20 unique questions each.
• Most instructors use 5-7 pieces aligned with course learning objectives, their course syllabus, or topics that need to be stressed to students. Typically these are spread across different weeks of a course, scaffolded beside an assignment. 5-7 multimedia typically equate to 25-40 minutes of total commitment for your students (average 5 minutes per item).

Contact us for Canvas integration links or other questions.

Before Library Instruction

• Use multimedia to flip your library instruction. Students can go through multimedia on their own time (before or after class) to get basic concepts of information literacy and librarians can then focus their in-person time with students on higher-level thinking or hands-on work for their assignments.

Scaffold Throughout Your Course

• “Flip” instruction - assign students materials as homework and benefit from more active learning during class time. Integrate the material in a class website to connect students with the content you want them to engage or add it to Canvas.
• Mix and match the tutorials, videos, and quizzes to address the demands of your course, a specific research or critical thinking assignment, the needs of specific students, or to begin incorporating information literacy content in your course. See Credo’s Teaching Guides, which recommend multimedia to match common course needs.
• Use the videos and tutorials in class as part of a lecture or hands-on instruction.
• Use the quizzes or pre- and post-test to assess student knowledge or learning.

As a Refresher

• Use multimedia as a refresher tool for students who need to review basic information literacy skills, without significantly impacting your course syllabus.
• Encourage students to use the materials independently outside of class.

Contact us for Canvas integration links or other questions.

Students will be able to access the material directly from the course, with no need for an extra log-in. There are two ways to utilize Credo content in your Cavas course:

1. As an assignment: InfoLit -- Core offers quizzes to support formative assessment. Add the content as an assignment so the score will be included in the gradebook.
2. Ungraded content: Add links seamlessly in your modules to support your learning objectives using the External Tool feature.

Contact us if you have questions about integrating Credo content into Canvas!

Quizzes

• Recommended when your course is not heavily focused on IL, but you would like to reinforce IL principles. Can also work in conjunction with other IL-based assessments in your course, such as papers or annotated bibliography assignments.
• Relate to specific topics in the videos and tutorials (typically 1-3 multimedia are covered in 1 quiz). Use them in conjunction with multimedia to assess specific skills that are important for your course.
• Many instructors use these as formative assessments: offering extra credit or as a quiz grade with small point value to course overall.

Pre/post Tests

• Cover all concepts in Instruct multimedia and are best used when your course is heavily focused on IL.
• Pre and post tests can be used together, or separately; pretest as a benchmark (ungraded), then use the posttest as a graded test or alternatively, pretest or posttest as a standalone graded item.
• Can be used in conjunction with other IL-related assessments (annotated bibliographies or research papers) where students must apply what they have learned.
• Can be used across courses (or even all of Gen Ed) to see IL skills in broader context.

Content adapted from the following Credo publications: The Credo IL Strategy Handbook 2nd Edition, Faculty Guide to Information Literacy – Core: Why Information Literacy?, Increasing Information Literacy in Online and On-Campus Classes, and Teaching Guides.