Great Expectations: The Context of the Learning Situation

 

By Jameslwoodward (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The title for the course under development is Hashtag Truth: Skepticism and Skills for Exploring the Information Ecosystem. In the previous post, the student learning outcomes from the university for the Freshman Foundations is: The student critically analyzes and communicates complex issues and ideas. This outcome is broad and open to many interpretations, so to narrow the focus for this course, a series of six course learning outcomes were developed that correspond to the six frames of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.  

• Ask increasingly complex questions and seek multiple perspectives while gathering and assessing information.
•  Identify and evaluate a range of information sources and maintain mental flexibility to pursue alternative avenues as understanding develops.
• Ask relevant questions about the origins, context, and authority of information while challenging the everyday acceptance of information quality.
• Recognize underlying processes of information creation and apply accepted processes in creating their own work.
• Articulate several dimensions of information value, including giving credit to the original ideas of others and making informed choices about the commodification of their personal information.
•  Develop familiarity with scholarly communication in a given discipline by analyzing how insights and discoveries reflect varied perspectives and interpretations.

    We hope that these action-based outcomes underscore the ideals of information fluency.