Development of an information literacy course for community college students

This study was an action study which used survey research to solicit input from a panel of experts on information literacy. The attributes of an information literate person identified by a panel of experts in 1992 were used as the basis for developing content goals for an information literacy course for community college associate degree students. Using these attributes as the basis, content goals were developed from the literature for each attribute and worded according to an expert curriculum development system.

A panel of experts on information literacy responded to a survey in which they validated the content goals by rating them as to difficulty and frequency of use. The difficulty factor referred to how difficult the content goal would be for community college students to achieve. The frequency factor related to how often the student would use the skill or knowledge in future academic and career activities. The combination of these two ratings placed the content goals into a two by two matrix. The placement in the matrix allowed the developer to select content based on importance of content to the course. Forty-seven of the seventy-two content goals were included in the course based on the expert ratings and matrix cell placement.

An expert system was used to develop the course. The IPSI Performance Instruction expert system was used to configure the syllabus, learning experiences and evaluation scheme for the course. The system allowed the developer to maintain consistency in what was planned, what was delivered and what was evaluated. The course was developed as an individualized, performance based course and consisted of fourteen modules.

Documents produced as a result of this study were a course syllabus, fourteen modules containing learning experiences that allow the student to achieve the content goals, and an evaluation scheme composed of tests and skill checklists. The course is designed as a three credit semester length, individualized course.

The findings allowed the developer to configure the course in information literacy and to conclude that information literacy skills are an integral part of the educational experience. The course content fit easily into a modular instructional format. This format of instruction should be evaluated as to its application across the community college curriculum. Information literacy skills appear to align closely with general education skills and this relationship should be investigated further. Curriculum standards should be considered that incorporate information literacy into community college associate degree programs.