Learning and Research Program

We live in an information-rich world that’s full of complexity and competing claims. The Libraries’ Learning and Research Team of librarians are here to help students ask good questions and develop the search strategies, evaluation skills, critical thinking, and other information literacy and metaliteracy abilities they need to succeed in college and after graduation as discerning consumers, sharers, and creators of information. 

Integrations Curriculum Support (Info Lit 1 and 2)

Information literacy – the ability to “identify, evaluate, and responsibly use information” – is one of the twelve learning goals in CSB and SJU’s general education curriculum. The Learning and Research Team provides expert Info Lit 1 support to each section of INTG 100: Learning Foundations, HONR 110: Honors Learning Foundations, and INTG 205: Transfer Seminar. We are also available upon request to offer Info Lit 2 support for Thematic Focus courses.

Other Curricular Support

CSB and SJU instructors can reach out to their academic department’s specific liaison librarian to learn more about Libraries resources and services. Your librarian can also partner with you to offer one or more of the curricular supports below:

• Asynchronous or Flipped Classroom Resources. The Learning and Research Team offers a range of resources that you can build into class sessions, add to your Canvas course, or offer as flipped content. These resources include library research activities, worksheets, video tutorials, and discipline- or course-specific research guides. Our Info Lit 1 Tutorials are one example of flipped content; they are assigned as homework in almost all INTG 100: Learning Foundations sections.
• Assignment (Re)Design. Your librarian can partner with you to develop or refine hands-on, high-impact student activities or assignments. We follow best practices for teaching and learning to collaboratively design assignments that incorporate active, project-based, or applied learning in order to support your course learning goals, our Metaliteracy Student Learning Outcomes, and/or a range of transferrable skills. 
• In-Class Instruction Sessions. Librarians can meet with your students in your classroom or a library space for a start-of-semester introduction, more in-depth library instruction sessions, or hands-on “lab” days. If you are interested in exploring these options further, we highly recommend meeting with your librarian in person or over Zoom to discuss the learning goals, session content, and timing for the session(s). If you hope to book a session, please make sure your librarian has adequate time to lesson plan and prepare beforehand.
• Student Research Appointments. The Learning and Research Team offers one-on-one and small group student research appointments. Students can choose which librarian to work with and book an appointment through The Hive for a time and format (Zoom or in person) that works for them. We can meet with students at any point in their research process, from initial topic development to background research, then searching for reputable, high-quality information, to finally citing sources. Encourage your students to meet with us whenever they could use our support.
• Departmental Scaffolding / Curriculum Mapping. Our librarians are committed to developing, in partnership with individual academic departments and programs, information literacy and metaliteracy resources that intentionally scaffold, or build, upon the foundational concepts introduced in Info Lit 1 and Info Lit 2 and that support your department’s learning objectives and students’ needs. Please contact your liaison librarian to discuss what this could look like in your department.

Media Literacy Assignments with iTech

We love a good literature review or annotated bibliography assignment, but did you know that the Learning and Research Team partners with Instructional Technology (“iTech”) to support less “traditional essay” multimedia projects, too? We offer several single-session activities, including “Spot the Difference,” where students use Adobe Firefly to alter historical photos and then reflect on the ethics and impact of GenAI, and “For/Against/Neutral,” where students consider issues of accuracy, balance, and bias after selectively editing news footage with an assigned stance in mind. We also support a range of multi-session assignments involving video, podcasting, data visualization, and web blogs or digital exhibits.

Makerspace Projects

Additional innovative projects can be supported through the Clemens Library Makerspace. Reach out to explore what’s possible!