Engagement and Assessment in a Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Course

Purpose – The authors teach a three-credit, upper-division, information literacy (IL) course to students in various majors. The purpose of this paper is to share the various philosophies and activities the authors use to engage their students and create a cohesive interdisciplinary course and to describe the various assessment tools utilized. Design/methodology/approach – In this case study, the authors give specific examples of engaging assignments and methods for evaluating student work in a credit-bearing IL course. Findings – It is found that if students are engaged, and effective assessment tools are employed, library credit instruction in a face-to-face setting with upper-classmen from diverse majors is an impactful way to teach IL. Practical implications – This article provides ideas on how to use a topical theme in teaching an interdisciplinary IL credit course; concrete approaches on engaging students in an IL course; and new strategies for assessing an IL credit-bearing course. Many of the engagement and assessment methods the authors share may also be applied to one-shot instruction sessions. Originality/value – The paper provides a practical case study of the authors' experiences engaging students and assessing their work in an upper level, three-credit, face-to-face class, a type of course not well represented in the information literacy literature at this point in time.