Weber State UniversityWeber State University

Meeting the Challenges of Library Instruction in Core Writing Courses

Carol HansenProfessor and Instruction Services Librarian

ULA 2002

Across the CurriculumAcross the Curriculum

• Information Literacy Across the Curriculum– This is our primary goal– English 2010 is an important venue

• ACRL Best Practices– ACRL selected WSU’s program as one of the

top ten programs that exemplify best practices in information literacy programming for undergraduates

What We Do at WSUWhat We Do at WSU

• Library instruction session is scheduled for every section of English 2010– 40 to 50 sessions each semester– Sessions divided among those involved – Library sends letter to every faculty member

months in advance • Letter includes a copy of the Web schedule

• Letter goes to all adjuncts and teachers teaching off campus. Instructors of online sections are contacted

What We Do at WSUWhat We Do at WSU

• Library instruction session overview– English 2010 students, English faculty member and

a librarian meet in the library classroom– Librarian introduces exercise quickly using

PowerPoint– Students are given an exercise to complete using

PC’s in classroom. Usually every student has a PC (may be a few sharing)

– Our emphasis is on students actively DOING research

English 2010 ExerciseEnglish 2010 Exercise

• Students work together in classroom

• Students complete exercise on their own as homework, usually within 1 week

• English faculty grades exercise

• Students are required to – use an encyclopedia, 2 article databases, the Web

catalog and Google – identify call numbers, format types, and evaluate and

compare sources

Planning and Assessment Cycle Planning and Assessment Cycle

• Developing a “Culture of Assessment”

• Assessment plan is useful

• Library Instruction Team and English Faculty– continually make suggestions and improvements

• even after a single session they will mark up exercise and put it under my door

– PowerPoint slides and exercise are updated every semester

English Faculty Input is CriticalEnglish Faculty Input is Critical

• Instruction Services Librarian meets with English Department– Meets with writing program chair once or twice

a year– Meets with entire English department usually

twice a year– Letters and emails requesting feedback from

English Department faculty are requested 3 times a year.

Assessment Plan and DataAssessment Plan and Data

• Greatest challenge is the wide range of students required to take English 2010– Most students tell us they really like the

sessions and the exercise– About 10% of the students feel they already

have the skills– About 5% feel overwhelmed– We gather data and use it to continually

improve instruction

Any Questions?Any Questions?

• We will be looking for new ideas at the ACRL Best Practices Conference in June

• This slide show is on the Web at

• http://library.weber.edu/carol/ula/ula02.ppt