Information literacy has been gaining attention as we have more information available to us more quickly through the internet. Library and information sciences have been at the forefront of this phenomenon, and the existing resources in how to teach, practice, and assess information literacy are vast. This instructor’s manual seeks to compile some of the best of these resources while adding new content to the literature. The topics that require the most background information for students include sections on how to present the material and practice it with in-class activities. Each module contains an assignment that scaffolds more basic information and skills with critical thinking and application questions. The modules are designed to be self-contained; while the tools from each module complement each other, it is not necessary to use them all or in a certain order. Please adapt these materials as you see fit for your classroom. My goal was to create a resource that would not only benefit my sociology classes, but would be applicable in other disciplines and applications. A quick note on my formatting: italicized questions are for students to answer. Items in brackets are notes to instructors, designed to be deleted if these are handed out to students as an assignment.
This manual is divided into three broad areas of information literacy: (1) Data basics, which include common applications of data and background information in how data are collected and presented; (2) Critical thinking, broadly defined as evaluating sources, and (3) Research, which includes common primary data sources that will have relevance for students’ academic and career purposes.
Data Literacy:
- Module 1 – Percent Change
- Module 2 – Rates
- Module 3 – Interpreting Data
- Module 4 – Survey Design
Critical Thinking
- Module 5 – Using Sources Appropriately
- Module 6 – Evaluating Quality Sources
Research
- Module 7 – Primary Sources
- Module 8 – Crime Data
