Librarians at Anderson University, in partnership with Librarians at other private university libraries in Indiana, have developed a series of Information Literacy Modules for use in your Canvas courses.
Each of the modules features a brief intro page with clearly stated Learning Outcomes; content pages with text, video and other media; a learning assignment or activity to practice the skills; and a short quiz to test comprehension of the concepts.
The modules are easy to find and add to your courses:
- In Canvas, go to Canvas Commons.
- Search "James Bell"
- Click on the Module of interest, and click "Import/Download", and choose your course.
- Once the module is in your course, you can review learning objectives, content pages and activities. You can make modifications as you need, specifically in Due Dates and assignment point values.
- Send an email to James Bell, jcbell@anderson.edu . He is very interested to hear about the different courses where the modules will be making an impact. Make sure to note which modules you've chosen and how/when you are assigning them.
What do the Modules cover?
- The Research Question
- Searching for Information Online
- Advanced Searching
- Evaluating Sources
- Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources
- Scholarly Articles
- Information Cycles and Communication Sources
- Misinformation and Media Bias
- Organizing Sources
- Academic Integrity
- Understanding Plagiarism & Citing Sources
- Copyright, Fair Use, & Public Domain
- Literature Reviews
- Scholarly Conversation
- Information has Value
Should my class do only one Module or all of them? And in what order? Can I just use part of a module?
- The modules stand alone and can be chosen a la carte. However, a few of the early modules work best when taken together, like The Research Question, Searching for Info, and Evaluating Sources.
- Each module is set to require students to go through it in order. Meaning, they can only start on the Intro/LOs page, then the content page(s), and only after they have opened those can they see the activities. This requirement can be turned off in your individual course, but it generally helps to keep students from just skipping right to the quiz.
Are these modules just for Freshman?
- Some of the modules were designed specifically for early college classes. However, they may still be helpful as review in advanced classes.
- Other modules would appeal to upper-division courses, as many courses could benefit from a lesson on skill development in recognizing Misinformation and Bias, or conceptual lessons on Copyright or the Scholarly Conversation. Advanced writing classes might benefit from a module on Advanced Searching and on Scholarly Articles and Literature Reviews.
Do these modules completely replace library instruction?
- We hope not! While the lessons are significant, we also know that students greatly benefit from direct contact with librarians and the library. We hope that these modules supplement library interaction. If you choose to add modules to your course, please also reach out to the instruction librarian and consider which of the many ways of librarian interaction would be best for your class: in-class (or virtual) full instruction, in-class brief visit, brief visit or tour of the library and disciplinary resources and book stacks, 1-on-1 librarian research consultations, etc.
