QEP & The Library: 

Mapping the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education to the SLU Quality Enhancement Plan

ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education:

Definition:  “Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to ‘recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.’

An information literate individual is able to:

• Determine the extent of information needed
• Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
• Evaluate information and its sources critically
• Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
• Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
• Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally

Gaining skills in information literacy multiplies the opportunities for students’ self-directed learning, as they become engaged in using a wide variety of information sources to expand their knowledge, ask informed questions, and sharpen their critical thinking for still further self-directed learning.  Achieving competency in information literacy requires an understanding that this cluster of abilities is not extraneous to the curriculum but is woven into the curriculum’s content, structure, and sequence. This curricular integration also affords many possibilities for furthering the influence and impact of such student-centered teaching methods as problem-based learning, evidence-based learning, and inquiry learning. Guided by faculty and others in problem-based approaches, students reason about course content at a deeper level than is possible through the exclusive use of lectures and textbooks. To take fullest advantage of problem-based learning, students must often use thinking skills requiring them to become skilled users of information sources in many locations and formats, thereby increasing their responsibility for their own learning.” ¹

¹    http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency

1. Standard One

The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.

2. Standard Two

The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.

3. Standard Three

The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

4. Standard Four

The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

5. Standard Five

The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

Complete Standards, Performance Indicators, and Outcomes can be viewed at:

http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency

Note:  In January of 2016, ACRL adopted the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education which includes the following frames:

• Authority is Constructed and Contextual
• Information Creation as a Process
• Information has Value
• Research as Inquiry
• Scholarship as Conversation
• Searching as Strategic Exploration

     http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework

SLU Quality Enhancement Plan:

Critical Thinking + Core Values = Decision Making

http://qep.saintleo.edu/

QEP Rubric:

The rubric has three components, which together reflect the expectations of the QEP A Model for a Challenging World. These are Critical Thinking, Core Values, and Decision Making. The component of Critical Thinking is further broken into eight elements identified by the Foundation for Critical Thinking.

• Critical Thinking

Purpose: This element requires learners to identify goals, objectives, desired outcomes, intent, and/or function of the work being considered. The purpose is what the learner is trying to accomplish.

Question at Issue: This element requires learners to identify the problem or topic that is central to achieving the purpose identified in the first element. The question at issue makes the purpose more specific by asking questions to narrow the information needed.

Assumptions: This element requires learners to identify background theory and things that are taken for granted by the learner as related to the topic being considered.

Implications and Consequences: This element requires learners to identify what follows from their reasoning through other elements and to consider costs and benefits.

Information: This element requires learners to find data, evidence, and observations related to the topic.

Concepts: This element requires learners to organize ideas and create categories related to the topic.

Conclusions and Interpretations: This element requires learners to make inferences and develop solutions. This is an element of critical thinking and is different from the Decision Making because there can be several conclusions and interpretations and there will be one final decision.

Points of View: This element requires learners to consider more than one perspective and frame of reference. These include the recognition that the learner has a point of view, that the discipline may have a point of view, and that other people/disciplines may have other points of view.

• Core Values: This component requires learners to consider the Saint Leo University core values of excellence, respect, community, responsible stewardship, personal development, and integrity as a lens to interpret the elements of critical thinking.

• Decision Making: This component requires learners to use both core values and critical thinking to make a decision that leads to action. The learner will consider the conclusions and interpretations identified through the critical thinking process and select one decision that takes into account the critical thinking steps and the core values.

Additional Resources:

Objectives for Information Literacy Instruction: A Model Statement for Academic Librarians

http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/objectivesinformation