Learning Outcomes for Undergraduate Instruction

Freshmen · Sophomores · Juniors · Seniors

Freshman Learning Outcomes

The Ohio University Libraries' role in supporting information competency in the freshman year will focus on these themes. Freshman students should be able to:

1. Contact a librarian for help
2. Differentiate between the catalog of the library, a subscription research database, and the "free" web, and start to understand reasons to use each.
3. Be able to construct a simple search using Boolean operators and synonyms, and broaden or narrow searches as necessary.
4. Evaluate any resource using an established set of criteria

Librarian-led experiences in the freshman year that will help to accomplish these goals include:

1. English 151/2/3: We are currently seeing about half of these English classes for 3 hours each as part of a scaffolded research unit. Our goal is to reach all of these introductory English classes with this program.
2. UC 115: limited resources force us to prioritize; therefore, UC115’s exposure to the library will not be led by librarians in person. We suggest activities such as: the podcast tour, an online tutorial, and a librarian/faculty-devised experiential learning exercise addressing theme #2.
3. COMS 103: librarians will train TAs to teach students these themes, with an emphasis on evaluation.
4. Majors survey courses: faculty will work with individual Subject Librarians to develop programs which address the above themes without duplication, as staffing allows.
5. One-on-one consultations at library service desks.

Note: “Examples” are offered to show possible, idealized, applications of the ideas above. These experiences do not necessarily currently exist.

Sophomore Learning Outcomes

Second exposure to freshman themes

The Ohio University Libraries' role in supporting information competency in the sophomore year will focus on these themes. Sophomore students should be able to:

1. Understand that knowledge and data are divided into disciplines, and know where their discipline falls in the structure
2. Use the 1 or 2 most important databases in their major field
3. Begin using other kinds of resources, such as newspaper indexes, archives, special collections, other libraries, organization web pages, book chapters, primary sources.
4. Use more advanced database searching strategies, such as adjacency, field searching, nested searching, and limiters. Understand subject headings.
5. Apply more advanced evaluation criteria

Librarian-led experiences in the Sophomore year that will help to accomplish these goals include:

1. In general education courses, assignments are created, in cooperation with a librarian, which require these skills to succeed.
2. Students attend open library workshops, and use online tutorials and other aids to learn details on their own.
3. Train the trainer sessions for faculty and TAs to help their student
s
4. In courses in the major, librarian or faculty-led introductions to the literature of the field.
5. In-class Library work days
6. One-on-one consultations at library service desks.

Junior Learning Outcomes

Note: In the upper levels of undergraduate education, increased cooperation between the faculty and the Subject Librarian becomes ever more important to accomplish these outcomes.

Third exposure to freshman themes

Second exposure to sophomore themes

• Use most of the databases in the field of their major.
• Use advanced types of indexing: citation, retrospective, thesauri, etc
.
• Use advanced types of resources: grey literature, microfilm, media collections, experts, statistics, etc.
• Evaluate information in their field with the logic of their field.
• Know and recognize classic ideas, journals, and thinkers in their field
• Do a literature review to begin a research project.
• Plan a strategy to accomplish needed research

Librarian-led experiences in the Junior year that will help to accomplish these goals include:

• In-class library sessions with Subject Librarian in their field
• Research appointments with Subject Librarian
• One-on-one consultations at library service desks.

Senior Learning Outcomes

Fourth exposure to freshman themes

Third exposure to sophomore themes

Second exposure to junior themes

The Ohio University Libraries' role in supporting information competency in the senior year will focus on this theme:

Synthesis: Gathering data is only one part of a larger idea. Research is also the creation of knowledge. Seniors are part of the larger academic world, discovering and reporting new knowledge. Librarians are colleagues in the research process.

Librarian-led experiences in the senior year that will help to accomplish these goals include:

1. In seminar courses, high level of collaboration with librarian on major research projects.
2. SAILS: standardized test of Information Competency to assess change from freshman to senior year
3. Portfolio assessment in collaboration with faculty in the major
4. Research appointments with Subject Librarian

Approved by Subject Librarian's Council of Ohio University Libraries, 5/17/06.