LIBR 287-02
LIBR 287-11
Seminar in Information Science
Topic: Information Literacy 
Summer 2012 Greensheet

Michelle Holschuh Simmons, Ph.D.
E-mail
Office Hours: virtually via weekly Collaborate sessions (see D2L for schedule), by e-mail, by BbIM, and by phone
Phone: (336) 854-3034; call as needed (please keep in mind that I am on Eastern Time)

I will open the D2L site on Monday, June 4.  Please log in to our class' D2L site no later than Tuesday, June 5th.

Course Description

This course combines theory and practice of information literacy to give students the foundation they need for teaching in a library setting. Though the focus of the course will primarily be on academic libraries, the concepts are transferable to any type of library, and students may adapt the assignments to reflect the library setting of interest (K-12, public, or academic). The course emphasizes the practical aspects of teaching, the creation of effective instructional materials, the evaluation of instruction programs, and the management of instruction programs within a larger organizational setting.

Course Requirements

• Screencast and Reflection: Librarians design, create, and post online tutorials/screencasts that explain how to use specific research tools (such as the OPAC or a database). For this assignment, you will have the opportunity to design and create your own brief screencast (less than five-minutes) using the freely-downloadable Jing or a similar product for your chosen audience. Secondly, you will write a reflection (around 2-3 pages, double-spaced, standard fonts and margins) reflecting on your process of composing the screencast, explaining your choices of what to include and what to exclude, and reflecting on changes you would make if you could redo it. Please see the Screencast assignment sheet in D2L for detailed information and a grading rubric. (Supports SLO #2, SLO #3, SLO #4)  (15% of final grade) 
  
• Instruction Observation Report: You will have the opportunity to observe a library instruction session with a practicing instruction librarian. After the observation, you will fill out and submit a report form on which you will summarize your experience, including the pre- and post-meetings with the librarian. Additionally, on this form you will provide some preliminary ideas regarding the theme(s) you might focus on for your seminar paper. Please see the instruction observation form in D2L for more detailed information. (Supports SLO #1, SLO #6) (5% of total grade)
  
• Seminar Paper: In this paper, you will apply the ideas and theories from our discussions and readings to your instruction observation experience. Please see the seminar paper assignment sheet in D2L for more detailed information and a grading rubric. (Supports SLO #1, SLO #5, SLO #6)  (30% of total grade) 
  
• Instruction Session with Lesson Plan, Visual (handout, PowerPoint, or some other instructional aide), Reflection, and Feedback to classmates: You will have the opportunity to synthesize the learning theories, teaching methods, and information literacy concepts that we will learn throughout the term by preparing and teaching an instruction session of approximately 20 minutes via Elluminate. Please see the instruction session assignment sheet in D2L for more detailed information and a grading rubric. (Supports SLO #3, SLO #4, SLO #7) (30% of total grade) 
• Weekly Online Discussions: Because this class is mostly asynchronous, the online discussions are an integral part of this course. These will be structured, and participation is mandatory. For each week’s class material, one substantive, thoughtful initial post (a few hundred words) and one response to another person's posts (around 150 words each) are required. Please see the online discussion expectations sheet in D2L for detailed information. (Supports SLO #1, SLO #2, SLO #5) (20% of total grade)

Mode of instruction
This course will be asynchronous, except for the student instruction session presentations at the end of the term.

We will use D2L for online discussions, for the submission of assignments, and for accessing readings and course materials. Attendance at the asynchronous office hour in Collaborate is optional; the office hour is intended for me to answer students’ questions, for students to get to know me and each other, and for students who would prefer to interact in a synchronous environment. If students ask questions during the office hour from which I believe the rest of the class will benefit, I will post the question and my response to our D2L site.

Late Assignments Policy
There will be a late penalty for assignments turned in after the due date without prior approval. If your life circumstances require you to seek an extension, please do so at least several days before the assignment is due. No extensions will be granted for discussion posts or for the instruction session (including all accompanying materials).

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Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

LIBR 200, Other prerequisites may be added depending on content. 

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Develop conceptual and practical strategies for presenting information on a mobile device.
2. Explain the elements of a good user experience.
3. Describe user research techniques and a design and innovation methodology.
4. Articulate the relationship between design thinking, user experience, and innovation.
5. Analyze library websites with user research techniques.
6. Evaluate a library website and identify good aspects and areas that could be improved.
7. Describe how libraries can improve their physical touchpoints with user research techniques.
8. Apply design thinking skills to identify opportunities for libraries.
9. Identify nontraditional user-centered library programs or services and use them to explain opportunity for the future of libraries.
10. Describe the web service model and be able to access and retrieve information from a 3rd party service.
11. Design interfaces to display web service content on a variety of mobile devices through responsive web design.
12. Examine programming and markup languages used for web application development.
13. Navigate an IDE (integrated development environment) for web application development.
14. Describe the model-view-controller (MVC) programming model.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

LIBR 287 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Recommended Textbooks:

• Booth, C. (2011). Reflective teaching, Effective learning: Instructional literacy for library educators. ALA. Available through Amazon: 0838910521

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Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation.  You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

• "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
  • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
  • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
• "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

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