Library Instruction Awards Information Literacy Grants

In a pilot program made possible by the University of Texas Libraries, Library Instruction Services has awarded eight grants to faculty for creative incorporation of information literacy into the classroom.

The Information Literacy Course Enhancement Program (ILCEP) provides Signature Course faculty in the School of Undergraduate Studies the opportunity to apply for small block grants to enhance efforts at building standard teaching and coursework to emphasize information literacy as a necessary component of learning.

“One goal of the program is to create model approaches to information literacy integration that can be used in other Undergraduate Studies courses,” says Michele Ostrow, head of Library Instruction Services.  “For that reason, we have a mix of smaller format courses capped at 18 and larger format courses which can have up to 350 students to ensure we create materials and approaches that will be applicable to the full range of Undergraduate Studies courses offered.”

In this pilot of ILCEP, Library Instruction Services (LIS) received 23 applications for the eight available awards.

Faculty-submitted applications were evaluated by a selection committee composed of representatives from LIS and Undergraduate Studies. Awardees received notification in the Fall 2012 semester for courses occurring in the Spring and Fall 2013 semesters.

Faculty members begin with a workshop on backward design presented by the Center for Teaching and Learning, after which they are paired with an LIS librarian and, as needed, the Undergraduate Studies Writing Coordinator to develop assignments integrating information literacy into their courses. Assessments are constructed to determine the effectiveness of the methods, the outcomes of which will be shared with Signature Course faculty for future use in creating courses.

ILCEP was made possible by an Imagination & Innovation Grant — a program that provides Libraries staff the opportunity to develop novel initiatives or projects central to the work of their units, while advancing Libraries priorities.

The recipients of ILCEP grants for 2013 are:

Spring 2013

David Beaver, Philosophy & Linguistics, UGS 303: Minds and Machines

Pascal Bos, Germanic Studies, UGS 302: Reel Horror

Guy Raffa, French & Italian, UGS 303:  Dante’s Hell and Its Afterlife

Michael Webber, Mechanical Engineering, UGS 302: Energy and Infrastructure Systems Field Laboratory

Fall 2013

Cory Reed, Spanish & Portuguese, UGS 302: Cultures in Contact: Spain, Mexico, and the American Southwest

Jonathan Kaplan, Middle Eastern Studies, UGS 303:  Jerusalem

Leticia Marteleto, Sociology, UGS 302: Social Inequality and Education in Latin America

Deborah Paredez, English, UGS 303: Performing America