LibGuides: Information Literacy Program at Decker Library: Program and Student Learning Outcomes

Using Program and Student Learning Outcomes

Using Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) in Class Design

On this page, you will learn how to design classroom activities based on MICA's Student and Program Learning Outcomes. According to the principles of Backward Design, it's always best to design a lesson plan with your assessment goals in mind. In other words, start with the high level: what should your students get out of this? Start with our Decker Library's Mission and Values, then you can map specific Program Learning Outcomes and Classroom activities to that original goal. Our Program Learning Outcomes were designed, using Bloom's taxonomy, to be measurable and should be built into every assignment.

Decker Library's Mission and Vision

If we are successful, the library will be a hub for socially engaged artists, designers, and educators in Baltimore, creating a more equitable world.

We provide a welcoming space for learning, inspiration, and discovery.

We are partners with faculty in student learning, specifically relating to information literacy.

We help anyone in the MICA community find what they are looking for.

Our core values are:

Innovative
Inclusive
Investigative

Our goals are:

To become a participatory library, where conversations in physical and digital spaces create knowledge that is beneficial to the MICA community.
To practice critical librarianship, where we help our community develop critical thinking skills, provide information literacy instruction, promote being an engaged citizen, and critique power and privilege, including developing antiracist frameworks.
To become a beta space that allows for the prototyping of new and iterative ideas.
To be in partnership with campus units to better support learning.

Decker Library's Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

Learning outcomes include knowledge, skills, and attitudes/values.

Search and Organize:

PLO 1: Students will be able to search for appropriate information and organize their research as needed.

PLO2: Students will be able to identify core concepts, keywords, and subject headings for discovery of relevant information.

Evaluate and Analyze:

PLO 3: Students will be able to develop an effective search strategy, modify their topic and search terms when necessary, and ask for help when needed.

PLO 4: Students will be able to evaluate authors and information sources for authority, relevance, purpose, and bias in context.

Synthesize and Create:

PLO 5: Students will be able to explore ideas, test topics, and refine a research question in context.

PLO 6: Students will be able to synthesize and contextualize information alone and in groups.

Classroom Activities

See Activity Templates Tab for Examples.

Framework	Decker Library PLOs	AAC&U Information Literacy VALUE Rubric	ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education
Search and Organize	PLO 1: Students will be able to search for appropriate information and organize their research as needed.		Information Creation as a Process Information in any format is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method. The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting product reflects these differences.
Search and Organize	PLO 2: Students will be able to identify core concepts, keywords, and subject headings for discovery of relevant information.	Determine the Extent of Information Needed Effectively defines the scope of the research question or thesis. Effectively determines key concepts. Types of information (sources) selected directly relate to concepts or answer research question.	Research as Inquiry Research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers in turn develop additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field.
Evaluate and Analyze	PLO 3: Students will be able to develop an effective search strategy, modify their topic and search terms when necessary, and ask for help when needed.	Access the Needed Information Accesses information using variety of search strategies and some relevant information sources. Demonstrates ability to refine search.	Searching as Strategic Exploration Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops.
Evaluate and Analyze	PLO 4: Students will be able to evaluate authors and information sources for authority, relevance, purpose, and bias in context.	Evaluate Information and Its Sources Critically Chooses a variety of information sources appropriate to the scope and discipline of the research question. Selects sources after considering the importance (to the researched topic) of the multiple criteria used (such as relevance to the research question, currency, authority, audience, and bias or point of view).	Authority Is Constructed and Contextual Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.
Synthesize and Create	PLO 5: Students will be able to explore ideas, test topics, and refine a research question in context.	Use Information Effectively to Accomplish a Specific Purpose Communicates, organizes and synthesizes information from sources to fully achieve a specific purpose, with clarity and depth	Scholarship as Conversation Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations.
Synthesize and Create	PLO 6: Students will be able to synthesize and contextualize information alone and in groups.
(The library has an optional workshop about copyright that successfully covers these areas. These concepts are also informally brought up in most classes, but there are no activities that surround this.)		Access and Use Information Ethically and Legally Students use correctly all of the following information use strategies (use of citations and references; choice of paraphrasing, summary, or quoting; using information in ways that are true to original context; distinguishing between common knowledge and ideas requiring attribution) and demonstrate a full understanding of the ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published, confidential, and/or proprietary information.	Information Has Value Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. Legal and socioeconomic interests influence information production and dissemination.