Building on Strengths: A Collaborative, Asset-Focused Approach to Teaching Critical Information Literacy Skills

• Published in: Communications in information literacy Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 218 - 243
• Main Authors: Penrose, Rebecca, Chavez, Kristi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tulsa Communications in Information Literacy 01.12.2024
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; asset-focused approach; Collaboration; collaborative instruction; Content Area Writing; Course Content; critical information literacy; Critical Literacy; Critical Theory; Critical Thinking; Discussion (Teaching Technique); Educational Assessment; Educational Methods; Educational Strategies; Essays; Focus Groups; Graduation Rate; Higher Education; infographics; Information Literacy; Information Skills; Instructional Design; Librarians; Library Instruction; Library Personnel; Library Skills; Low Achievement; Opportunities; Power Structure; School Holding Power; Skills; Workshops; United States > US
• ISSN: 1933-5954; 1933-5954
• DOI: 10.15760/comminfolit.2024.18.2.6

This article showcases an instructor–librarian collaborative model for teaching critical information literacy (CIL) skills in a higher education course by incorporating interactive workshops into a sequence of required course assignments. Using an asset-focused design, this assignment sequence allows students to first demonstrate their existing research strategies and then evaluate those strategies during workshop activities, applying the CIL principles they are learning. In this way, the approach recognizes students’ existing strengths and builds upon them, while emphasizing self-reflection opportunities and an intentional research focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and representation. Results from our one-year study are also highlighted. The suggested instructional strategies could be adapted to any course with research-related projects.