February 7, 2023 – Information literacy is one of the Santa Fe College’s general education learning outcomes, and is woven through classes across multiple disciplines. Many classes include a high-stakes research paper or assignment. Students are not always used to college-level research and may not know how to best access, choose and use library resources such as databases, and some may be unfamiliar with terms like peer-reviewed, journals, and databases. This leaves students at a disadvantage for successful completion of the assignment.
Library instruction is one way that students learn how to effectively research and become more information-literate. Beyond providing the pure mechanics of research, library instruction provides a touchpoint for students to connect to the library and recognize who they can reach out to for help. Additionally, research has shown that “students who attend a library instruction session have a statistically significantly higher chance than their peers of being retained.” (O’Kelly et al., 2023)
Instructors with a research component in their classes are encouraged to reach out for some form of library instruction. In addition to traditional library instruction, there are also opportunities for custom library modules, webinars, guided research sessions, flipped library sessions and more. All sessions are customized for each class based on the assignment and goals of the instructor.
SF librarians will also travel to any SF location to help faculty teaching somewhere other than the Northwest Campus.
Are you ready to schedule a library session? Request your day/time here. The library staff look forward to working with you and your students.