Exploring how faculty members are teaching information literacy to online community college students

Abstract

Technology has created an abundance of information easily accessible to anyone using computing technology. This abundance of easily accessible information has exacerbated the need for information literacy education so students are able to find, evaluate, and use the information to meet their specific educational goals. Moreover, with an increase in online course and program offerings by colleges and universities, academic libraries also need a comprehensive understanding of how faculty members are teaching information literacy in within these online courses. This study examines how English faculty members at a large, suburban, community college teach information literacy within fully online courses. This Interpretative Phenomenological Study works to understand the lived experience of several English faculty members teaching one of two identified general education courses in a fully online environment. The data analysis reveals how these English faculty members define information literacy, which information literacy concepts they teach in their courses, the pedagogical strategies utilized by the English faculty members to instruct students on the identified topics, and finally an exploration of the relationship that exists between English faculty members who teach these gateway, general education courses and the academic library at their institution. The results of this study offer clear suggestions for community college academic libraries that can also be translated to other types of colleges and universities as nationally, institutions prepare to implement the new Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.