Information Literacy Instruction Sessions Research Articles

Marketing Professional Development Online Streaming Videos to Faculty via Email During COVID-19

Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the College’s Hirons Library & Learning Center (HLLC) and the Office of Institutional Research & Training (OIRT) marketing efforts included word of mouth, information literacy instruction session, physical and electronic displays, and announcements on the library webpage to users in person. In the Spring 2021 Semester, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HLLC partnered with OIRT to design a marketing campaign to promote professional development streaming videos to faculty using ConvertKit–an email marketing tool. We used Panopto to store the videos, and we put the handouts in FlipGrid. In this edition of the column, we describe how we are marketing professional development streaming videos to faculty, including which strategies we employed and the extent to which we recognized success with these new efforts.

The methodology used to deliver information literacy instruction by a select group of academic librarians: a case study

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to highlight the need for academic librarians to incorporate effective methodologies in their delivery of information literacy instruction.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers conducted a qualitative research using a case study approach. A nonprobability or purposive sampling method was employed in this research to select five participants. Semistructured interviews and observation were used to garner data from the sample.FindingsThe findings of the study revealed that the support required by distance education and face-to-face students is typically the same. An examination of the findings pointed to the fact that some students may be demotivated in information literacy instruction sessions because of an overload of information, which leads to frustration and poor performance.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study highlight the need for Caribbean academic librarians to incorporate effective methodologies in their delivery of information literacy instruction and provide an analytical view of how these methodologies may impact performance, understanding and the overall work produced by both students and faculty.Originality/valueResearch on the topic specific to the Caribbean is limited; therefore, research of this nature provides useful strategies that academic librarians may use in developing stellar information literacy programs in the Caribbean to help both students and faculty members achieve excellence.

Library Marketing: Sending Text Messages and Emails to Online Library Users During COVID-19

Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the College’s Hirons Library & Learning Center (HLLC) library marketing efforts included word of mouth, information literacy instruction session, physical and electronic displays, and announcement on the library webpage to library users. In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HLLC, in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research & Training (OIRT), designed two new library marketing campaigns using the project management app, Notion. Both campaigns were designed to meet the new and changing needs of our new, predominately remote, users. In the first library marketing campaign, the HLLC’s marketing goal was very focused and deliberate in purpose. The library emailed the College community messages to increase awareness and usage of the library’s eBook collections. In the second library marketing campaign, the library broadened the purpose of the marketing campaigned to promote online resources, tools, and virtual programs. The library sent text messages to the students. In this edition of the column, we describe how our marketing efforts have changed due to the pandemic, including which strategies we employed, and the extent to which we recognized success with these new efforts.

Teaching and assessing students of information literacy in a single session—The case of the University of the West Indies Mona library

Assessing the performance of information literacy (IL) students can be a daunting task for librarians globally. Most IL sessions are taught in 1 to 2 hours where any meaningful assessments are difficult to achieve. This research demonstrated how this feat was achieved in an active learning environment through the use of Google Forms. This mixed method study shows how this was effectively achieved to test both lower and higher order skills in a 2 hour session to one hundred and seventy-two foundation writing course students.The research tested a rarely examined feature of Google Forms which is the tool’s effectiveness in enabling comprehensive assessment, facilitating active learning, and identifying instructional errors in an IL instruction session. The findings show that Google Forms can be used to teach and administer a quiz using both multiple-choice as well as open-ended questions to assess both low and higher order learning skills in IL. Students were able to actively respond to questions while they were being taught, the data gathered and analyzed and used to inform future library instruction. It also showed that Google Forms are useful not simply to administer multiple-choice quizzes at the end of teaching but can be used in executing real-time assessment and support active learning. Because Google Forms support the easy creation of charts and downloading/exporting of statistics, results of assessments can be shared among librarians, faculty, and students to motivate and encourage digital pedagogy. It allows for greater collaboration with faculty in the cooperative teaching of students in single sessions where there is usually difficulty in having dialogue with faculty once a session ends. This case study is based on a limited number of students; thus, the findings of this research may not be generalized but the methodology and some skills in teaching the concepts encountered by librarians may be replicated.

Embracing the Spiral: An Action Research Assessment of a Library-Honors First Year Collaboration

Librarians often use assessment methodologies to evaluate the efficacy and impact of their information literacy instruction sessions and programs. In this article, researchers use an action research methodology to explore the effect of information literacy instruction on first-year honors student assignments. The researchers explain how they implemented multiple cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting in order to better understand student needs, increase the impact of library instruction, and communicate that impact to library and external stakeholders. Robust and cyclical assessment gave librarians and their strategic partners the opportunity to make iterative improvements to instruction, address issues of overconfidence in students, and make the case for additional information literacy instructional opportunities for honors students.

Librarian role‐playing as a method for assessing student information literacy skills

ABSTRACTResearchers and practitioners alike have long investigated the effectiveness of information literacy instruction, addressing what to measure regarding student learning and how to measure it. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we review measures and methods that have been developed to assess student learning that results from information literacy instruction. We then present a study in which we employed a new research method of librarian role‐playing to examine the extent to which college students are capable of demonstrating their information literacy skills while acting as an academic librarian. We also incorporated card‐sorting exercises, asking about their perceived search difficulty before and after the role‐playing exercise. Ten role‐playing sessions were conducted by recruiting undergraduate students who had attended an information literacy instruction session 3–4 months prior as a part of their English writing course. Results showed that the librarian role‐playing method provided opportunities for participants to recall and reflect upon what they learned from information literacy instruction effectively. Results also indicated that the role‐playing method is potentially effective in developing students' meta‐cognition about their search behavior.

Focus on the facts: A news and information literacy instructional program

ABSTRACTThis article provides an overview of the “fake news” issue and places it in the context of information literacy instruction for college students. In 2017, the faculty librarians at a large state college in Florida developed a news literacy instruction program that included instructional faculty outreach, lesson plans for one-shot information literacy instruction sessions, lessons assignments for one-credit information literacy classes, and learning objects in a LibGuide that can be used by students or embedded by faculty into courses across the disciplines.

Augmented reality for library literacy: Collaborating for innovative instruction and content development

ABSTRACTAlthough it is most often employed in informal settings, augmented reality (AR) is emerging as an exciting way to bring playful, engaging mobile technologies into formal learning environments, such as the academic library. In this poster we document a multi‐year design‐based exploration of augmented reality employed to enhance library‐based information literacy instruction. In a scholar‐practitioner partnership between an academic library and faculty and students in an MLIS program, the project team developed an iterative approach to designing, creating, and evaluating AR materials and an app that were integrated with the existing information literacy program at two branch libraries. The emphasis on learning outcomes, both for the participants of information literacy instruction sessions, as well as the MLIS students, differentiate this work from other AR projects that emphasize playful engagement over explicit skill development. We reflect on the affordances and constraints of using AR in academic libraries, as well as the value of scholar‐practitioner partnerships for enhancing library‐based instruction.

Motivational Design and Problem-Based Learning May Increase Student Engagement in Information Literacy Instruction Sessions

A Review of:
 Roberts, L. (2017). Research in the real world: Improving adult learners web search and evaluation skills through motivational design and problem-based learning. College & Research Libraries, 78(4), 527-551. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.78.4.527
 
 Abstract
 
 Objective – To determine whether the use of the ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction) Model of Motivational Design, combined with the Problem-Based Learning approach, improves the skills, confidence, and perception of workshop relevance among non-traditional students in information literacy sessions.
 
 Design – Experimental study, one group pre-test and post-test.
 
 Setting – Community college in Denver, Colorado, United States.
 
 Subjects – 41 community college students.
 
 Methods – A convenience sample of three community college student groups each attended an information literacy session. The session was constructed using principles and strategies outlined in the ARCS Model of Motivational Design and the Problem-Based Learning approach. Pre-test and post-test instruments were developed by the author after a literature review. The students were given the information literacy-related pretest before the session. After receiving instruction, the comparable posttest (with different literacy challenges) was administered.
 
 Main Results – A comparison of the pre-test and post-test results showed that there were increases in the students’ search skills; their confidence in their own search skills; and their perceptions of workshop relevance in relation to their needs and to real-world situations.
 
 Conclusion – This study focuses on the use of motivational design for information literacy instruction. It addresses a gap in the research literature, as it explicitly examines issues of concern regarding the instruction of non-traditional students. The conjunction of the ARCS Model and Problem-Based Learning is considered to be an effective strategy for improving learning and perceptual outcomes for non-traditional students in information literacy contexts. This is important because: 1) information literacy skills are a central aspect of successfully transitioning from the educational setting to the modern workplace; 2) increased confidence can enhance students’ sense of self-empowerment and self-efficacy, as well as decreasing “library anxiety”; and 3) establishing a sense of the personal relevance of information literacy engages students with tools that they can and will actually use in work and life situations.
 
 In addition, the author connects these findings to two other areas. One is the new ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education; the author notes that “threshold concepts”, defined by Roberts as “big picture ideas that are foundational to the field”, relate best to teaching techniques such as problem-based learning. The other is the concept of metacognition, which is an aspect of metaliteracy; the author states that the study’s information literacy session addressed three of four metaliteracy goals being considered. Future avenues of research and collaboration will include librarians working with learning scientists around the Framework content; finding new and engaging methods for teaching literacy concepts and assessing learning; incorporating metacognitive awareness into teaching and assessment; and specifically focusing on transferable skills and knowledge, in the service of preparing non-traditional students for the world of work.

Maintaining Quality While Expanding Our Reach: Using Online Information Literacy Tutorials in the Sciences and Health Sciences

Abstract
 
 Objective – This article aims to assess student achievement of higher-order information literacy learning outcomes from online tutorials as compared to in-person instruction in science and health science courses.
 
 Methods – Information literacy instruction via online tutorials or an in-person one-shot session was implemented in multiple sections of a biology (n=100) and a kinesiology course (n=54). After instruction, students in both instructional environments completed an identical library assignment to measure the achievement of higher-order learning outcomes and an anonymous student survey to measure the student experience of instruction. 
 
 Results – The data collected from library assignments revealed no statistically significant differences between the two instructional groups in total assignment scores or scores on specific questions related to higher-order learning outcomes. Student survey results indicated the student experience is comparable between instruction groups in terms of clarity of instruction, student confidence in completing the course assignment after library instruction, and comfort in asking a librarian for help after instruction.
 
 Conclusions – This study demonstrates that it is possible to replace one-shot information literacy instruction sessions with asynchronous online tutorials with no significant reduction in student learning in undergraduate science and health science courses. Replacing in-person instruction with online tutorials will allow librarians at this university to reach a greater number of students and maintain contact with certain courses that are transitioning to completely online environments. While the creation of online tutorials is initially time-intensive, over time implementing online instruction could free up librarian time to allow for the strategic integration of information literacy instruction into other courses. Additional time savings could be realized by incorporating auto-grading into the online tutorials.

Embeddedness Creates Opportunities for Enhanced Library Liaison Services and Relationships

A Review of:
 O’Toole, E., Barham, R., & Monahan, J. (2016). The impact of physically embedded librarianship on academic departments. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 16(3), 529-556. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2016.0032
 
 Abstract
 
 Objective – To examine whether liaison librarian interactions increase when librarians are physically embedded in their liaison areas.
 
 Design – Natural experiment using quantitative measures.
 
 Setting – A large, public university in the United States of America.
 
 Subjects – Liaison librarian reference interactions.
 
 Methods – This research is organized around four primary research questions that examine the effect of liaison librarian physical, co-located embeddedness on the following: 1) the frequency of walk-up reference transactions of the embedded location versus the service desk; 2) the frequency of reference and instructional transactions with liaison areas after the implementation of embedded services; 3) the frequency of walk-up transactions at embedded sites compared to the number of reference and instructional transactions after embeddedness began; and 4) liaison librarian participation in new collaborative or integrative activities with their liaison areas. Researchers used data collected between Fall 2012 and Spring 2014 and compared this to data collected in the pre-embedded period for Fall 2010 to Fall 2011. Data sources included the library’s locally developed reference services statistics tracking tool, individual librarians’ calendar appointment records, and librarian performance agreements. The analysis uses descriptive statistics.
 
 Main Results – Researchers discovered a decrease in the frequency of liaison librarians’ walk-up reference transactions at the service desk, as tracked by transactions per hour, occurring before the transition, during the transition, and after the transition to embedded librarianship. They note a decrease of 45% in the number of walk-up interactions at service points for the three librarians involved in the study from the pre-embeddedness service period during Fall 2010 as compared to Spring 2012. The data show this decline through Spring 2013 before rebounding in Fall 2013 and Spring 2014. They identified a median decline of three transactions per hour at the service desk from the pre-embeddedness to post-embeddedness periods.
 
 They identified an increase of 371% in the number of email transactions following the implementation of embedded librarianship as compared to the pre-embeddedness period. Telephone interactions declined overall during the research period, though they were already in decline before the transition to embeddedness began. The overall number of face-to-face reference appointments increased during the transition to embeddedness and continued to rise during the post-embeddedness period, with a 275% increase in the median number of appointments between pre- and post-embeddedness periods. The new embeddedness service did not have as significant an impact on the frequency of information literacy instruction sessions, with a small increase of 11.5% between the pre- and post-embeddedness periods, but it did spur the creation of online course research guides, which saw an increase of 54%.
 
 Regarding the third research question, researchers totalled the combined numbers of reference transactions by phone, email, and appointment, and compared those against walk-up interactions and also against instruction activities. In both cases, they did not discover any apparent impact of embeddedness and the frequency of these activities.
 
 The final research question addressed whether embeddedness led to liaison librarians having new collaborative and integrative activities with their subject areas. The researchers indicate that the liaison librarians “indeed experienced novel interactions with their assigned departments that fall into both categories” (p. 547). They highlight several types of activities experienced by the liaison librarians in the study, such as participating in the grant proposal process, assisting department projects, and involvement in student activities.
 
 Conclusion – This library’s expanded embedded library services led to an increased frequency of reference interactions, instruction opportunities, and opportunities for new collaborative and integrative activities between the liaison librarian and their subject area. This study reveals several opportunities for future research around embedded services as well as models of embeddedness, including opportunities to address impact and benefits of such services on the liaison areas.

A Faculty–Librarian Collaboration Success Story: Implementing a Teach-the-Teacher Library and Information Literacy Instruction Model in a First-Year Agricultural Science Course

Teaching information literacy requires a constant and evolving paradigm shift in today's fast-changing technology era. Add to this the intricacy of agricultural science education, and it becomes clear that instructors face challenges teaching the necessary research skills to prepare the next generation of scientists. Two faculty members in Colorado State University's College of Agricultural Sciences identified a need to redesign a core agricultural science course after observing their students struggle with research and writing. These professors improved their course through a redesign program that connected them with librarians. This collaboration led to the creation of a scaffold to help students build information literacy skills through a first-year agricultural science course. In this paper the authors discuss this collaboration, including four key factors to the program's success: a) a faculty–librarian partnership through a learning and teaching institute; b) early exposure to information literacy skills in a first-year agricultural science course; c) the integration of a research guide in a Learning Management System (LMS), and a step-by-step library and information literacy instruction session with a library assignment; and d) a teach-the-teacher model using graduate students from the respective discipline. The authors also analyze student evaluation outcomes and reflect on future improvements.

Far from a Trivial Pursuit: Assessing the Effectiveness of Games in Information Literacy Instruction

Abstract
 
 Objective – To determine whether playing library-related online games during information literacy instruction sessions improves student performance on questionnaires pertaining to selected research practices: identifying citation types and keyword and synonym development.
 
 Methods – 86 students in seven introductory English composition classes at a large urban university in the northeastern United States served as participants. Each class visited the library for library instruction twice during a given semester. In the experimental group students received information literacy instruction that incorporated two online games, and the control group received the same lesson plan with the exception of a lecture in place of playing games. A six-item pre- and posttest questionnaire was developed and administered at the outset and conclusion of the two-session classes. The 172 individual tests were coded, graded, and analyzed using SPSS.
 
 Results – A paired sample t-test comparing the control and experimental groups determined that that there was a statistically significant difference between scores on pre-tests and post-tests in the experimental group but not the control group.
 
 Conclusion – Students who played the online games improved significantly more from pre-test to post-test than students who received a lecture in lieu of playing online games, suggesting that participating in games related to the instruction they received resulted in an improved ability to select appropriate keywords and ascertain citation formats. These findings contribute to the evidence that online games concerning two frequently challenging research practices can be successfully applied to library instruction sessions to improve student comprehension of such skills.

Teaching “format as a process” in an era of Web-scale discovery

Purpose – This paper aims to present academic librarians with a framework for teaching and assessing information literacy in response to advancements in online discovery. Advancements in online discovery require academic librarians to develop new means of teaching and assessing information literacy, with an emphasis on having students use critical thinking to evaluate sources. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper analyzes how the threshold concept “format as a process” could be incorporated into information literacy instruction sessions which address Web-scale discovery services and other online search tools. General guidelines for applying this concept are included, along with potential classroom activities and assessments. Findings – Format as a process provides a valuable framework for evaluating information, though librarians need to be mindful of how they present the concept to students. Instruction must be focused on fostering critical thinking skills, rather than how to perform tasks, and assessment must be qualitative in nature. Practical implications – These changes in online searching mean that information literacy programs will need to alter their approach to instruction and move beyond the “one shot” paradigm. Critical evaluation is a sustainable, lifelong skill which will continue to serve students after graduation, but developing that ability requires academic librarians to fulfill new roles in the classroom and on campus. Originality/value – The literature surrounding instruction of Web-scale discovery is still limited, and does not incorporate the threshold concepts provided in Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education. This paper concentrates on one such concept, as well as discusses how future concepts could be addressed.

Library Instruction and Themed Composition Courses: An Investigation of Factors that Impact Student Learning

Many academic libraries partner with English composition in order to teach first year students skills related to academic research and writing. Due to the partnership between information literacy and first-year writing programs, it is important to evaluate how these programs can best support one another. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of two factors on student information literacy skill development: library instruction and section theme—defined here as class sections of the English 102 (ENG 102) program developed around a central topic selected by the instructor. A random sample of annotated bibliographies from 95 sections of ENG 102 were scored with two information literacy rubrics in order to find out if scores differed between sections based on the variables of library instruction and theme. The results of this study indicate that sections of the ENG 102 program that attended an information literacy instruction session scored significantly higher on the annotated bibliography assignment than sections that did not attend. We also found that themed sections of ENG 102 scored marginally higher on the annotated bibliography than non-themed sections of ENG 102. Implications for further research are discussed, including the potential impact of theme-based writing on information literacy learning.

Designing a Library Information Literacy Program Using Threshold Concepts, Student Learning Theory, and Millennial Research in the Development of Information Literacy Sessions

This article will discuss Ferrum College's approach toward developing and delivering varied one-shot information literacy instruction sessions based on knowledge of millennial students’ information retrieval practices and on literature regarding threshold concepts and teaching and learning theories. Identifying threshold information literacy concepts helped the library to develop session specific learning outcomes to meet the needs of their students. Moreover, knowledge of learning theory and millennial learning preferences aided in developing lesson plans and activities that encouraged student mastery of these concepts. Ultimately, this approach contributed to a more comprehensive information literacy program that could be scaffolded over multiple instruction visits.

Four Pedagogical Approaches in Helping Students Learn Information Literacy Skills

In spring 2012, Rider University librarians heightened their collaboration with classroom faculty to teach students in core writing classes information literacy (IL) skills during IL instruction (ILI) sessions. This quasi-experimental study assessed four pedagogical approaches for single or multi-session ILI. The conventional approach, which involves lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on time, was used in both the control and the experimental groups. The three experimental groups involved: (a) assigning students to preview the class Research Guide and take a graded quiz (Preview group), (b) engaging interactively with students during the ILI session (Active Learning group), and (c) providing multiple instruction and follow-up sessions (Multi-session group). A different pretest and posttest based on the first two ACRL Information Competency Standards for Higher Education (2000) were developed for assessment. The results showed that student knowledge of concepts included in the training improved significantly in both the control and the experimental groups, but no differences were found among the teaching methods employed. The qualitative analysis revealed that the professor in the Preview group who integrated IL cohesively in her assignments experienced more satisfactory learning outcomes. The overall low scores suggest that more powerful instruction strategies besides diversified pedagogies are needed to significantly enhance long-term retention.

Information Literacy and the Flipped Classroom: Examining the Impact of a One-Shot Flipped Class on Student Learning and Perceptions

This article examines the flipped classroom approach in higher education and its use in one-shot information literacy instruction sessions. The author presents findings from a pilot study of student learning and student perceptions pertaining to flipped model IL instruction. Students from two sections of the same course participated in this study. One section received one-shot information literacy instruction using a flipped approach, while the other section received traditional one-shot instruction. No difference was found between the two groups on a pre- and post-test analysis; however, an analysis of students' final papers from the flipped section showed more bibliography citations to scholarly journal articles. In addition, a survey was conducted showing the majority of students preferred the flipped approach.

What Five Minutes in the Classroom Can Do to Uncover the Basic Information Literacy Skills of Your College Students: A Multiyear Assessment Study

Objective – Librarians at Rider University attempted to discern the basic information literacy (IL) skills of students over a two year period (2009-2011). This study aims to explore the impact of one-session information literacy instruction on student acquisition of the information literacy skills of identifying information and accessing information using a pretest/posttest design at a single institution. The research questions include: Do different student populations (in different class years, Honors students, etc.) possess different levels of IL? Does the frequency of prior IL Instruction (ILI) make a difference? Do students improve their IL skills after the ILI?
 
 Methods – The librarians at Rider University developed the test instruments over two years and administered them to students attending the ILI sessions each semester. The test was given to students as they entered the classroom before the official start-time of the class, and the test was stopped five minutes into the class. A pretest with five questions was developed from the 1st ACRL IL Standards. A few demographic questions were added. This pretest was used in fall 2009. In spring 2010, a second pretest was developed with five questions on the 2nd ACRL IL Standards. Students of all class years who attended ILI sessions took the pretests. In 2010-2011, the pretest combining the 10 questions used in the previous year was administered to classes taking the required CMP-125 Research Writing and the BHP-150 Honors Seminar courses. An identical posttest was given to those classes that returned for a follow-up session. Only the scores from students taking both pretests and posttests were used to compare learning outcomes.
 
 Results – Participants’ basic levels of IL skills were relatively low. Their skills in identifying needed resources (ACRL IL Standards 1) were higher than those related to information access (ACRL IL Standards 2). Freshmen in the Honors Seminar outperformed all other Rider students. No differences were found in different class years or with varying frequencies of prior IL training. In 2010-2011, students improved significantly in a few IL concepts after the ILI, but overall gains were limited.
 
 Limitations – Many limitations are present in this study, including the challenge of developing ideal test questions and that the pretest was administered to a wide variety of classes. Also not all the IL concepts in the test were adequately addressed in these sessions. These factors would have affected the results. 
 
 Conclusions – The results defy a common assumption that students’ levels of IL proficiency correlate with their class years and the frequency of prior ILI in college. These findings fill a gap in the literature by supporting the anecdote that students do not retain or transfer their IL skills in the long term. The results raise an important question as to what can be done to help students more effectively learn and retain IL in college. The authors offer strategies to improve instruction and assessment, including experimenting with different pedagogies and creating different posttests for spring 2012.

Independent Searching During One-Shot Information Literacy Instruction Sessions: Is It an Effective Use of Time?

Objective – To test the assumption that giving students time to research independently during a one-shot information literacy instruction (ILI) session, combined with scaffolding, is an effective pedagogical practice and a good use of class time.
 
 Methods – The study was conducted at a student-focused, four-year undergraduate institution with 8,500 full load equivalent students. Following brief, focused instruction in 10 different ILI sessions, first-, second-, and third-year students in 80-minute one-shot ILI sessions were given time to research independently. The librarian and instructor were present to scaffold the instruction students received. Students were asked to track the research they did during class using a research log and to fill out a short Web survey about their preparedness to do research and the usefulness of the ILI session. 
 
 Results – Students agreed to have 83 research logs and 73 Web surveys included in the study. Students indicated that they felt more prepared to do research for their assignment after the ILI session and rated individual help from the librarian as the most useful aspect of the instruction session. Students did not rate independent time to do research as valuable as anticipated. Examining the research logs indicated that several things are taking place during the ILI session, including that students are demonstrating what was taught in the session in their searches, that their searches are progressing in complexity, and that students are using feedback from previous searches to inform the formulation of search queries. While students appear to be putting independent search time to good use, many students’ articulation of their thesis statement remains poor and searches continue to be fairly simplistic.
 
 Conclusions – This study gives evidence that giving independent research time in ILI sessions, with scaffolding, is an effective use of class time. The study also demonstrates that the majority of students are able to use what is taught during classes and that they are using class time effectively, though searching remains fairly simple. The focus of ILI sessions is on skill development, and future research should be on integrating IL into the curriculum to develop more complex skills and thinking needed in the research process.