Jenny Mills, coordinator of research services and associate professor, and Claire Wiley, reference & instruction librarian and assistant professor, presented the results of their research at the Tennessee Library Association annual conference in Memphis on April 5. Titled, “Take a Step Back! Using Backward Design for Information Literacy Instruction,” Mills and Wiley shared how they used a backward instructional design approach to revise information literacy instruction for First Year Writing.
With a focus on assessment of what students know and are able to do as a result of instruction and on enduring understandings of the research process, librarians developed critical-thinking classroom activities and follow-up assignments that showed initial promise of improved student learning.