Learning outcomes and offerings

Instructional Services vision

Concordia Library's instructional services contribute to the Library's overarching vision by empowering members of the Concordia community to interact with and think critically about information and digital landscapes. We aim to provide engaging learning experiences that cultivate the interest, knowledge, and skills needed for multiple educational and professional futures. Empathy, inclusivity, and different ways of knowing are embedded in our instructional initiatives to support meaningful knowledge co-creation.

Our teaching librarians and professionals bring continuously evolving expertise in academic research skills and digital shifts in society, employing a critical lens to make power and privilege visible. They are equally adept at facilitating both in-person and online learning, and proactively find relevant ways to integrate point-of-need learning experiences for students into courses and online platforms.

Overarching learning outcomes for instruction program

We strive to embed the following outcomes in all instructional activities. Through engagement with library-led learning opportunities, students should be able to:

Value diverse ways of knowing: Respect others by considering the value and limitations of all forms of knowledge.
Critically reflect: Reflect on the scope of their own knowledge and investigate perspectives that can broaden that scope.
Strategically explore: Search for new and diverse knowledge in inclusive and ethical ways.
Identify and evaluate sources and tools: Critically evaluate tools and sources of knowledge before and while using them.
Cultivate digital mindsets: Mobilize digital technology for personal and professional empowerment.

Detailed program learning outcomes

1. Value Diverse Ways of Knowing

Respect others by considering the value and limitations of all forms of knowledge and learning. Students should be able to:

Examine and critique information privilege, both generally and as members of a university community.
Understand the social nature of information and learning, and value knowing through doing and making.
Demonstrate respect for diverse forms of knowledge by using situationally appropriate forms of attribution, providing fair compensation, and requesting all necessary permissions.
Investigate whose perspectives can fill their knowledge gaps, where those voices are allowed to speak, and how they communicate.

2. Critically Reflect

Students critique the scope of their knowledge and investigate the knowledge sources, technologies, and people who can help them grow. Students should be able to:

Use a holistic lens to reflect on what they know, evaluating their sources of knowledge for bias and whether they are exclusionary, contradictory, or incomplete.
Develop and maintain an open mind when encountering varied and sometimes conflicting perspectives.
Question traditional notions of granting authority and recognize the value of diverse ideas and worldviews.

3. Strategically Explore

Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops. Students should be able to:

Address knowledge gaps by articulating a question, search string, prompt, or specific need.
Identify the biases of search tools in order to design inclusive search strategies that lead to sources that fill their knowledge gaps.
Value persistence, adaptability, and flexibility and recognize that ambiguity can benefit the research process.
Acknowledge that searching can be emotional: the process can be overwhelming or inspiring and the product can expose discrimination and violence.

4. Identify and Evaluate Sources and Tools

Critically evaluate tools and sources of knowledge before and while using them. Students should be able to:

Differentiate between various source types by examining their characteristics and creation processes.
Assess the fit between an information source's or tool's purpose and a particular information need.
Evaluate a source's authority, accuracy, and contextual value by assessing how it might be used to misinform, lead, falsify, persuade, promote, or coerce.
Identify and select tools that are fit for purpose.

5. Cultivate Digital Mindsets

Mobilize digital technology for personal and professional empowerment. Students should be able to:

Integrate digital technology and digital mindsets when interacting with information in their personal and professional life.
Develop awareness of technological trends and shifts that impact their life and work in order to critique changes and make informed decisions.
Adopt new digital tools that support their learning and research processes.
Leverage technologies for making physical or digital creations.

Learning outcomes by individual offering

This section lists the learning outcomes for each of the instruction program's components.

Critical Toolkit for Navigating Information

(asynchronous online modules)

Learning outcomes

After completing these modules, learners will be able to:

Identify bias and exclusion of voices in search tools and information sources.
Discuss the creation and dissemination of information, including the information lifecycle, scholarly communication practices, and underlying structures of influence and control.
Use “real world” information search tools, including knowledge of types, search strategies, and algorithmic effects.
Apply techniques for source evaluation and fact-checking.
Define types of data, assess data ownership issues, and interpret data visualizations.

Library Research Skills Tutorial

(asynchronous online modules)

Learning outcomes

After completing this tutorial, learners will be able to:

Scope an academic research topic.
Learn how to find appropriate information sources for university-level assignments using Sofia and article databases.
Distinguish between different types of information sources.
Understand the purpose and general mechanics of citation.
Organize and efficiently work with sources.

Quick Things for Digital Knowledge

(asynchronous online modules)

Learning outcomes

By engaging with this resource, learners will be able to:

Spark their awareness of key concepts underpinning our current digital society.
Apply new knowledge in their studies and daily life by making connections between these concepts and other areas of knowledge and practice.
Apply critical thinking when using information tools in the digital world.
Build confidence in their abilities to continuously learn and to apply skills in this area.

Learn by doing workshops

Learning outcomes

By participating in these workshops, learners will be able to:

Apply skills targeted in the workshop.
Gain basic understanding of how the targeted topic or technology works.
Gain confidence in using technology or digital mindsets.
Explore how digital mindsets might impact their life or studies.
Learn collaboratively or socially.

Graduate student workshops

Learning outcomes

By participating in these workshops, learners will be able to:

Apply graduate-level information search skills.
Access resources and software that are core to graduate-level studies.
Critically select search tools and knowledge sources.
Develop self-efficacy in graduate-level research.
Work with data at the graduate level, including research data management, data visualization, data discovery, foundational data manipulation concepts, and data ethics.
Learn collaboratively or socially.

Map of topics taught by learning level

The table below lists the planned topics addressed in each component of the instruction program and the targeted learning level targeted for that topic.

Instructional offering	Awareness/ exploration	Skills application	Analytic/ creative thinking
Critical Toolkit for Navigating Information	Thinking critically about information; Key concepts: exclusion of voices / bias; data privacy, big data; types of search tools and aids including AI;types of data; information lifecycle; algorithmic literacy	Interpreting data visualizations; Finding good-quality free sources	Identifying power and voice; Selecting resources based on purpose and intent; Evaluating sources
Library Research Skills Tutorial	Academic research skills (general); Citing sources; Organizing sources	Scoping a research topic; Selecting search tool; Search strategies
Quick Things for Digital Knowledge	Technology in society;Key concepts: AI, machine learning, XR, Web 3.0, web fragility, accessibility, open access, security & privacy, platform neutrality
Learning by doing workshops	Artificial intelligence/machine learning; Virtual/extended reality	Citation management software; AI tools for researching and learning; Electronics (e.g., Raspberry Pi, Arduino); Fibre arts; 3D printing and scanning	Data literacy; Evaluating information
Grad student workshops	Data ethics	Information organization and citation management; Research data management; Bibliometrics; Systematic review techniques; Discipline-specific tools; Data discovery; AI tools for information search	Scholarly publishing; Graduate-level strategies for information search; Data visualization; Data manipulation

Definition of learning levels

Adapted from a draft by ChatGPT-4 (2024-04-12)

The levels of learning described in this document are simplified from Bloom's taxonomy, with learning levels progressing from lower (awareness) to higher (analysis and creation).

Awareness/exploration

Definition: At this level, learners are introduced to basic concepts and terminologies associated with a subject. Awareness aims to cultivate an initial understanding and recognition of key ideas without expecting mastery. This stage is about building foundational knowledge that prepares learners for deeper engagement. It involves identifying and remembering information, which is crucial for the subsequent stages of learning. This level of learning may also involve experimentation or exploration of an idea, resource, or technology without awareness or mastery of larger ideas or underlying theory.

Skills application

Definition: Application refers to the ability to use acquired knowledge in practical or real-world scenarios. Learners demonstrate their understanding by implementing concepts in tasks that simulate or reflect real-life situations. This level requires learners to go beyond mere recall of information to demonstrating how concepts can be utilized effectively in the context of a task, problem, simulation, or actual circumstance of their own (e.g., a course assignment or project of interest to them). It emphasizes problem-solving, implementing techniques, and executing procedures using the knowledge gained.

Analytic/creative thinking

Definition: This level includes the skills of analysis or the act of creation, encouraging learners to examine information critically and draw conclusions or to innovate and create original content or solutions based on their insights. Analysis involves breaking down complex information into manageable parts, understanding relationships among these parts, and evaluating the underlying structure. Creativity expands on this by requiring learners to use their analytical outcomes to generate novel ideas, propose new solutions, or create unique products that reflect a higher understanding of the subject matter.

Credits

Concordia Library Instructional Services Curriculum by Concordia Library is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

The overarching learning outcomes and some specific outcomes are modified from Western Libraries' Library Curriculum (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license).

Some specific outcomes are modified from the Association of College and Research Libraries' Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license).

The digital mindsets outcomes are modified from the Quebec's Ministry of Higher Education's Digital Competency Framework English version of the Ministère de l'Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur du Québec's Cadre de référence de la compétence numérique, avril 2019.