1. Assessing Biology Student Success
Kari Zhe-Heimerman
Librarian for the Sciences
Le Moyne College

2. IL Program for Biological Sciences
Information literacy (IL) is a component of each Biology core course (there are 4).
Librarian delivers IL session in each course.
Students complete an IL assignments in each course.
Each IL assignment is tied to a larger course assignment.
Scaffolding of IL concepts within these courses.

3. Goals discussed with BIO faculty
Introduce students to appropriate library databases to support their biology lab and course work.
Explain the different types of scientific literature available and allow students to practice identifying each.
Teach students to effectively evaluate resources and their appropriateness for assignments and coursework.
Introduce students to these biology resources and evaluation skills early in their college career so that they can immediately and repeatedly benefit from familiarity.
Provide a worthwhile opportunity for students to practice their newly acquired IL skills by linking to specific, projects in BIO 191, BIO 192, and BIO 218.

4. Biological Sciences Learning Outcome
Students who graduate with a Le Moyne College degree in biological sciences will be able to: 2. Search, analyze and interpret the scientific literature

5. Measurable IL Outcomes
Scholarship as Conversation: Recognize that scholarship is an ongoing conversation with many participants, and that one needs to effectively use and communicate information in order to participate in any conversation. Information Need: Identify & refine the information need. Information Access: Develop appropriate methods and effective strategies to search for and access information. Information Evaluation: Critically evaluate information sources in order to identify the appropriate use of information. Information Ethics: Use information ethically and legally and accurately document their use of information sources.

6. How do we assess student learning in the Biology IL program?

7. COURSE
Assignment
(Not Graded by me)
Learning Outcome
IL Lesson Focused On
BIO 191
Find a scholarly article to use for their Hypothesis Testing 1 Lab Report
Information Need
Information Access
Information Ethics
Scholarly vs. Popular
Appropriate Databases
Getting full text of an article
Citations
Find a scholarly article to use for their Hypothesis Testing 2 Lab Report

8. COURSE
Assignment
(Not Graded by me)
Learning Outcome
IL Lesson Focused On
BIO 192
Find a scholarly article on the topic of thigmomorphogenesis.
They do a poster presentation on this article during lab.
Information Need
Information Access
Information Ethics
Scholarly vs. Popular
Appropriate Databases
Getting full text of an article
Citations
Finding a relevant article that they can read, understand.

9. COURSE
Assignment
(Graded by me)
Learning Outcome
IL Lesson Focused On
BIO 225
Pre-submit sources to me that students will eventually use for their final project.
They also include a thorough evaluation of each source to explain why it will be relevant, credible and helpful for assignment.
Information Evaluation
What criteria do we use to determine whether a source is credible, relevant and appropriate for a particular assignment?

10. COURSE
Assignment
(Graded by me)
Learning Outcome
IL Lesson Focused On
BIO 218
Find one primary research article and one scholarly review article.
Articles relevant for their lab report.
Information Need
Information Access
Information Evaluation
Information Ethics
Primary research vs. scholarly review
Appropriate Databases (we add a few more here)
Getting full text of an article
Citations
Finding an appropriate and relevant article that they can read, understand and use for their lab report.
Find one primary research article and two scholarly review articles
Articles relevant for their next lab report.
Summarize each article.

11. Are we covering each IL outcome?
key: Red: Introductory Blue: Intermediate Green: Advanced
Scholarship as Conversation
Information Need
X, x, x
Information Access
Information Evaluation
X, x
Information Ethics

12. Some Lessons Learned
It was helpful to embed IL in Core Courses that all Biology majors will take.
No IL teaching without some form of assessment.
Measurable Learning Outcomes are key.
Make it relevant and meaningful within that course.
Build over time; build course by course.
Faculty cooperation and support is key.

13. Questions? More information?
Kari Zhe-Heimerman