Creating & Implementing an IL Curriculum Map integrates information literacy (IL) into academic curricula. The document discusses how curriculum mapping visually represents the connections between IL learning outcomes, opportunities, and assessments. It also notes employers desire graduates with research skills beyond search engines. The author provides strategies for gaining faculty buy-in, implementing an IL map, and assessing student learning through the map. An IL curriculum map standardizes IL instruction, reduces repetition, and ensures all students receive instruction to meet standards.

1. Creating & Implementing an IL Curriculum
Map: Integrating IL into the Curriculum
Leslin Charles

2. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
WORKSHOP SEGMENTS
• A Rationale for Information Literacy Curriculum Mapping
• The Map Structure
• Creating the Map
• Implementing the Map

3. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
CURRICULUM MAPPING
• Curriculum mapping is about visually representing the
different components of the curriculum so that the whole
picture and the relationships and connections between the
parts of the map are easily seen
• Makes the curriculum more transparent to stakeholders
• Shows the links between different elements of the curriculum
– Learning outcomes, learning opportunities, assessment points
• Information Literacy Curriculum Map (ILCM) can bring more
structure to a library instruction program because activities will
be more intentional and can serve to bring stakeholders
together

4. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
HIGHER EDUCATION LANDSCAPE IN U.S.
• Accreditation requirements
• Proficiencies and standards related to information literacy
• Employers are seeking college graduates who possess a
range of research skills including the ability to use tools
beyond search engines as well as the ability to use critical
thinking in applying the best information to address the task at
hand
• Employers reported that many college graduate hires did not
go beyond the scope of what they could find online

5. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
SURVEY OF U.S. EMPLOYERS
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Information Literacy
Sci/Tech Developments
Creativity/Innovation
Diverse Setting Teamwork
Ethics
Complex Problem Solving
Knowledge/Skill Application
Critical Thinking
Written/Oral Communication
% saying colleges should put more emphasis on each
learning outcome

6. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
SURVEY OF U.S. EMPLOYERS
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Civic Engagement
Cultural Diversity
U.S. Role in the World
Quantitative Literacy
Global Issues
Information Literacy
% saying colleges should put more emphasis on each
learning outcome

7. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
HIGHER EDUCATION LANDSCAPE IN U.S.
• Students are consumers and creators of information
– Most of them stick to tried and true methods of research
– 80% of those surveyed do not ask a librarian for assistance
• Recent college graduates state that they are unprepared to
meet the information needs toward problem solving in the
workplace
• Librarians have increased, intensified, and diversified
approaches in response to the needs of students and
institutions in the face of the information age

8. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
An Internal Environmental Scan Revealed…
• Need for more Faculty buy-in
– Faculty did not understand the concept of IL
• Marked duplication of ACRL IL performance indicators
• Assessment was not organized: no formal plan in place
• Unable to work with students at the higher levels
• Apathy among students
Students did not understand the value of IL
Students saw repetition/practice as a nuisance

9. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
Brief Success Story
• IL integrated into curriculum via ILCM
• IL adopted as an institutional goal
• IL statement in all course syllabi
• IL learning assessment plan integrated into dep’t assessment
plans
• Culture of IL through branding and collaboration
• Librarians formed a team providing a pool of expertise
– Training workshops in person and asynchronous online workshops

10. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
ILCM: A TOOL OF COMMUNICATION &
COLLABORATION
• The process of ILCM fosters collaboration
• Provides an environment where professional knowledge and
expertise of the participants are acknowledged and embraced
• Instructors can define what IL means in their discipline
• Librarians and instructors identify opportunities in the
curriculum where IL can be integrated
• Assessment strategies are identified

11. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
Use Data to Reveal Patterns and Illuminate Opportunities
• Identify redundancies, gaps,
absences in opportunities
presented to students
• Has the data revealed an absence
of focus on research that is
specific to a discipline? Are the
students exposed to IL
competencies only via the Liberal
Arts curriculum? Has the IL
instruction mainly focused on
specific IL competencies?
• Focus on assessment strategies

12. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
POTENTIAL OBSTACLES
• Finding a program to partner
with
• Gaining buy in from colleagues
• Communicating value of IL to
students
• Creating & Implementing a
viable Assessment Plan to
compliment the ILCM

13. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
Focusing on Your Opportunities
• Aligning the library instruction
program to institutional goals
– Map activities to the strategic
plan
– Identify student learning
outcomes in institutional goals
• Defining Assessment
Strategies/Programs and means
of collection of data: Office of
Institutional Research
• Finding opportunities to participate
in institution committees
• With whom can you partner?

14. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
Writing
Course
Course
in the
Major
Capstone
Course
DECIDE ON THE # OF OPPORTUNITIES

15. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
Introductory
Course
Writing
Course
Research
Methods
Course
Other Course
in Major
Capstone
DECIDE ON THE # OF OPPORTUNITIES

16. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
IL CURRICULUM MAP TEMPLATE
STANDARDS
TARGET COURSES
X Y Z
ASSESSMENT
CYCLES
COMMON COURSE   BIENNIALLY
RESEARCH INTENSIVE
COURSE

CAPSTONE COURSE   

17. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
CURRICULUM
• Identify
common
course/s
• Identify gaps
that exist
• Identify areas
where there is
repetition in IL
instruction
STUDENTGROUPS
• Identify
groups of
students who
present
opportunity
• Identify a
School/Discipl
ine that
presents an
opportunity
PROGRAMS
• What
programs
exist at your
institution that
present
opportunities
• What library
programs
exist or can
be created to
support the
Curriculum
Map?

18. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
IMPLEMENTING THE ILCM

19. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
GAINING FACULTY BUY-IN

20. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
ILCM
• Allows for repetition/practice of skills
• Needs to be supported by a team
• Should be linked to an assessment plan
• Should be assessed periodically

21. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
ASSESSMENT

22. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
Information Literacy Assessment Plan

23. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
SOME METHODS OF ASSESSMENT

24. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
IL CURRICULUM MAP IN ACTION
IL Map
Course
IL Learning
Outcome
Unique
Presentation/
Learning Object
Assessment of
Student Learning
Faculty/Librarian
Course
Evaluation

25. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
ILCM
• Allows for repetition/practice of skills
• Needs to be supported by a team
• Should be linked to an assessment plan
• Should be assessed periodically
• Does not function in a vacuum
– Workshops, other partnerships work to create a community the
embraces IL

26. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
BENEFITS OF AN ILCM
 Student frustration over unintentional repetitious presentations will
be reduced
 Faculty will be encouraged to act as stronger collaborators
 We will ensure thoroughness because all students of a particular
class will be given instruction
 Librarians will gain visibility as faculty and be viewed as a
fundamental part of the curriculum planning process
 Standards will be met

27. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
Works Cited
Association of College and Research Libraries. ACRL Information Literacy Competency
Standards for Higher Education. 2000.
Association of College and Research Libraries. Standards for Proficiencies for Instruction
Librarians and Coordinators. 2007.
Hart Research Associates; Raising the Bar. Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake
of the Economic Downturn. American Association of Colleges and Universities,
20 Jan, 2010; Web; 15 April 2013.
Harden, R. M. (2001). AMEE guide no. 21: Curriculum mapping: A tool for transparent and authentic
teaching and learning. Medical Teacher, 23(2), 123-137.
Hart Research Associates. (2013, April 10). It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for
College Learning and Student Success: An Online Survey Among Employers Conducted
on Behalf of The Association of American Colleges and Universities. Retrieved from
http://www.aacu.org/leap/documents/2013_EmployerSurvey.pdf

28. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
Head, Alison, J. (2012, October 16). Project Information Literacy Research Report: The Passage
Studies. Retrieved from
http://www.projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_fall2012_workplaceStudy_FullReport_Revised.pdf
Middle States Commission on Higher Education. ‘Developing Research and Communication Skills:
Guidelines for Information Literacy in the Curriculum.’
Oakleaf, Megan. ‘Writing Information Literacy Assessment
Plans: A Guide to Best Practice.’ Communications in Information Literacy, 2009.
Sweeney, Richard. Millennial Behaviors and Higher Education Focus Group Results. How are
Millennials Different From Previous Generations at the Same Age? <http://library1.njit.edu/
staff-folder/sweeney>.

29. Rutgers University Libraries
IL Curriculum Mapping
THANK YOU