Meeting Abstract
Information literacy is an essential skill for biologists; however, most biology curricula do not intentionally integrate information literacy into classroom and laboratory exercises. There is increasing evidence that developing information literacy skills in undergraduates improves their research skills, writing, and GPAs. Our objective was to integrate information literacy skills into the first semester of Agnes Scott College’s introductory biology class with a multi-week, inquiry-based laboratory module that leverages primary literature. We describe our approach to incorporating information literacy and the module we have developed, which challenges students to develop and test a hypothesis related to parental care behavior in barn swallows (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster). Students form their hypothesis based on the literature searching done during the information literacy session led by college librarians, produce an annotated bibliography, collect and analyze video data of barn swallows feeding their offspring, and present their findings as a three-minute ‘lightning talk’. Our analysis of students’ annotated bibliographies indicates that 80% of the papers referenced in the bibliographies were appropriate for developing the specific hypotheses that students would test in the following weeks. The key elements of a successful information literacy training plan include faculty-librarian collaboration, multiple classroom or laboratory sessions that introduce or utilize information literacy, and relevance of the information literacy training to an assignment or exercise. Ideally, by introducing information literacy early in biology curricula, departments can develop tiered information literacy plans within the biology major that incorporates opportunities for students to use and refine these skills throughout their studies.
