The Integration of Information Literacy Skills into the Curriculum

Abstract

This paper will discuss the conclusions of the evaluation for the Information Literacy SkillsModules that were integrated into the curriculum of five online Early-European Historyundergraduate self-paced courses, offered at Athabasca University (AU). The Skills Moduleswere incorporated to address serious academic integrity issues students have been strugglingwith. The modules were designed with the view of improving students’ research skills,informing students how to avoid plagiarism, raising their awareness of the rigorous principlesof academic integrity, and complete their research assignments successfully. The SkillsModules are taken by students in parallel to the course content and are strategically linked toresearch assignments. Students’ knowledge acquired in the Modules is evaluated byautomated online quizzes. In the research assignments students are expected to transfer, applyand demonstrate the information literacy skills learned in the Skills Modules. Through thisexploratory survey we learned about students’ perceptions and how the Skills Modules assistthem on conducting and completing their research paper assignments. Last year, a poster withpreliminary findings was presented and discussed at the EDEN –Barcelona conference(Guadarrama, et al., 2015).