Library Educational Services

This page contains assignment ideas and examples aligned with the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy.

If you have developed a great assignment related to a framework, please add it!

Assignment Repositories

Assignments can be designed in several ways. One way is TILT (Transparency in Learning and Teaching), which has been found to increase student success. 

If the TILT template is too restrictive or complex, an easy way to think about it is to have the following in each assignment:

• Why are we doing this? (the purpose, learning outcomes, how it connects to the bigger picture learning in the class, their major, etc)
• Instructions (clear, step-by-step directions)
• Grading Criteria (if applicable)

• Provide students with two different information types (with two different goals) on the same topic by the same unnamed authoritative crreator/author (for example, scholarly article and blog post or op-ed piece). Use as discussion starter with students about context in relationship to authority. Reveal authorship later in discussion.
• Ask students in professional or career-focused programs to consider who has authority within their areas of study and the origins of that authority.
• Ask students to find several scholarly sources on the same topic that take very different stands. How was it that the authors came to different conclusions? Does it have to do with authority?
• Ask students to brainstorm situations when traditional peer review might not accomplish its purpose.
• Have students look at a blog, a video on YouTube, a collection of tweets, or some other type of social media regarding a contemporary event (Tahrir Square, Arab Spring, etc). Ask them to describe how they would analyze and evaluate the authority of the author(s) of the information. Are there ways to determine whether the individual was an actual witness or participant in the events? Are there ways to identify whether the individual or group that developed a collection of information has a particular political bias? Can they determine whether the author(s) has a particular status within the group he/she represents or is the individual reporting as an "average citizen"?
• Ask students to create a citation "web" using a citation analysis database, and conduct a content analysis of the linked authors by affiliation (workplace, academic preparation, geography, subject expertise). Do authors cite each other? Are there some authors who are outliers in the web? How do such connections impact information generation?

• Assign students to identify several different applicable information sources that arise from different creation processes, and to communicate the unique values of each. (In collaboration with instructor and course assignment.)
• Student will identify the format of the sources they find for a given research project and articulate why the chosen formats are appropriate for the information need.
• Student will find sources about the same topic in two divergent formats (newspaper movie review and literary journal movie review or scholarly article and a researcher's blog. Students will compare and contrast the type of information found in each format, as well as articulate the processes underlying the creation of each format.
• Have students research the impact of digital formats in scholarly publication, including Open Source initatives.
• Ask students to transform information they have created in one format to another format, and to write a reflection on what they needed to consider as they went through the process.

• Time is money. Ask students to blog for a week about their life of information, noting their information needs and the associated costs of getting that information. What are the associated costs if they cannot find the information, and what are the cost benefits of getting the information? For example, if a student cannot find a FAFSA form in time, or how to complete it, or the details to provide within the form, they lose out on scholarships.
• Ask students to find several images that would enhance the project or paper on which they are working. Then ask them to determine which can be used without asking permission. What would they need to do to use this material?
• Assign students to read a timely article connected to information ethics in the field of study as a discussion starter.
• Ask students in professional or career-focused programs to consider what individuals or organizations make money distributing information relating to that profession or career. Have students discuss the usefulness and potential risks behind this information.
• Discern between the economic processes behind different types of information (e.g., newspaper articles v. 24-hour news, edited academic volume v. popular title on top-10 list).
• Ask students to determine what information they can find about themselves or a relative online, and to assess whether steps should be taken to control this personal information.

• Students in a first-year course reflect upon the steps they went through when researching a major purchase or event in their lives (buying a car, selecting a college, etc.). They identify the steps involved in the research behind such a decision, and confront the importance of employing a similar strategy in the academic setting. [NOTE: Sara has tried this and found that students often don't do much research. They pick the college closest to them, where a friend is going, etc. So twisting this to have students think about what elements of their non-academic research that wouldn't help them at all in academic research might be more fruitful.]
• In an upper-level course, students trace the development of a scholar's research agenda following a sequence of presentations, publications (perhaps starting with a dissertation topic), social media presence, etc. The students reflect upon the inquiry underlying these information packages in an e-portfolio assignment.
• A researcher/guest speaker/course professor attends the class and describes a research project from conception to conclusion. Students attempt to diagram the steps reflected in the description, and then work with the speaker to develop a robust conception of the process (recognizing that the process varies from project to project and researcher to researcher.) Students then journal about how their research process relates to that of the researcher, and what changes they might make in order to attempt more authentic, knowledge-generated research experiences.
• Assign students to keep research logs in which they note changes in particular research directions as they identify resources, read, and incorporate new learning.
• Ask students in professional or career-focused programs to evaluate the role of evidence-based research that may move toward changing practice.

• Give students in professional or career-focused programs assignments that examine how practice and/or procedures evolve over time. Ask them to consider how the profession shares information.
• Give students a two-part assignment: one having them trace the development of scholarship on a particular topic using the traditional "information cycle" model with the "invisible college" and print publication outlets; then have them expand/refine that model by tracing changes based on social media forums or online communities.
• Have an entire class conduct an investigation of a particular topic from its treatment in the popular media, and then trace its origin in conversations among scholars and researchers.
• Have students select a seminal work on a topic, and then identify sources that preceded and continued the conversation, analyzing the impact of the seminal work on the field.
• Create a timeline to track the evolving threads of a continuing scholarly conversation.
• Select a topic on which students have some knowledge or experience. Identify a venue (blog, discussion forum, social media site) in which a scholarly conversation is taking place. Ask students to: Identify key players and their perspectives; Compare a related scholarly article by one of the players to the online conversation; Consider how to involve themselves in the conversation.

• Ask students to brainstorm possible sources that might have relevant information. What tools will they need to locate those resources?
• Assign students to identify and use subject headings after conducting a keyword search; after which they write a paragraph on the differences between subject and keyword searching.
• Students must identify one or two important databases for the projects they are working on and analyze why they consider them to be an effective resource for their research.
• Ask students to choose a topic, develop key search terms, and use two different search engines to locate information on their topic. Have them compare the results in terms of quantity, type of sources (e.g., government, educational, scholarly, commercial), order/sequence of results, and relevance. Pair students who used the same search engine with different topics to compare results.
• Ask students to write an I-Search paper, whereby they journal their searching processes, including key terms, tools used, and resources/results at each step. They should note how they evaluated their resources, and what information was extracted. Their journal should also reflect their feelings: success, concern, frustration, pride, etc. Pair up students, and ask them to read and comment on each other's journal, and then draw up conclusions and recommendations for their peers.

1. Authority is Constructed and Contextual
   • Evaluate the authority of information from various sources (e.g., peer-reviewed journals, magazines, newspapers, website, etc.). 
     • Create a table that has different types of information you want students to learn about (for example, newspaper and journal article) have rows related to the 6 question words (e.g., author, author credentials, publisher, purpose for information sources, date of source, length, facts, opinions, data/statistics, conclusions, bibliography, other sources cited) To have them think about authority – Which source gave the most information? Did all sources supply the same facts? Did all sources come to the same conclusion? Were all the authors experts on the topic? Did they cited their sources? Which source would provide the best information for scholarly work? Which source would provide the best information for a current events report? (adapted from Burkhardt, Teaching Information Literacy Reframed)
   • Recognize that authority or credibility is contextual in relation to time, discipline, methodology, and other factors.
     • Discuss with students the concept of authority and how it might differ from one situation to another. Create questions related to your discipline/topic and ask students what authority would be good enough to provide information in the following scenarios? Why?
       • Example (adapted from Burkhardt, Teaching Information Literacy Reframed): Tornado Information
         • You are doing a paper on the impact of climate change on tornados for a class.
         • You just moved to Indiana and want to know how likely you’ll be to experience a tornado.
         • You live in Indiana and want to be prepared for the next tornado that hits your area.
         • A tornado has been spotted 50 miles from your location.
     • Authoritative sources do not always agree. Librarian finds two experts who disagree or come to different conclusions about the same topic (something related to the course/topic) (Note: If articles are long then this should be pre-work before class.) Have students (groups) answer the 6 question words related to each article. In addition, have them identify the main points supporting each of their arguments and what conclusions were reached. What are some reasons that people with equal authority on a subject might come to different conclusions? (adapted from Burkhardt, Teaching Information Literacy Reframed)
2. Information Creation is a Process
   • Select sources that best meet an information need based on the audience, context, and purpose of various formats.
3. Information has Value
   • Cite sources through proper attribution.
4. Research as inquiry
   • Formulate questions for research of an appropriate scope, based on information gaps or by reexamining existing information.
     • Narrowing a topic – have students take their general topic or question and think of the 6 question words – to help narrow it
     • To help develop a question – have students create a concept map – around the central topic – identify sub topics and how they might connect to each other (again thinking the 6 question words might be helpful)
   • Synthesize information from multiple sources and a variety of perspectives.
5. Scholarship is a Conversation
   • Contribute to the ongoing scholarly conversation at an appropriate level.
   • Describe the ways that communication systems privilege some perspectives and present barriers to others.
   • Recognize that a given scholarly work may not represent the only or even the majority perspective on the issue.
     • For your discipline/topic – identify a topic that may have different (or no clear) solutions.  Librarian finds two experts who disagree or come to different conclusions about the same topic (something related to the course/topic) (Note: If articles are long then this should be pre-work before class.) Have students examine their works cited to see if there are common threads/sources and identify the main points supporting each of their arguments and what conclusions were reached. What are some reasons that people might come to different conclusions? (adapted from Burkhardt, Teaching Information Literacy Reframed)
     • Librarian finds retraction or error reported in subsequent publication and have students discuss. 
6. Searching is a Strategic Exploration
   • Identify information need and potential sources of information (e.g., scholars, organizations, governments, industries).
     • Have students think about who has the information? Using questions related to the class/topic – Who would have this information?  (Example, How many square miles are in Rhode Island? (source examples, state government, Google maps, Wikipedia); How long will it be before the polar ice caps melt? – After brainstorming who might have the information, have students Google the question and note the types of sources that come up. (adapted from Burkhardt, Teaching Information Literacy Reframed)
   • Design searches strategically, considering and selecting systems to search and evaluate results.
     • At the first and second-year levels, this may primarily be identifying keywords from their research question or topic as well as understanding there are library databases (e.g., sources beyond Google).
     • Have students write out their research question or topic. Then have them draw their keywords. The idea being that keywords should be nouns or noun phrases and it is challenging (if not impossible) to draw common false keywords like “impact” or “effect.” So if they can’t draw their keyword – it may not be a good keyword. (adapted from Brier, D. J., & Lebbin, V. K. (2015). “Learning information literacy through drawing.” Reference Services Review, 43(1), 45–67.
     • To help students brainstorm keywords – have them create a concept map – around the key concepts – have them identify other terms (synonyms, antonyms)
     • Learn about different databases that cover different subjects/resources. Have students browse the A-Z databases list – As questions – How are the databases organized? What topics are covered? If you were looking for general information, which database might be useful to you? If you were looking for medical information, what database might be useful to you? What kinds of publications (e.g., primary sources, newspapers) are included? (adapted from Burkhardt, Teaching Information Literacy Reframed)
   • Refine information need and search strategies based on results.