Beyond library resources: How to Implement Integrated Learning Across the Curriculum with Information Literacy Components using Hybrid Delivery

As an academic librarian at Manhattan College, Riverdale, New York, I collaborate with teaching faculty and academic support centers on campus to provide holistic support to students. In the last year a cross collegial group including teaching faculty, library faculty and Instructional Designers has been created to explore ways in which to provide a “flexible structure” in curriculum across disciplines (e.g., Arts, Science, Engineering, Education, Information Literacy, etc.). Two instructional designers and a faculty member from the English Department lead the monthly in person workshops. After each workshop, scholarly and professional articles are posted in Moodle for all participants to read. Each participant must contribute to the discussion board and provide feedback to peers. Community building exercises are introduced at the beginning of each workshop, and participants are required to work with a different person in each session. Through these activities (e.g., in person workshops, reading, reflective writing, discussion boards, community building exercises, etc.) each of us has gained insight into how we may apply a cross disciplinary approach to our specialization. This paper will provide suggestions on how to provide “flexible structure” to lessons to “force” students to become engaged in information seeking and evaluating, critical thinking, reflective writing and peer evaluation. Rephrasing guided questions in an Information Literacy Lesson as well as in regular for credit courses is a simple way to elicit information evaluating, critical thinking and reflection through writing. The two Instructional Designers explain ways in which to design questions based on meta cognitive theories. They suggest strategies that are best suited for pair share work in class or online peer evaluation in discussion boards posted in Moodle. This workshop series has been successful in uniting teaching and library faculty to approach the curriculum from interdisciplinary approach so that students realize what they are learning and reapply this knowledge to other disciplines and real life situations. The purpose of the hybrid delivery of the workshop series is to have teaching and library faculty experience the integrated learning approach across disciplines