Activity #1: The Retreat

Our first activity was a two-day retreat in September of 2001. This retreat included the entire Institute of Human Communication (HCOM) faculty. The leadership at this retreat included librarians Bill Robnett and Pam Baker who have years of experience facilitating faculty development and student learning regarding information competency and Renée R. Curry who has worked--with Lorie Roth at the Chancellor's office, the CSU Teacher-Scholar Institute, and CSU San Marcos--since 1995 to develop and implement information competency activities and assessment in the CSU classrooms.

At this retreat each of the major learning outcome faculty coordinators designated the information competencies best suited to satisfying particular learning outcome goals. After such designation, together, the entire Institute developed information competency-related course activities and assignments suited to the pedagogy and learning outcomes of the particular courses. Since we are already an outcomes-based university that assesses learning within each course, our goal in this project was to match our major learning outcomes and assessment activities with the information competencies suggested statewide.

The Institute for Human Communication has as its goal for each student the achievement of the following eight (8) Major Learning Outcomes:

MLO 1: Critical Communication Skills
MLO 2: Research Skills
MLO 3: Relational Communication Skills
MLO 4: Philosophical Analysis
MLO 5: Critical Cultural Analysis
MLO 6: Comparative Literary Analysis
MLO 7: Historical Analysis
MLO 8: Creative Writing and Social Action

The Institute faculty thinks it is absolutely possible to interweave information competency achievements within each of these learning outcomes.

Although the faculty in the Institute will most certainly develop their own critical and creative responses to the linkages among the competencies and our learning outcomes, let me just propose the kind of mesh that I see as possible. At CSU San Marcos, we developed the following checklist to abbreviate the intent of each suggested CSU statewide information competency:

Activity #2: Implementation and Case Study Review

The fall semester 2001 was our implementation semester. During the semester, the entire faculty of HCOM Institute put into action our information competency activities, assignments, and assessments. We met twice a month, as an Institute with the librarian, for critical discussion and revision of our individual information competency goals as well as of the goals for the entire Institute. At these sessions we each were responsible for sharing our students' feedback as well as our own critical observations regarding their attainment of the competencies through the activities we design. At these sessions, we took turns using our classroom information competency activities as case studies for discussion and revision. It is important that we, as individual members of an interdisciplinary institute, feel knowledgeable about and responsible for the delivery of information competency skills to students involved in our entire curriculum. Using the case study method will assist us in such comprehensive "buy-in." At the end of the semester, we created a set of activities, assignments, and assessment tools, that have been tested in the classroom, evaluated by students and faculty, revised, and tested again, to disseminate to our campus community.

Activity #3: Development of a Web Site

At the end of the semester, we developed this web site that communicates our work in the area of information competency and solicits further discussion and analysis of our endeavors.