From Confusion to Clarity: Helping students develop information literacy skills

Altered fake images fill students’ social media feeds. News stories often seem to present conflicting information. Some students struggle to distinguish the difference between a news story and an opinion column. For some new college students even walking into the SFCC library with stacks of books, magazines and periodicals to begin research for a class assignment can feel overwhelming. In a society saturated with information, determining what information is useful and relevant can be daunting for people of all ages.

SFCC Reference and Instruction Librarian Sarah Hood is eager to help students learn how to navigate and evaluate information. She’s excited to offer a new credit course this fall designed to build students’ confidence and skills as effective researchers. The course, LIBR 1111: Introduction to Information Literacy in an Electronic Environment, is listed under Library Science in the class search menu.
At left, Sarah Hood.

Library Director Valerie Nye said Hood is the ideal teacher for this class. Nye cites Hood’s more than two decades of library service and instruction with a passion for digital literacy, student engagement and emerging technologies. At the college, Hood has become a leader in shaping how students and faculty navigate information and AI tools.

“I’ve been passionate about information literacy throughout my career,” Hood explained. It was that passion that led her to pursue a graduate certificate in Critical Digital Pedagogy and New Literacies from the University of Colorado Denver a few years ago. “So, one of my projects was to design an 8-week course,” she added. Since then, she’s expanded the class into a 14-week credit class. She originally modeled the class after an offering at the University of New Mexico and has continually updated the content to be timely and relevant.

The fall class is a late-starting asynchronous class that begins the week of September 2 and continues through December 6. The online class allows students to access materials and complete assignments on their own schedule, while still meeting weekly deadlines.

Hood explained that the class could appeal to a broad range of individuals who want to improve their research skills.  “In theory, a dual credit high-school student in The Masters Program (TMP) could take the class for credit or an experienced octogenarian researcher could audit the class,” Hood said.

The three-hour credit class can be taken as an elective for someone pursuing the SFCC Creative Writing certificate, Technical and Professional Writing Certificate and/or someone pursuing an associate degree in the English-Creative Writing program.

Nye added, “These are essential skills for students planning to go on to a four- year college or those interested an intensive research activity but who might not be getting those skills in their other classes. It’s important for these students to become familiar with college libraries and how to use internet resources for college-level writing and research.”
At right, Valerie Nye.

Hood emphasized, “Students will not need to purchase a textbook. I will be using content that’s very current and relevant to what’s going on today. I will be covering AI and generative AI in the latter part of the course.”

Nye said, “The concepts are relevant in academic, work and everyday life. These are threshold concepts so when someone learns these concepts and how to use them, they are available to them throughout their lives. For example, learning about what an internet search is and knowing how to do that with reliable resources. Also, learning how to recognize if an image is real or not. It’s also important to learn how to use AI effectively and without error.”

For more information about the class, either email Hood at sarah.hood@sfcc.edu or call at 505-428-1830. For application or registration assistance visit https://www.sfcc.edu/get-started/apply-and-register/.