The CSB and SJU Libraries and Instructional Technology share these knowledge practices, which outline some of the ways learners can demonstrate facility with information and digital literacies. These knowledge practices are based on the Center for Media Literacy's Key Concepts of Media Literacy and ACRL's Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and are organized using the Framework's six threshold concepts.

View our related Student Learning Outcomes here.

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

Students will be able to:

• Articulate how a discipline or community recognizes authority.
• Articulate that authority can come from a place of privilege that may drown out other voices.
• Assess information with a skeptical stance and with a self-awareness of personal bias.
• Articulate that authoritative information may be presented formally or informally and in multiple formats.

Authority: Who is considered an expert or a credible source is decided by a community and further depends on the context within which the information will be used.

Format: Some currently used information formats include websites and online reports; video and audio recordings; print books and eBooks; and print and electronic journal articles, magazines, and newspapers. Each format supplies information in a different way and has unique advantages and limitations for researchers.

Information Creation as a Process

Students will be able to:

• Identify different avenues to share information (e.g., article, book, social media, video, etc.).
• Explain that useful information can come in any format and articulate the benefits and drawbacks of different formats used to share information.
• Develop technical skillsets to effectively communicate and express ideas in multiple formats to their selected audience.

Information Has Value

Students will be able to:

• Distinguish when they are contributors and/or consumers in the information marketplace.
• Integrate the original ideas of others through proper attribution in their academic work in any format.

Research as Inquiry

Students will be able to:

• Formulate a research question based on the information gathered during the research process.
• Determine an appropriate scope of the question by breaking complex questions into simple ones.
• Choose discipline appropriate research methods.
• Revise the research question as needed when synthesizing information gathered from multiple sources.

Scholarship as Conversation

Students will be able to:

• Explain the contribution and perspective of a particular scholar, regardless of that scholar’s publication format.
• Articulate that scholarly conversations take place over time in various venues and media.
• Understand the larger context of the scholarly conversation before judging a particular piece of scholarship.
• Produce work that contributes to the scholarly conversation.

Searching as Strategic Exploration

Students will be able to:

• Match research needs to appropriate search strategies and research tools.
• Design and refine search strategies based on search results.
• Seek guidance from experts, including librarians, Instructional Technologists, researchers and professionals.
• Determine how to access information created by interested parties, such as scholars, organizations, governments and industries.
• Persist in their research, despite challenges, and know when they have enough information to complete an assignment or other information task.

Connections to Other Learning Goals

Our knowledge practices correspond to the following learning goals at CSB and SJU:

Instuitional Learning Goals

• Think Deeply: Think critically, creatively, and with complexity when addressing significant questions.
• Embrace Difference: Observe life from multiple perspectives.
• Engage Globally: Embark on a journey of discovery and take part in the world.

Integrations Curriculum Learning Goals

• Analyzing Texts: Elicit and construct meanings from texts.
• Information Literacy: Identify, evaluate, and responsibly use information.
• Metacognition: Optimize one’s own thinking and learning process.
• Quantitative Reasoning: Solve quantitative problems and develop and communicate arguments supported by quantitative evidence.
• Speak: Construct ideas, opinions and information in appropriate oral forms.
• Write: Construct ideas, opinions and information in appropriate written forms.