Engineering designers must make evidence-based decisions when applying the practical tools and techniques of their discipline to human problems. Information literacy provides a structure for determining information gaps, locating appropriate and relevant information, applying that information effectively, and documenting and managing the knowledge…

Librarians at Rice and Purdue Universities created novel assignments to teach students important information literacy skills. The assignments required the students to use a third-party web site, PageFlakes and NetVibes, respectively, to create a dynamically updated portal to information they needed for their research and class projects. The use of…

Calibrated Peer Review[TM] (CPR) is a program that can significantly enhance the ability to integrate intensive information literacy exercises into large classroom settings. CPR is founded on a solid pedagogic base for learning, and it is formulated in such a way that information skills can easily be inserted. However, there is no mention of its…

Discusses active learning as a technique to improve learning outcomes; describes the background and history of problem-based learning, explaining why information skills are an integral part; and relates the experiences of librarians at Purdue University in forming collaborations with subject faculty and in the development of problem-based learning…