Glossary of Terms

Resource Kit Indices

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Creating a Course

If you need to design a unit or a course for teaching information fluency, here is a suggested sequence of course activities for middle school and high school (the Basic Course may be adaptedfor grades 4 and 5, described below). As you can see in the tables below, we've structured Basic and Intermediate courses around a series of individual study MicroModules and hands-on Flash challenges. As more activities go online, new options will become available and this list will be updated. Use our list of core competencies to choose activities.

Basic Research Skills - a three-unit mini-course (middle school)

Depending on the time available, we suggest grouping activities in three units: Locating Information, Evaluating Information and Using Information Ethically. Although there are 22 parts/activities included in the mini-course, each one may only require 15 or 20 minutes, so 2 to 3 activies could be clustered in one period. Each unit could last from 4 to 8 days, depending on the level of depth and practice desired.

Instead of teaching these skills in isolation, integrate them around a research paper assignment. Use the activities presented here to define the topic, search for relevant information, evaluate the sources and cite references.

The Basic Course could also be offered in three sections at different points in the school year, starting in middle school. Since there is a logical sequence to the skills, begin with Locating Information in the fall, followed later by Evaluating Information, and ending later (in conjunction with a research paper or similar project) with Using Information Ethically.

Beyond the Basics (high school)

The Basic Course outlined above provides only introductory coverage of search and evaluation skills. For more in-depth coverage and practice, a similar cycle could be repeated in high school, adding competencies not addressed in the Basic Course:

Other Options

Grades 4 and 5

If you teach upper elementary students, you may be able to use the Basic Course with modifications. Students may need more direct explanation and demonstration in addition to using the MicroModules. Depending on reading ability, encourage students to listen to the audio provided in the MicroModules. In the first Unit, the section on the Invisible Web may be eliminated, along with the Unit Assessment at the end, which depends on knowledge of "invisible" databases. The materials in the remaining Units are good for upper elementary students to know, assuming they have opportunities to search. Watch for elementary-grade materials in upcoming editions of the Resource Kits.

Shorter Sequences

The sequences as shown here may be applied in smaller sections to reinforce particular skills. For example, if you observe that students are not finding better keywords as they search, concentrate on competency Locate I.A.2.b and assign the associated MicroModule on Hyper- and Hypo- Nyms, followed by the interactive Snowsports or Soccer tutorials. Continuity is important, however, and the greatest improvements will be obtained by developing a mini-course or providing time for three units during the school year.

Pedagogy

In this guide we have outlined sequences we believe are effective. We strongly endorse moving from Challenge to Interactive Tutorial to Challenge in the design. Describing the pedagogy for how to implement sequences is a larger issue and a topic we address as Model Lessons and Lesson Adaptations in the Curriculum sections of the Resource Kits. View Model Lessons.