VCCS Gen Ed Policy Draft - 3-6-18 - No Information Literacy Competency Category?

[DWOETZEL]

I am on Reynolds General Education Committee and was reviewing our agenda and documentation for next week's meeting. I was reviewing a draft of the new VCCS Gen Ed Policy last updated on 3/6/18 and noticed that:

• Information Literacy is not its own general education competency category anymore
  
• Possible learning outcomes that fall under any of the six revised general education competency categories may contain components of information literacy skills. The six categories include: 1. Civic Engagement 2. Communication 3. Critical Thinking 4. Professional Readiness 5. Quantitative Literacy 6. Scientific Literacy
  

See attached draft.

I contacted our Assessment Coordinator from our Office of Institutional Effectiveness for more clarification but have not heard back yet. This is the first time I have heard/read of this change. Has anyone else heard or read about this change?

Thanks,
Denise Woetzel, Reference/Information Literacy Librarian
Reynolds Community College
Parham Road Campus Library

[cflora]

Hi Denise,

Kevin Simons and I are serving on this committee, and I'd be glad to discuss the changes if you wish. It might be easier to discuss the changes over the phone though.

Thanks,
Crystal

[pedwards]

Interesting. What's the synoptic version of the developments thus far and the implications if the policy is adopted as drafted?

[buttramc]

Any chance we can do a conference call or something?

[cflora]

I am not sure how many are attending Peer Group this year, but there will be an overview on Thursday, April 12 during the 4:30 kick-off session. I will also know more by then. Would that work?

[mpierce]

All,

First, I want to thank Crystal for being on the committee.  I know you are an advocate for information literacy!

The rest of my message is intended to provide context and share thoughts.  

In 2016, the VCCS System Office approved a Paul Lee grant that sought to assemble a group of librarians from across the VCCS with the primary aim of producing an informed recommendation for an updated information literacy competency.  In 2017, that group submitted a final recommendation to the System Office, which is attached.

Unfortunately, the March 2018 draft of the revised General Education Policy is inconsistent with the group's recommendation.  I encourage everyone to follow the proper channels to share feedback with their institution.  

Why is the draft General Education Policy problematic?

Among other things:

• The draft policy ensures that information literacy as a separate general education competency will be removed from general education curriculum maps across the VCCS.  Moreover, if your institution lists general education competencies on course outlines/course content summaries, then information literacy as a general education competency will disappear.  Further, information literacy will be removed from the passage about general education competencies that is currently found in every VCCS college catalog.
  
  
• The draft policy clearly addresses aspects of information literacy in the broad statement describing critical thinking.  However, it also clearly addresses components of reasoning in the same competency.  Components of reasoning (like inductive and deductive logic) exist apart from information literacy.  For example, I can use logic to evaluate the soundness of an argument without identifying types of sources, finding/accessing sources, evaluating source credibility and relevance, citing sources, and synthesizing information to solve a problem or achieve a specific purpose.  The same problematic mash-up of information literacy with components of reasoning is also found in the draft's sample outcomes for critical thinking:
  
  Outcomes of Critical Thinking could include:
  ·         Points of View: identify and evaluate relevant and diverse points of view
  ·         Evidence: utilize effective search strategies and research methods to gather sufficient, relevant, authoritative, and reliable information from divergent perspectives
  ·         Interpretations/Inferences: evaluate and analyze ideas, arguments, assumptions, and evidence
  ·         Implications/Conclusions: formulate logical and informed conclusions or solve problems based on the analysis and interpretation of information
  
  
• In the draft policy, the outcomes associated with each competency are just recommendations.  It appears that individual VCCS institutions will be formulating unique sets of outcomes for each competency, increasing the chances that certain aspects of information literacy will be overlooked.  This has negative implications for the assessment of specific information literacy skills in the context of general education assessment.  
  

Matthew Pierce, MLS
Lead Instruction Librarian
Germanna Community College