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Course & Subject Guides

Information Literacy Fundamentals @ Pitt: Objectives & Outcomes

This guide defines information literacy and discusses strategies to incorporate information literacy into sessions for students.

Why Make Goals and Objectives?

  • Helps you plan what to cover in your session.
  • Guides you in evaluating the effectiveness of the session.
  • Helps you assess student learning. 

Teaching Goals and Learning Objectives

Teaching Goals 

  • What skills you plan to teach
  • Examples: 
    • Search the online catalog
    • Scholarly vs. popular sources

Learning Objectives

  • Information literacy skills the students will take away from class
  • Translates goals into specific and quantifiable behaviors
  • Should be realistic and attainable within class time
  • 2 or 3 per session

SMART Objectives are...

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time-constrained 

Example of a Goal with Objectives

Goal 1. Search the Discovery Tool

  • By the end of the instruction session: 
    • 1.1 Student will effectively locate an item using Title or Author searches
    • 1.2 Student will effectively use keyword searching and the AND operator to locate resources on a particular topic

PowerPoints and Documents

The information in this guide is based on information in a series of presentations and documents associated with an Information Literacy Workshop presented by the ULS Information Literacy and Assessment Working Group.