The Chicano and Latino Studies (CALS) major at Sonoma State University uses
an interdisciplinary approach to examine the historical, political, social,
educational, economic, and cultural developments affecting Chicano and other
Latino communities in the United States. Current demographic patterns, particularly
in California and the West, make clear the importance of the Chicano/Latino
heritage and its increasing significance in regional and national affairs. The
CALS department is committed to educating future leaders (through courses for
majors, general education courses, and teacher preparation) to make careful,
informed decisions.
The department is also preparing for an extensive program review under which
the courses and curriculum are thoroughly evaluated. It is a perfect opportunity
to carefully examine goals, learning objectives, outcomes assessments of the
curriculum as a whole as well as individual courses. The Association of College
and Research Libraries Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher
Education provides an ideal framework for implementing an information competence
component within the CALS curriculum.
The CALS Information Competence project is designed to achieve the following
objectives:
1. to orient the CALS faculty to the evolving area of information literacy in
general and the ACRL standards in particular.
2. to incorporate information competence within the CALS curriculum, and
3. to position information competence within the CALS Program Review process
with both an information literacy objective and a process of assessment.
To achieve these objectives, the CALS department proposes to undertake three
major activities:
1. conduct an information literacy retreat for ten full and part-time CALS faculty;
2. review and develop CALS curriculum to address information competence objectives,
with an initial focus on two CALS courses that form the nucleus of the research
methodology component of the curriculum: CALS
400/458—Chicanos and Latinos Studies Research Issues and Information Literacy,
and CALS 480—Chicano/Latino Studies Senior Seminar.
3. pilot newly designed courses in 2001-2002 to introduce students to the newly
developed information literacy objectives and assessment efforts
The CALS project will produce as deliverables:
1. a revised version of the departmental curriculum's student learning outcomes,
including information competence objectives;
2. reconstructed syllabi for two courses that incorporate and promote
information competence standards with demonstrated student performance measures;
3. web pages that describe the project and its results.
The proposed project will be staffed by Dr. Raymond Castro, CALS department
chair, Paula Hammett from the library faculty, and a student assistant. The
estimated cost of the project is $4970.
The CALS Information Competence project is designed to achieve the following
objectives:
1. to orient the CALS faculty to the evolving area of information literacy in
general and the ACRL standards in particular. The CALS faculty is enthusiastic
and dedicated, but unfamiliar with the concept of information literacy in general
and the ACRL standards in specific. Most of the CALS faculty are themselves
still transitioning from print-based research skills to the effective use of
online information research tools and methodology. They want and need to be
brought up to speed.
2. to incorporate information competence within the CALS curriculum, and
3. to position information competence within the CALS Program Review process
with both an information literacy objective and a process of assessment.
To achieve these objectives, the CALS department proposes to undertake three
major activities:
1. conduct an information literacy retreat for ten full and part-time CALS faculty.
This retreat will focus on information competence in general and the ACRL standards,
current research tools and methodology, effective teaching techniques for incorporating
information competence into the coursework, brainstorming better ways to integrate
these ideas into the overall CALS curriculum (with special attention to the
2 named courses), and effective assessment mechanisms to demonstrate student
learning. It will also provide a much needed forum for the department to discuss
pedagogy and to draw lecturers into the discussion.
2. review and develop CALS curriculum to address information competence objectives,
with an initial focus on two CALS courses that form the nucleus of the research
methodology component of the curriculum: CALS 458—Chicanos/Latinos and
Computers, and CALS 480—Chicano/Latino Studies Seminar. These two courses
bracket the senior year program, providing a good starting point for implementing
and assessing the information competence objectives. The lessons learned there
will inform faculty discussion of learning objectives and assessments that may
be appropriate for other courses in the major.
3. pilot newly designed courses in 2001-2002 to introduce students to the newly
developed information literacy objectives and assessment efforts. The project
will utilize a knowledgeable CALS major as a student assistant for the courses
to provide added technical expertise in the mechanics of online information
access and provide support and a comfort level for the instructors as they learn
and teach new ways of researching.
The staff involved with this project include: Dr.
Raymond E. Castro, CALS department chair, Paula
Hammett, Librarian, and a student assistant. Dr. Castro and Ms. Hammett
will work closely with the CALS faculty in planning the retreat, conducting
training, developing the curriculum component that addresses information literacy,
and designing the assessment efforts that will be piloted during the 2001-2002
academic year.
Deliverables resulting from the CALS project include: a revised statement of
learning objectives which reflect the information competency standards throughout
the CALS curriculum, syllabi of two reconstruction courses which explicitly
promote information competence and incorporate assessment of student performance,
and web pages which present the proposal, project activities (including representative
student assignments) and resulting deliverables.
1. Preliminary talks with faculty - April/May 2001
2. Planning for faculty retreat - May 2001
3. Faculty retreat - early June 2001
4. Curriculum development - June-Aug 2001
5. Info comp courses - Aug-Dec 2001
6. Planning assessment activities - Aug 2001-Jan 2002
7. Capstone seminar with IC assessment - Feb-May 2002
8. Final project report on activities, with deliverable - June 2002
1. Student assistant ($10/hr x 33 hours/mo. x 9 months) --$2970
2. Faculty retreat (one day: meeting room, materials, lunches) --$200
3. Student web development consultant --$500
4. Office expenses --$300
5. Librarian release time -- $1000
Total --$4970
Dr. Raymond E. Castro, CALS department
chair, currently teaches both courses being redesigned and will be heading the
CALS program review. He also directs the Center for the Study of the Latino
Family at Sonoma State University. In recent years he has chaired the campus
GE committee and a faculty GE lab which looked at ways of redesigning the campus
GE curriculum to incorporate consistent learning objectives and assessment methodology.
Paula Hammett, Librarian, is the
Public Services, Reference and Web Coordinator for the University Library. For
several years she was also Associate Director of the Center for Teaching and
Professional Development. She has been involved in information competence efforts
for a number of years and is currently a member of the CSU Information Competency
Assessment Workgroup.
A student assistant will be hired as a teaching assistant for the two course
being taught 2001-2002. This student will be a CALS major with strong technical
and information competence skills.