English for Academic Purposes Faculty Resource Guide

Students in this course are learning about writing and grammar strategies, which may involve incorporating research into their assignments. If you want your students to become acquainted with the library, you can direct them to the resources below. There are also accompanying Library Learning Outcomes that you can include in your teaching outcomes for the course; however, it is recommended that students begin to more thoroughly explore resources available via the library, such as GVRL and CQ Researcher.  

Library Learning Outcomes for EAP 1400

Students will be able to:

• Recognize resources the library offers in order to meet their current and ongoing information needs. 
• Identify the EAP Librarian in order to know where to go for help should they need research assistance. 

 Sample Activities + Assessments

1. Ask students to reflect on the way they accomplished research in a library in their home country. Give them examples of how the library works in the United States and at SLU. Invite and encourage the students to contact the EAP librarian in order to get help with their research.  
2. Ask students to watch the video about finding books in Pius Library. Have them go to the library and find a book on their topic. 
3. Ask students to watch the GVRL  and/or CQ Researcher training videos explaining how to search the database. Have them find resources about their chosen topic for their assignments. 
4. Ask students to watch the Library's video about searching SLUth, and have them use SLUth to find resources for their topic.

Resources

If you would like to incorporate critical thinking about information into your course goals, objectives, or outcomes, here is a list of recommended goals based on the course syllabus. As always, you can contact the EAP librarian to tailor information literacy outcomes to your course, request assignment specific assistance, and request instruction sessions. 

Recommended Information Literacy Goals for EAP 1400*

• Students will be able to identify interested parties, such as scholars, organizations, governments, and industries, who might produce information about a topic and then determine how to access that information.
• Students will be able to describe characteristics of various information resources. 
• Students will be able to understand why citation is important.
• Students will be able to seek guidance from experts such as librarians, experts, and instructors. 

*These goals are aligned with the Association of College and Research Library's Framework for Information Literacy.

Sample Activities + Assessments

1. Brainstorm Information Resources
   • Students find background information on their topics using GVRL, CQ Researcher or another source. Students are then instructed to closely read the resource to identify people, places, events, or other pieces of information that they could use to further their research.
2. Evaluating Information Sources
   • Students need to understand credibility, relevance, and appropriateness of resources pertaining to their assignment. When we talk about the different ways information is packaged, students may get a clearer picture about why some resources are more appropriate than others. Divide the students into groups and give them each a specific information resource (i.e.: a tweet, a blog post, a wiki post, a newspaper article). Have them evaluate the resource using PARTS = Purpose, Authority, Relevance, Time, and Source Type. 
3. Citation Chaos 
   • Students will be given packets with jumbled citations. They must put the citation in order and identify the type of resource (webpage, book, etc). Students will talk to their classmates about their answers. They will then be given a reflection questions to reflect on why it is important to cite properly.