The InfOasis Tutorial

Tutorial Purpose

This tutorial is designed to support students who are beginning their journey towards information literacy. The initial plan was to develop a resource for ZU students but the benefit of Infoasis to students from all over the UAE quickly became obvious. Developers and partners now recognize this tutorial as a powerful tool for early academic study an for secondary schools. This material is critical for the success of students making the transition from schools to the university.   Information literacy and critical thinking has become a priority for schools and in this regard Infoasis can be used to educate many students beyond those at ZU.

The Infoasis tutorial was designed to attract and engage UAE student learners with its open access model and its engaging and interactive interface.  Infoasis can be used as a stand alone tutorial or as a resource to support a variety of courses.

Some of the Infoasis modules have been delivered as part of a 16 week foundational course at Zayed University to assist students in developing information literacy and basic research skills to support academic success and life-long learning. Students develop skills in identifying, locating, retrieving, documenting, and critically evaluating both electronic and print resources that are appropriate for undergraduate research. Completion of this tutorial provides the foundation needed to begin the journey towards meeting the Zayed University Information Literacy outcome. Students completing this tutorial will be well prepared to begin to engage in the more complex and specializededucation and major course of study.

Students will continue to use these tutorial modules long after they first take this tutorial. Information literacy, like writing, requires repeated experiences, at different levels, for these skills to grow. This course will be openly available, from on and off campus, from the library Web site. With open access, faculty may refer students to the lessons as needed in later courses to help them reuse these skills in different settings, for a variety of curricular objectives.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this tutorial, each student will be able to:

• Understand the concept and value of information literacy .
• Identify a unique academic research topic and focused research question.
• Determine the extent of information needed and identify potential sources.
• Successfully use print and electronic tools (such as reference tools, article databases, the library catalog and useful Web search engines) to search for and locate specific types of information effectively and efficiently. 
• Critically examine and compare print and electronic information as to its authority, relevance, currency, objectivity, and accuracy.
• Understand how to access and use information ethically and legally.
• Use the APA style guide to document research accurately.
• Synthesize information from a variety of sources and integrate into an organized coherent presentation.

Tutorial Design

This tutorial is designed to address the specific learning outcomes listed above and within each module. These outcomes are directly related to the ALA/ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education and to meet the needs of ZU's second language learners.

The first draft of this information literacy tutorial (InfOasis), was completed and tested in March 2005. Many changes were made over the spring and summer 2005 based on assessment of student learning and student/faculty feedback. Much attention was been given to providing a tutorial suitable for second language learners, and continuous revision to improve the course content and usability in this regard will take place.