GEARUP with Information Literacy, the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan, is in its fourth year of implementation. More than 30 faculty members have engaged in the program as GEAR ambassadors, yielding positive collaborations and impact in their classrooms. In order to evolve and grow with changing needs on campus, GEAR+ launched last year to support GEAR ambassadors in further embedding and advocating for information literacy, especially within their own departments. GEAR+ allows for continued library-GEAR faculty collaborations and supports sustainable curricular and programmatic changes that will last beyond the QEP.
Three GEAR ambassadors participated in the inaugural GEAR+ cohort last year. The group met several times during the spring semester to share and discuss information literacy teaching, assessment, and programmatic possibilities. Each ambassador submitted programmatic action plans to implement during the academic year. Below is a summary of the work taking place in each program.
Dr. Rebecca Bailey is integrating information literacy across a new learning outcome scaffold for history majors. Four courses will integrate GEAR outcomes and tie to career competency language. In the coming year, Dr. Bailey will create and teach at least one new course and develop an assessment framework.
The GEAR+ ambassadors have worked with colleagues and department chairs while developing their plans. Thank you to these departments for their support of GEAR.
A call for the next GEAR+ cohort will go out in mid to late November.
If you have any questions, reach out to Andrea Brooks, GEARUP Lead Coordinator and Pedagogy and Assessment Librarian, at brooksa2@nku.edu.
