Greater Western Library Alliance issues "The Impact of Information Literacy Instruction on Student Success: A Multi-Institutional Investigation and Analysis"

Post date: Oct 2, 2017

The GWLA Student Learning Outcomes task force analyzed the data from over 42,000 first-time, first-year freshmen and over 1700 distinct courses from 12 research institutions to determine the impact(s) of information literacy instruction integrated into course curriculum on several student success measures.

Key findings include:

  • Student retention rates are higher for those students whose courses include an information literacy instruction component.

  • On average, First-Year GPA for students whose courses included information literacy instruction was higherthan the GPA of students whose courses did not.

  • Students exposed to library instruction interactions successfully completed 1.8 more credit hours per year than their counterparts who did not participate in courses containing information literacy instruction.

This is the first year of what we hope will be a multi-year longitudinal analysis to determine if these gains are sustained and built upon with additional information literacy instruction in higher-level courses, and the impact this might have on graduation rates.

Future years will also examine which teaching methods consistently show the highest student gains, so institutions may tailor their instruction programs to maximize the success of their students. The task force is currently compiling the second year of data, and that will be shared when it is completed.