FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE AT JACKSONVILLE

SYLLABUS
Revised: 
 
LIS 1002 - INFORMATION LITERACY
1 CREDIT HOUR

IMPORTANT DATES

Additional critical dates for this course are available at:
http://www.fscj.edu/current/calendar/index.html

CATALOG COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will provide students with the necessary skills for information literacy based on the Association of College and Research Libraries Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. The course also includes basic computer literacy skills. One contact hour. A.A., A.S. and A.A.S. 

REQUIRED TEXTS AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:

All instructional materials for LIS1002 are provided online in Blackboard.

Additional supplemental reading for this course is provided on reserve at the circulation desks in the Florida State College at Jacksonville campus libraries. It may also be ordered at E-Follet.  This supplemental text is:

Riedling, A. M. (2006). Learning to Learn (2nd ed.). New York: Neal-Schuman. ISBN 1-55-570556-1

The text has an accompanying Website at http://members.iglou.com/ariedling/learn.html. The purpose of this Website is to keep the URLs mentioned in the book current and to provide you with additional useful information, such as new articles about the various subjects covered, new books concerning information literacy and research and new URLs as they appear on the Web.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this course, learners will be able to:

1. Identify the Need for Information
2. Select the Most Appropriate Information Retrieval System
3. Acquire Pertinent Information
4. Evaluate the Information Obtained
5. Manipulate Information in a Usable Form
6. Communicate the Information

ONLINE DELIVERY SYSTEM (COURSE PLATFORM)

This course is delivered in the Blackboard online course platform.

TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS

Please use the following checklist to determine your computer readiness.

§  You should own or have access to a computer with personal access to the Internet (e.g., computer with a modem or cable modem connection). The minimum specifications include: an AMD or Pentium processor and at the minimum a 56kbs Internetconnection. Note: Florida State College at Jacksonville can provide you with Internet access (no ISP needed). You may choose your own ISP; however, the College’s ISP services are free to enrolled students.

§  A Florida State College at Jacksonville e-mail account

§  Web-browser software - at least Internet Explorer 5.0 or Netscape 4.7

§  Windows 2000 operating system (or MAC OS 9 or higher)

§  Virus-checking software

§  Plug-ins including Acrobat Reader and Flash Player

§  Additional hardware including speakers and microphone

ACCESSIBILITY

If you require specific accommodations to complete this course, notify your instructor. Students should also contact Services for Students with Disabilities at phone numbers provided on this Website:  www.fccj.edu/resources/disabilities/index.html.

FIRST WEEK

Read this Syllabus completely. Also read the Student Orientation found under "Course Information" in Blackboard. Then complete the Orientation Quiz under "Assignments" in Blackboard. Students must take the quiz during the first week of class. Failure to do so will result in being dropped from the course for non-attendance. When the quiz is completed e-mail your instructor confirming that you have read and understood the Syllabus and Orientation.

Learners in LIS1002 are required to include a brief biographical statement in the introductory discussion forum (in the Discussion Board) created for this purpose. You are invited to include a picture to help develop a community among those in the course. Then read the biographies of other learners and respond to at least two of them.

DISCUSSION

You will also be required to participate in class discussions on the Blackboard Discussion Board.  There are eight discussion topics (20 points each), for a total of 160 points, to which everyone must respond to receive credit. Please be courteous in your responses, and remember this is an open forum where everyone is welcome to share his or her opinions. When participating in online discussions, your answers must be substantive. Just saying "me too" in reply to another student's posting is not enough. Your answers to discussion topics must show that you have put thought into what you are writing. All postings should use standard, grammatically correct English. Please do not type in all lowercase or use Internet shortcuts such as IMHO, LOL, etc. Not everyone may be familiar with this terminology. Please remember this is a college-level discussion, and make sure your responses reflect this.

ASSESSMENTS

Grades will be based on a combination of assessments and class participation as shown below. Assignments are due on the date indicated on the class calendar. You may work ahead and submit your weekly assignments early if you know you will be out of town during the term. The number or nature of the assignments is subject to change during the term due to technical difficulties or class needs. Grades for assignments and participation will appear in your Blackboard Grade Book. At the beginning of the course several assignments must be completed within the first week. After these introductory assignments, you will usually have a weekly assessment of your understanding of the week's reading assignments. These assessments are all done online in the form of multiple choice or true and false questions, or by completing a Word document. They will be due by the date indicated on the calendar. Late submission of assignments must be arranged with the instructors and a loss of points will be incurred.

GRADING

Your grade will be based on:

 
CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES
            For a one-page course calendar, see “Course Information” section.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
 
1. How long will I have to wait for a response from the instructor to my e-mail?
 
Faculty responds to e-mails within 48 hours.

2. What is proper e-mail and discussion board etiquette?

E-mail and discussion board postings to other learners and the instructors need to reflect a manner appropriate to polite interactions.

3. What will help me succeed in this course?

• Strong self-discipline and desire to succeed. You'll need to log-in to class often during the typical week, motivating yourself to meet the requirements for success. 
• Ability to work well independently. You'll develop the support of fellow learners all taking the same coursework together, but it will be different from a typical classroom environment. If you work well independently, your chance of success is higher. 
• Computer savvy. If you're not familiar with the Internet and e-mail communication, we recommend that you take a computer enrichment class prior to enrolling in this course. Faculty assumes you know how to access and send data on the Internet. 

4. What is an FN grade?

This grade is awarded to students who do not meet the attendance requirement of a course.

5. What are I grades and when are they used?  

• An “I” grade may be assigned at the instructor's discretion upon request by the student to permit the student time to complete required course work which he/she was prevented from completing in a timely way due to non-academic reasons. The instructor may require the student to document the request to assist in the decision. The instructor may choose not to grant the request. The “I” grade should be considered only when the student has the potential to earn a passing grade if the missing work is made up.
• The instructor shall prescribe in a written agreement with the student the remaining course work required for completion and removal of the “I” grade. A copy of this agreement will be kept on file in the office of the appropriate dean. All work must be completed within the first eight weeks of the subsequent term, unless the instructor agrees to a longer timeframe extension (not to exceed one year). When the work is completed, the instructor will submit a grade change form with the grade earned. If the work is not completed within the prescribed timeframe, the “I” will automatically be changed to an “F” grade. The student will be informed of the final grade assigned.
• To be eligible for an “I” grade, the student must be passing the course at the time of the request, and must have completed at least 75 percent of the course work.

6. What is the Florida State College at Jacksonville Code of Ethics?

Consistent with The Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in Florida, 6B-1.06, Principles of Professional conduct for the Education Profession in Florida, an obligation to the learner requires that an individual shall not harass or discriminate against any learner on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, marital status, handicapping condition, sexual orientation, or social and family background and shall make reasonable effort to assure that each learner is protected from harassment or discrimination.

7. What about academic dishonesty?

Academic dishonesty, in any form, is expressly prohibited by the rules of the District Board of Trustees of Florida State College at Jacksonville. Academic dishonesty incorporates the following:
  a. Cheating which is defined as the giving or taking of any information or material with the intent of wrongfully aiding oneself or another in academic work considered in the determination of a course grade.
  b. Plagiarism which is defined as the act of stealing or passing off as one’s own work the words, ideas, or conclusions of another as if the work submitted were the product of ones own thinking rather than an idea or product derived from another source. In this regard, Florida State College at Jacksonville students and faculty College-wide have access to the use of Turnitin online software, used to detect plagiarism in essays and reports.
  c. Any other form of inappropriate behavior which may include but is not limited to: falsifying records or data; lying; unauthorized copying, tampering, abusing or otherwise unethically using a computer or other stored information; and, any other act of misconduct which may reasonably be deemed to be a part of this heading.
Any student alleged to have committed any act of academic dishonesty as defined herein, shall be entitled to due process as defined in District Board of Trustees’ Rule 6Hx7-2. 18, prior to the administration of disciplinary action, including suspension and dismissal.

8. May I repeat this course?

Learners repeat a course in an attempt to improve a grade previously earned.  State Board Rule 6A-14.0301 limits such attempts to courses where a “D,” “F,” or “FN” grade was earned. A learner has only three total attempts in any course, including the original grade, repeat grades and withdrawals.  Upon the third attempt in a course, the learner must be given an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F”.

When students repeat a course at Florida State College, only the last grade earned is calculated in their cumulative grade point average (GPA). However, students with an excessive number of “W” or “FN” grades and students who repeat courses to improve their GPA may jeopardize their admission to programs in the Florida State University System (SUS) or other institutions.