Information literacy for first-year students: an embedded curriculum approach

The ability to access, evaluate and synthesise high-quality research material is the backbone of critical thinking in academic and professional contexts for Engineers and Industrial Designers. This is the premise upon which teaching and library staff developed Information Literacy (IL) components in Engineering & Industrial Design Practice—a first-year unit of study in the School of Engineering at the University of Western Sydney. This paper documents the IL teaching and learning experience and evaluates and reflects upon how effective it was at helping students navigate their first tertiary level research tasks. It concludes that library sessions and assessment tasks were effective in introducing IL skills in concurrent development of critical thinking, based on feedback from library sessions, an online IL test, and assessment results.