Skip to main content

Improving student information literacy through tutorials

Improving student information literacy through tutorials

Today
A student sitting outside in the sunlight is looking at their laptop

Our Research Toolkit

To help undergraduate students get a good start this semester, the University Libraries created something pretty cool: the Research Toolkit! 

Our goal was to take students through the process of understanding the types of sources they need to complete their research projects to evaluating the sources they find online. 

The Research Toolkit includes five redesigned and refreshed information literacy tutorials that reflect how students actually research today:

What we changed and why

Built on evidence and student voices 

  • The tutorials were shaped by best practices in how students learn digitally: shorter, modular content that fits current attention spans. 
  • We also analyzed more than 5,000 student tutorial comments and designed them to capture what students want and like: videos, interactivity, and brevity. 

Updated for an AI-shaped research environment 

  • The tutorials weave critical AI literacy throughout, rather than treating AI as an afterthought or a threat. 
  • We’re helping students to think critically about when and how to use AI as part of the research process.

Designed for real courses and assignments 

  • This content is built around common research problems students encounter. 
  • Target sticking points students often hit include knowing where to start a search, identifying different source types, and treating citation as conversation rather than compliance.

Why this matters for your teaching

Less class time spent on the basics. Assign a tutorial, before a research-heavy assignment and spend in-class time on higher-order questions instead of database mechanics.

A shared vocabulary with students. The tutorials give students consistent, current language around finding and using sources.

Modular and Brightspace-ready. Each tutorial stands alone, so you can assign just what's relevant to your course rather than the whole series.

Accessing the Research Toolkit tutorials