2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Background
After winning an interdisciplinary grant in 2023 from their university, the authors, one an engineering librarian, and the second, an engineering faculty member specializing in technical communication launched an undergraduate general education course in information literacy on digital platforms. This for-credit class focuses on information literacy principles such as the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy and evaluation methods like the CRAAP test, while also focusing on misinformation, social media, and ethical engineering design principles. Through writing and research assignments and individual and group work, these professors aim to situate information literacy instruction within the undergraduate engineering curriculum as an integral part of teaching ethics, research, and writing.

Purpose
After two semesters of teaching this course, the professors share course themes, objectives, learning outcomes, and assignments to assist others in proposing introductory information literacy courses. They will share their experiences in navigating university approval processes, co-creating and co-teaching a new course, and areas for improvement going forward.

Method/Design/Scope
Traditionally, information literacy instruction was taught to undergraduate engineering students in their writing courses via the one-shot method. This proved to be an unsustainable model with limited staffing to attend writing courses. Instructors in writing courses also noted that one visit did not provide sufficient support for students throughout the semester and their academic careers. To expand formal instruction, the authors designed a course to provide in-depth instruction in informational literacy within the context of social media and misinformation. And as all students are from the School of Engineering, the course also emphasizes engineering design ethics to initiate students' thinking about how they can develop tools to mitigate the harms of online misinformation.

Results
The first iteration of this class was in the Spring 2025 semester and the second iteration is currently active for the Fall 2025 semester. The professors have made improvements and updates to course readings and assignments to improve learning outcomes and student success.

Conclusions
While the process of creating a for-credit general education course was time-consuming, this course has been a success in highlighting the value of librarian and faculty collaboration and providing an example of how to incorporate information literacy instruction into the undergraduate engineering curriculum.