Critical Thinking Tool Kit for Faculty

Librarians can be embedded virtually or in-person. Embedding a librarian in your Blackboard course is a great way to provide more consistent and personalized assistance for your students. Consult the Blackboard Resources for Faculty Guide for details on embedding a librarian (and library resources) in your Blackboard course. Librarian contact information can also be added to your syllabus. Librarians are also available to visit classes several times in a semester to offer students tiered research support and instruction.

Librarians are willing and available to collaborate with faculty to design assignments that emphasize critical thinking and to discuss other ways of integrating information literacy into courses. For example, students could write a case study analysis of a particular business. One of WSU Libraries' most comprehensive Business databases, ABI/INFORM Complete, has the option to limit a search to caste studies only.

Course-specific research guides can be created to support students in their research. These guides can be mentioned in the syllabus and/or linked to in Blackboard.

WSU Libraries also offers a number of discipline-based guides that highlight the best resources in a particular subject.

Librarians can provide course-integrated instruction that helps students systematically approach new topics and become familiar with discipline-specific tools. Library instruction is offered in-person or virtually. In-person instruction takes place in the classroom and allows the librarian to tailor the lesson to the needs of your students. Virtual instruction can be provided asynchronously by way of instructional videos, lectures, or online tutorials or synchronously using Blackboard discussion boards or video conferencing.

Instructional videos on topics ranging from finding books at the library to using specific databases. The videos can be shown in class, assigned as homework, or embedded in Blackboard.