Mapping the Framework to credit-bearing information literacy courses: A syllabi content analysis

The Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education emphasizes conceptual and critical-thinking approaches to information literacy, a departure from the competency-based Standards. While redeveloping their syllabus for a credit-bearing information literacy course, the researchers became curious about instruction practices at peer institutions. Were peers incorporating the Framework into their courses? If so, which frames were most common and were they explicitly presented? Would syllabi reflect the trend toward  a conceptual approach as represented by the Framework? The researchers conducted a content analysis of syllabi using deductive coding to map the six frames to syllabi gathered from peer institutions. Coding revealed that while each syllabus incorporated multiple frames, Searching as Strategic Exploration was the most prevalent and was frequently coded to concrete, practical library skills. Additionally, syllabi were not explicitly designed around the Framework; frames were incorporated  implicitly. This study suggests there are many was to incorporate the Framework into a course.