TMU Library Learning Outcomes

There are values and limitations to all forms of knowledge, and there is no one way to measure authority. By the end of their degree, students should be able to:

1. Accept that knowledge can come in many forms (for example spiritual, scientific, land-based, creative) that are assigned value differently according to context, and that expertise can come from scholarship, societal position, or from lived experience. 
2. Exercise critical thinking around traditional constructions of authority, recognizing its strengths and weaknesses. Understand the labour, skill, creativity, and rigour required to create new knowledge. Develop and maintain an open mind when encountering varied and sometimes conflicting viewpoints. Assess sources with a self-awareness of their own biases and worldview. 
3. Recognize that perspectives on knowledge shift over time, location, community, and discipline and recognize the value of diverse ideas and worldviews. Practice cultural humility by reflecting on how to respectfully integrate diverse forms of knowledge into their personal views and practices. Recognize the responsibility this entails, including seeking accuracy and reliability, and respecting intellectual property and cultural protocols.
4. Examine and critique information privilege in higher education and beyond. Recognize issues of access or lack of access to information sources. Identify the underrepresentation of certain voices within the systems that produce and disseminate information. 
5. Acknowledge their role in knowledge production and dissemination.

Every person has their own worldview which is shaped by their experiences, and each worldview has value. By the end of their degree, students should be able to:

1. Analyze the way their worldview has informed what they know and the sources they seek. Critique the scope of their knowledge and investigate whose perspectives can help them grow. 
2. Explore gaps in their understanding, assessing how their knowledge is influenced by their positionality and lived experience. Evaluate sources of knowledge for bias and whether they are exclusionary, contradictory, or incomplete.
3. Critically reflect on different forms of knowledge. Recognize that different types of knowledge are valuable and can have different applications.
4. Appreciate the evolving nature of scholarship and that it is an open conversation they can join.

Search for new and diverse knowledge in inclusive and ethical ways. By the end of their degree, students should be able to:

1. Identify the scope of research and address knowledge gaps by articulating a question, search string, or specific need. 
2. Recognize that there are many directions of research, and some may be inconclusive or not have a single conclusion. Searching is an exploratory, iterative, ongoing process that may take place throughout a project. 
3. Identify the potential for biases in research tools and algorithms in order to design inclusive search strategies that lead to sources to build their knowledge.
4. Acknowledge that searching can be personal: the process can be overwhelming, uncomfortable or inspiring, and you may have to confront difficult information that exposes discrimination and violence.
5. Seek knowledge from others if that knowledge does not already exist in published resources. Accept that we do not always have the right to receive or share knowledge. Use an ethic of care when seeking knowledge from living beings and follow the requirements of the Research Ethics Board if necessary. 

Critically evaluate sources of knowledge before using them. By the end of their degree, students should be able to:

1. Identify resources by their common characteristics, understanding how and why they were created and the context of the information landscape in which they exist.
2. Critique the process of knowledge creation, including its impact on access and use, with sources ranging from scholarly journals to artificial intelligence.
3. Determine the authority of a source by critically evaluating the creator’s expertise, experience, and societal role. Consider the author’s positionality as well as their own.
4. Evaluate a source’s accuracy by fact-checking and triangulating information or using other measures as appropriate to the discipline. Navigate seamlessly between lateral reading and deep reading. Identify, criticize, and find alternatives for sources that can misinform, deceive, or coerce readers.
5. Use sources effectively to provide evidence for a research inquiry.

Consider the legal, cultural, and ethical implications of using the ideas and work of other scholars and creators. Share, integrate, and build on knowledge in culturally respectful ways. By the end of their degree, students should be able to:

1. Give credit to the original ideas of others through proper attribution and citation. Identify the role and importance of citation with regard to academic integrity and to scholarly dialogue. Acknowledge any work created by or with the help of artificial intelligence or machine learning in alignment with university policy.
2. Ethically manage and store collected knowledge and data. Make informed choices in full awareness of issues related to privacy and the commodification of data and personal information. Identify the processes by which machine learning algorithms (for example, large language models) ingest and generate content, the implications of sharing material with these systems, and when and how use of these systems is appropriate. 
3. Recognize that scholars who are women, Black, Indigenous, disabled, or people of colour are on average cited less than white, male, able-bodied scholars. Intentionally apply principles of citation justice, by citing underrepresented scholars, in order to add breadth and depth to work¹. Evaluate what impact using or sharing others’ knowledge may have on diverse audiences, particularly marginalized groups.
4. Recognize traditional knowledge and the cultural protocols governing their access and use. Recognize that intellectual property is a legal and social construct that varies by culture. Demonstrate respect for diverse forms of knowledge by using culturally appropriate forms of attribution, providing fair payment, and requesting all necessary permissions.
5. Articulate the purpose and distinguishing characteristics of copyright, fair use, open access, and the public domain.

Act as responsible knowledge creators. By the end of their degree, students should be able to:

1. Engage in knowledge creation based on their academic study, including discipline-specific scholarly knowledge and knowledge intended to be shared within their community.
2. Articulate how knowledge creation can be a powerful act which comes with responsibilities, such as the need to provide proper source attribution, to understand how knowledge can be misused, and the responsible use of persuasion.
3. Select appropriate evidence, weaving together sources for support, synthesis and critique, engaging in respectful dialogue, and advancing the scholarly conversation. 
4. Choose methods of knowledge dissemination and mobilization that are accessible, inclusive, and equitable. For example, choose open source licenses or open access publishing options whenever appropriate, prioritize data sharing, and select accessible formats for document and data visualization.