Libraries Supports the College of Arts and Sciences AI Literacy Digital Badge
This Fall, Syracuse University Libraries partnered with The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) on launching an AI Literacy Digital Badge that helps students build essential skills. The AI Literacy Digital Badge, a free, self-paced microcredential available exclusively to A&S undergraduate students is designed to help students understand AI within a broader framework of information literacy, ethical decision-making and technological agility, all hallmarks of a liberal arts education.
According to Laura Machia, associate dean for academic initiatives and curriculum in A&S, the idea for the AI Literacy Digital Badge emerged directly from conversations with students. Machia followed up with Kelly Delevan, Information Literacy Librarian at Syracuse University Libraries, and discussed how AI literacy is a subset of information literacy skills.
“We asked A&S undergraduates what they were looking for regarding AI and their education, and overwhelmingly we heard that they wanted something to help them use these tools thoughtfully within their own field of study while also thinking hard about the bigger questions AI raises,” Machia says. “They were asking for a liberal arts response to AI, in other words.”
The Libraries’ prior experience with building information literacy microcredential programs, for example the Whitman Information Literacy Certificate, also provided A&S with a framework for implementing the program. Built on a Libraries’ software platform designed to host content, including videos and links, the tool offered A&S faculty from across the humanities and sciences to create a program that explores how different disciplines use, evaluate and think about AI. This gives students a broader understanding of both its possibilities and limitations. Delevan met with faculty and introduced them to the ACRL Information Literacy framework, which helped them create their specific student modules within a larger information literacy context. Student assessment is conducted within Microsoft Forms, using the University’s enterprise account.
The AI Literacy Digital Badge reflects A&S's commitment to preparing students for an increasingly AI-enabled world while reinforcing the human skills that remain essential regardless of technological change. Critical thinking, communication, creativity, research skills and ethical judgment continue to be among the most valuable competencies students can develop, and these are the areas where a liberal arts education excels. The Libraries’ was excited to partner with A&S to support these competencies, including Information Literacy and Technological Agility.
Students who complete the AI Literacy Digital Badge will gain a stronger understanding of how generative AI tools work, how to evaluate AI-generated information and how AI is being used across academic disciplines. Participants will explore key information literacy concepts, learn about responsible and effective AI use and examine real-world applications of AI in fields ranging from the sciences to the humanities.