A new interdisciplinary course co-taught by Cari Kaurloto, head of USC's Science & Engineering Library, was recently featured in Inside Higher Ed. The course, Information Literacy: Navigating Digital Misinformation (EIS 103), was created in collaboration with Helen Choi of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering to help engineering students critically engage with online information and build ethical, research-based strategies to address misinformation.
Launched in spring 2025 and supported by an interdisciplinary teaching grant, the course combines academic research skills with active learning and real-world applications, including student-designed public service campaigns on social media platforms. As one of EIS 203's instructors, Kaurloto is able to integrate the USC Libraries' expertise in information literacy directly into the engineering curriculum.
"Students examine ways they can navigate online information using their research skills, and then extend that knowledge by considering how they, as prospective engineers, can build technologies that mitigate the harms of online misinformation," Choi told Inside Higher Ed's Ashley Mowreader.
Based on its success this past semester, Kaurloto and Choi plan to expand EIS 103 to two sections in the fall.