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Assessment of Information Literacy
Presented by
Touro College LibrariesSara Tabaei, Information Literacy Director Bashe Simon, Director of Touro Libraries Committee on Outcomes Assessment
March 10, 2011
Why is the library conducting assessment?
Assessment
Meaningful measure of
student learning
Strengthens our instructional
program
Accountability to Middle States
Focuses our instructional
objectives
History of assessment in the library: Fall 2008
N= 91Project SAILS
Meaningful only
if approached as
cohort study
Only conducted
in the Lander
Colleges
The testing
instrument
requires too
much time
• Library databases are different from the free internet sitesWhat was the most
significant thing you learned today?
• Search the library databases instead of going to Wikipedia and Google What will you do differently
in your research process from now on?
What questions do you still have about the use of the
library?
History of assessment in the library: Fall 2008
One minute survey
History of assessment in the library continues …
We needed quantitative data and we
only had qualitative
data!
So we created a pre and a post test.
But our plan did not work out because only limited
time is given to the librarians!
History of assessment in the library
SAILS Pre and post tests Post-tests Post-testsFall 2008 Spring 2009 Fall 2009 Spring 2010
91
545
893
2241
Tests administered
The Current Post-test
3 indirect & 10 direct questions.
Has all its direct questions based on the Association of College and
Research Libraries (ACRL)information literacy competency standards for
higher education.
The ACRL standards are similar to the objectives of the Information literacy
goals in the General Education statement of Touro College.
Information Literacy competencies
ACRL Standards
Determines the extent of
information needed
Accesses the needed
information effectively &
efficiently
Evaluates information
and its sources critically
Uses information effectively to accomplish a
specific purpose
Understands the economic, legal & social
issues surrounding
the use of information
Touro General Education Goals adapted from ACRL Standards
To develop, refine & focus a
topic
The ability to select
information from books, journals, the
internet & other media
Evaluate and apply
appropriate search strategies
Appraise the quality of
sources in terms of reliability,
bias, currency & authority
Demonstrate awareness of legal & ethical considerations in the use of information
The Current Post-test
The post test is posted online via Google Docs.
The responses go directly into an excel sheet-- the results are summarized
instanteously.
Not all sites have computers for their students—so we also give the test in
paper & pencil format.
The answers are analyzed and if 75% answer correctly, we adjust or change
the question.
Touro library sites administered post-tests in 2010N= 2241
Graduate SCAS LCM LCW LAS (Flat-bush)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
CAMPUS
Spring 2010Fall 2010
A reference book can be borrowed N=2241
TRUE FALSE Unsure0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Resource RecognitionACRL standard#2
Spring
Fall
Wikipedia Cdc.gov Arthritis.com Unsure
From which of the following websites would you consider information on Arthritis to be most accurate?
From which of the following websites would you consider information on Arthritis to be most accurate? N= 2241
wikipedia.org cdc.govarthritis-symptom.com unsure0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Evaluating Sources ACRL #3 & GE #4
SpringFall
From which of the following websites would you consider information on Arthritis to be most accurate?
N= 341 LAS F
N=186 LCM
N= 366 LCW
N= 314 MID
TOWN
N= 196 STARRET CITY
N= 67 TAIN
O
N= 95 SUNSET PARK
N= 287 B
ENSONHURST0
102030405060708090
Evaluating sourcesACRL#3 & GE objective#4
wikipediacdc.govarthritis.comunsure
Perc
enta
ge
In determining the reliability of an Internet site, you should look for:
The responsibility of
the siteUser friendliness A sentence or
paragraph stating that the
information is correct
Unsure
In determining the reliability of an Internet site, you should look for:
N= 341 LAS F
N=186 LCM
N= 366 LCW
N= 314 MID
TOWN
N= 196 STARRET CITY
N= 67 TAIN
O
N= 95 SUNSET PARK
N= 287 B
ENSONHURST0
1020304050607080
Evaluating sourcesGE objective #4
Responsibility of siteUser friendlyA sentence or pargraph stating the information is correctUnsurePe
rcen
tage
Which of the following is a characteristic of articles found in scholarly journals?
Contains glossy pictures
Provides the author’s opinion and viewpoint
Has a list of references Unsure
Which of the following is a characteristic of articles found in scholarly journals? N=2241
Contains glossy pictures
Provides the Author's opinion
Has list of ref-erences
Unsure0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Indentifying sourcesACRL standard #1
SpringFall
Which of the following is a characteristic of articles found in scholarly journals?
N= 341 LAS F
N=186 LCM
N= 366 LCW
N= 314 MID
TOWN
N= 196 STARRET CITY
N= 67 TAIN
O
N= 95 SUNSET PARK
N= 287 B
ENSONHURST0
102030405060708090
100
Identifying sourcesGE objective #2
Contains glossy picturesprovides author's opinion or viewpointhas a list of referencesunsure
Perc
enta
ge
A recent study concluded that “women today eat about 300 calories more per day than women did in the 1970s—mostly from carbs”. Does this information need to be cited when you use it in your paper?
Yes, it needs to be cited
No, it does not need to be cited Unsure
A recent study concluded that “women today eat about 300 calories more per day than women did in the 1970s—mostly from carbs”. Does this information need to be cited when you use it in your paper? N=2241
Yes, it needs to be cited No, it does not need to be cited
Unsure0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Documenting SourcesACRL & GE #5
SpringFall
What did you learn today!Most interesting comments
“I wasn’t aware of the fact that we have books available on the touro website that are easily viewable and downloadable as well. there are many usefool tools to help conduct research and I will utilize it for future assignments.”
“I learnt more about the dangers of plagiarism and how I can be susceptible to it. “
“I learned how to use the system. I also learned if i'm writting something from another author how I suppose to do it to not be considerate as a stealer.”
“There is a lot of valuable information in the library in- service- I think that it should be part of a general orientation at the beginning of each semester for new students. “
Results and Recommendations
• The post tests appear to be reliable since the results are more or less consistent throughout the semesters.
• The post tests appear to have validity since we have based our questions on the ACRL information literacy standards.
• We will add more direct questions to strengthen the validity of the post test.
• We need to assess according to the grade levels of the students.
• For the most recent post test, we have added a question on whether English is their first language or their second.
Challenges!• The current post test is focusing on individual parts of a
concept.• Studies have shown that assessment of information literacy
skills are more accurate when linked to a contextualized problem or assignment.
• Currently we are testing short term skills and lower-level thinking skills.
• If information literacy testing becomes part of an assignment, we could test higher-level thinking skills, such as research skills.
Improvements
• We will add more questions to the post test to construct a more valid assessment tool.
• Embedded librarian in subject specific courses.
• Identify classes that could have information literacy skills incorporated through curriculum mapping of those courses.
• A general information literacy class for incoming freshmen and subject specific courses for upper divisions of undergraduate and/or graduate students based on the evidence of the post tests.
Recommended