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Testing Information Literacy
Questionnaires for all ages
Lisa Beutelspacher
Department of Information Science
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Overview
Developing questionnairs for different target groups
Questions based on the same indicators
Different indicator-weightings for each group
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Why testing Information Literacy?
How information literate am I?
How effective are existing information literacy programs?
What efforts must be made in terms of information literacy?
Are all students at the same level of knowledge?
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Existing Tests
Information Literacy Test (ILT)
Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (SAILS)
Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (TRAILS)
Beile Test of Information Literacy for Education (ILAS-ED)
ETS iSkills Assessment
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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„State of student‘s information literacy in germany“
Bachelor theses by
Merve Erkmen, Parmila Shanmugarajah
Supervised by Lisa Orszullok
6th Grade and 11th Grade students
Based on ACRL Standards
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Workflow
Pretests | Adjusting
Result evaluation How many points must be reached to be information literate?
Developing the Questionnaire
Weight the indicators for each group Which skills need a student/teacher etc. to be information literate?
Setting general Indicators Which skills are needed to be information literate?
Setting the Target Groups Who should be tested?
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Target Groups
1. Students 3rd and 4th Grade
2. Students 5th to 10th Grade
3. Students 11th and 12th/13th Grade
4. Teachers
5. University Students
6. Employees
7. Scientists
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Information Literacy Indicators
Basic Media skills
Seeking and finding Information
Evaluating and using information
Generating and indexing Information
Information ethics and law
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Information and Media Literacy Skills Basic Media Skills
An information literate person…
… is able to work with a computer
… is able to work with input devices and peripherals
… knows important terms related to PC and internet
… knows how to work with a Browser
... knows about the structure of the WWW
… knows how to create a safe password
… is able to identify Advertisments, Pop-Ups etc.
… knows about viruses, malware etc. and is able to avoid them
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Example Question 1 (University Students)
If you register on a website,
what would be the safest password?
?PW!@4
Qwertz123
M?A8v+7i
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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If you register for a website,
what would be the safest password?
M?A8v+7i
Qwertz123
589423
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
Example Question 1 (3rd and 4th Grade Students)
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Information and Media Literacy Skills Seeking and Finding Information
An information literate person…
… is able to understand a research topic
… is able to formulate questions based on the information need
… is able to identify key concepts and terms
… knows where to find libraries near by
… knows about call numbers and classification systems in libraries
… knows about search engines appropriate for the age group
… knows how to use Boolean operators, truncation etc.
… know how to expand or refine search
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Write the following terms into the given tree:
Cat, Dalmatian, Bird, Animal, Poodle, Dog
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
Example Question 1 (Students 11th and 12th/13th Grade )
Animal
Cat Bird Dog
Poodle Dalmatian
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Write the following terms into the given tree:
Cat, Dalmatian, Bird
Animal
Dog
Poodle
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
Example Question 1 (3rd and 4th Grade Students)
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Adjusting the indicators for the target groups
For every group the indicators will be rated by information professionals and teachers / lectures / instructors
Not Important Important Essential
… knows how to save his/her privacy online
1 Point 0 Point 2 Points
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Example Ratings
Skill Rating Weighting
… is able to understand a research topic 20 3
… is able to formulate questions based on the information need 18 3
… is able to identify key concepts and terms 16 3
… knows where to find libraries near by 8 2
… knows about call numbers and classification systems in libraries 3 1
… knows about search engines appropriate for the age group 12 2
… knows how to use Boolean operators, truncation etc. 4 1
… knows how to expand or refine search 9 2
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Result evaluation
Proficient Advanced
50% correct 80% correct
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Thank you!
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Literature
Association of College and Research Libraries (2007). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Chicago: ACRL
Cameron, L., Wise. S. and Lottridge, S. (2007). The development and Validation of the Information Literacy Test. In: College & Research Libraries. 68(3), pp. 229-237
Erkmen, M., & Shanmugarajah, P. (2013). Stand der Informationskompetenz bei Schülern in Deutschland. Bachelor‘s Thesis. Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf.
Katz, I.R. (2007). Testing Information Literacy in Digital Environments: ETS‘s iSkills Assessment. In: Information Technology and Libraries. 26(3), pp. 3-12
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Information and Media Literacy Skills Evaluating and Using Information
An information literate person…
… is able to identify aim and target group of an information source
… is able to identify sentiments, bias and manipulation
… knows the difference between various Domains (.org, .com, …)
… is able to cite information sources correctly
… is able to summarize content
… is able to create his/her own work based on the found information
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Information and Media Literacy Skills Generating and Indexing Information
An information literate person…
… knows possibilities to participate in the web (web 2.0 services)
… generates information for other users (podcast, wiki etc.)
… generates information for different audiences
… is able to find reasonable tags to index videos, photos etc.
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013
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Information and Media Literacy Skills Information ethics and law
An information literate person…
… knows how to save his/her privacy online
… knows how to react in case of cyber-mobbing/stalking
… knows about copyright law
… knows licenses like Creative Commons and Public Domain
… knows about his /her own rights
Symposium on Information Literacy - 7.2.2013