What Five Minutes in the Classroom Can Do to Uncover the Basic Information Literacy Skills of Your College Students: A Multiyear Assessment Study (original) (raw)
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A Multi-year Longitudinal Analysis of Undergraduate Students’ Information Literacy
Kentucky Libraries, 2023
Hutchins Library Instruction Librarians at Berea College implemented an information literacy assessment program seven years ago. Incoming first-year students completed an information literacy survey in the late summer before their arrival on campus in the fall. Based on the nationally recognized Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS) Survey of Research Practice (https:// www.hedsconsortium.org/heds-surveys), the survey tests students in the following areas: Finding Resources, Evaluating Resources, and Knowing When to Cite. Students received their assessment results by letter during the first week of classes. If students demonstrated competency in the basic information literacy skills that the assessment evaluates, they were certified as competent. If students
Four Pedagogical Approaches in Helping Students Learn Information Literacy Skills
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 2014
In spring 2012, Rider University librarians heightened their collaboration with classroom faculty to teach students in core writing classes information literacy (IL) skills during IL instruction (ILI) sessions. This quasiexperimental study assessed four pedagogical approaches for single or multi-session ILI. The conventional approach, which involves lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on time, was used in both the control and the experimental groups. The three experimental groups involved: (a) assigning students to preview the class Research Guide and take a graded quiz (Preview group), (b) engaging interactively with students during the ILI session (Active Learning group), and (c) providing multiple instruction and follow-up sessions (Multi-session group). A different pretest and posttest based on the first two ACRL Information Competency Standards for Higher Education (2000) were developed for assessment. The results showed that student knowledge of concepts included in the training improved significantly in both the control and the experimental groups, but no differences were found among the teaching methods employed. The qualitative analysis revealed that the professor in the Preview group who integrated IL cohesively in her assignments experienced more satisfactory learning outcomes. The overall low scores suggest that more powerful instruction strategies besides diversified pedagogies are needed to significantly enhance long-term retention.
2008
Program. This pro-active Program targets instruction for all academic degrees and information competencies are also embedded in each lower-division General Education course. Librarians and disciplinary faculty work together to ensure that students successfully master these information literacy (IL) competencies. Three different assessment initiatives will be presented in this paper. The use of the iSkills test as a backbone for the study of first-year students and their retention; IL outcomes as measured in the General Education Assessment Plan; and participation in the annual assessments for academic programs are three campus-wide initiatives gathering evidence that students are becoming information literate.
Quick library fix or basic educational skills?: information literacy in higher education
2011
This thesis is concerned with how students in higher education can benefit from an embedded information literacy (IL) course. Most information literacy courses are given, by librarians, as single, stand-alone lectures, unconnected with the subject discipline. This is in sharp contrast to most of the learning theorist, who state that learning in context is vital.
Information Literacy (IL) of College Freshmen: Implications for an IL Program in Academic Libraries
2019
Information technology steered the proliferation of information resources in different formats, thus, making available a lot of information choices for the diverse needs of all types of users. To be able to obtain quality resources, the academic libraries play a crucial role in developing the information competencies of college students. This study examined the information literacy of college freshmen using a cognitive test. Scores were analyzed using mean scores, frequency, and percentage. Findings indicate that college freshmen have above average literacy in accessing information, and average in evaluating and using information. Based on these findings, some implications for information literacy programs are derived. These could be used by librarians as their basis in planning and designing information literacy programs that would further develop more advanced information competencies.
A Multi-Method Information Literacy Assessment Program: Foundation and Early Results
portal: Libraries and the Academy, 2020
The information literacy (IL) assessment program at Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York, instituted in 2014-2015, evaluates students' information literacy capabilities as demonstrated in their written coursework, their test performance, and their comments on library instruction sessions. Both instruction and assessment are closely linked to five learning objectives, and five years' assessment results have led to significant changes in the IL instruction program. This paper presents key concepts in IL assessment; highlights the importance of evidence-based measures (that is, direct assessment of cognitive outcomes); describes Manhattan College's three assessment methods, with guidelines for the reporting of results; discusses sampling difficulties and related statistical issues; describes the changes in IL instruction undertaken in response to the results ("closing the loop"); and reviews additional assessment methods that can help demonstrate the impact of IL instruction on broader educational outcomes.
Assessing Information Literacy Comprehension in First-Year Students
Practical Academic Librarianship, 2011
Instruction librarians focus on teaching information literacy skills to students in a variety of settings. However, most college professors only allow the librarian one 50 minute BI session per class to convey this in-depth amount of information each semester. During a library session, active learning technology can be utilized to encourage student participation and hands-on learning. Often, librarians seek other avenues to embed their knowledge to students beyond the BI session, e.g., Blackboard, wikis, tutorials, and subject guides. In this study, the authors use Interwrite Personal Response Systems (clickers) over two semesters to encourage student engagement during a BI session in a course originally designed for at-risk freshmen, then redesigned for any first-year student. The authors implement pre/posttests the second semester using the university’s course management system (Blackboard). The authors explain how this two-semester project integrated information literacy skills into a first-year curriculum, while serving as an instrumental assessment measure for student learning.
2015
The need to teach information literacy skills to undergraduate students is often framed as a 21 st century concern, but debate over the value and practice of teaching this set of skills can be found as far back as the early 1900’s. This article reviews the history of information literacy instruction in academic libraries from its origins to the present, examines the current state of information literacy instruction in academic libraries, and explores possible future directions that this instruction may take. Looking to the past, present and future shows that while library instruction has evolved, many central concerns remain unanswered.
School Library Media Research, 2008
In the past decade information literacy has received increasing emphasis in K-12 and postsecondary education, yet the information literacy skill levels of high school and college graduates continue to vary considerably. This report compares findings across a subset of data collected in three independent research studies focusing on students' conceptions and perceptions of how they have learned what they know about information literacy. Competency theory, which posits that low-skilled individuals in some knowledge domains are often unable to recognize their deficiencies and therefore tend to overestimate their abilities, is used as the theoretical framework in each study. Data on participants' previous experiences with information literacy instruction was collected through surveys or interviews. A majority of students reported that they were largely self-taught, but some also reported having received instruction from school library media specialists (SLMSs) and, to a lesser degree, public and academic librarians. Overall, low-performing students tended to identify peers as sources of knowledge while proficient students tended to identify SLMSs and teachers as sources of knowledge. These findings have important implications for researchers and practitioners in developing information literacy instruction for low-performing students. Research indicates that SLMSs do make a difference in students' information literacy skill levels. In a study of students in a California community college information literacy course, Smalley (2004) found that those who came from high schools with librarians performed much better on both mid-course and final assessments than those students who came from high schools without librarians. Moreover, numerous studies in various states indicate that more time spent on information literacy instruction results in higher scores on academic achievement tests (see, for example, the studies summarized in Lance and Loertscher 2003). Of course, what constitutes information literacy instruction varies from school to school. In a nationwide survey of high school library media specialists, Islam and Murno (2006) found that the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standard taught most frequently was number five, which involves the ethical use of information (specifically, proper documentation of sources); the skill taught second most frequently was number three, which involves the critical evaluation of sources; and the skill taught least frequently was number four, which involves the effective use of information. Still, despite the fact that many SLMSs are providing information literacy instruction, significant numbers of students graduate from high school ill prepared for college. A national survey conducted for Achieve discovered that 40 percent of recent high school graduates who went on to attend college felt that they had gaps in their ability to do research, with 10 percent reporting large gaps (Peter D. Hart 2005). Among college instructors, 59 percent felt that their students were poorly prepared to do research (Peter D. Hart 2005). And a study by the Educational Testing Service (2008)found that of three thousand college students and eight hundred high school students who took the ICT Literacy Assessment Core Level Test, only 13 percent scored as information literate.