Library Assessment Plan

WRIT 101 Information Literacy (IL) Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Identify authoritative information sources based on information need
• Recognize that similar content may be presented in different contexts, which may affect interpretation of the content
• Select a source that best meets an information need based on the audience, context, and purpose of various formats
• Give credit to the original ideas of others through attribution and/or formal conventions
• Formulate questions for research of an appropriate scope, based on information gaps or by reexamining existing information
• Evaluate information from a variety of perspectives in order to shape their own knowledge base

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

• Students will be able to identify authoritative information sources based on information need
• Students will be able to formulate questions for research of an appropriate scope, based on information gaps or by reexamining existing information
• Students will be able to select a source that best meets an information need based on the audience, context, and purpose of various formats
• Students will be able to give credit to the original ideas of others through attribution and/or formal conventions

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

WRIT 101 students who complete the homework and in-class session for Essay #1 will be able to:

1. Understand the dynamic nature of the research process.
2. Understand the process of background reading.
3. Identify keywords appropriate to one’s research topic.
4. Develop a basic search strategy for locating information.

Assessment of IL Learning Objectives for Essay #1

• Learning Objective #1 “Understand the dynamic nature of the research process.”
  • Analyze the submissions of the WRIT 101 Essay #1 Library Assignment
  • Determine what percentage of students provided any of the three most important takeaways (as determined by the instruction staff) from the “Picking your Topic IS Research!” and “One Perfect Source?” videos with a target of 80% of better providing one of the three top takeaways.
     
• Learning Objective #3 – “Identify keywords appropriate to one’s research topic.”
  • Review every 4^th response to the WRIT 101 Essay #1 Library Assignment in each class section, analyzing the keywords provided in those submissions. Indicate the level of complexity of the students’ keyword choices on the rubric below.
  • Then, identify the same students and review their WRIT 101 Essay #2 Library Assignment submission. Once again, analyze the keywords submitted in the assignment and indicate the complexity level of the students’ keyword choices on the rubric below.
  • Determine what percentage of students’ keyword submissions are evaluated to be Developing, Accomplished, or Exemplary for Essay #1 and Essay #2, noting any improvement between the two assignments.

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

• Students will be able to identify authoritative information sources based on information need
• Students will be able to recognize that similar content may be presented in different contexts, which may affect interpretation of the content
• Students will be able to select a source that best meets an information need based on the audience, context, and purpose of various formats
• Students will be able to evaluate information from a variety of perspectives in order to shape their own knowledge base

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

WRIT 101 students who complete the homework and in-class session for Essay #2 will be able to:

1. Identify keywords appropriate to one’s research topic.
2. Evaluate information sources for authority, currency, and potential bias.
3. Determine if an information source is appropriate to use for their research need.

Assessment of IL Learning Objectives for Essay #2

• Learning Objective #1 – “Identify keywords appropriate to one’s research topic.”
  • Review every 4^th response to the WRIT 101 Essay #1 Library Assignment in each class section, analyzing the keywords provided in those submissions. Indicate the level of complexity of the students’ keyword choices on the rubric above.
  • Then, identify the same students and review their WRIT 101 Essay #2 Library Assignment submission. Once again, analyze the keywords submitted in the assignment and indicate the complexity level of the students’ keyword choices on the rubric above.
  • Determine what percentage of students’ keyword submissions are evaluated to be Developing, Accomplished, or Exemplary for Essay #1 and Essay #2, noting any improvement between the two assignments.
  • A target of 80% or better of students' keyword submissions evaluated to be Developing, Accomplished, or Exemplary for Essay #2 has been set, with a target of 50% or better of students' keyword submissions showing improvement between Essay #1 and Essay #2.

• Learning Objective #2 “Evaluate information sources for authority, currency, and potential bias.”
  • Examine the PAUSE checklist submitted by each group in each class section using the rubric provided below. Indicate students’ ability to evaluate sources based on authority, currency, and bias.
  • Determine what percentage of PAUSE checklist submissions are evaluated to be Developing, Accomplished, or Exemplary for the categories of AUTHORITY, CURRENCY, and BIAS.

• Learning Objective #2 “Evaluate information sources for authority, currency, and potential bias.”
  • Observe a sample of instruction sessions for Essay #2, listening to the in-class discussion of evaluation of resources. Indicate each class’s collective ability to evaluate sources based on authority, currency, and bias using the rubric provided below.
  • Determine if each class indicated one or more evaluation behaviors in each category (authority, currency, and bias).
  • Determine what percentage of each section fulfill 70% or better of this Checklist Rubric with their discussion responses. Find the mean percentage for all sessions observed.