Information Literacy: Assessment Plan

Information Literacy

AN ASSESSMENT PLAN FOR INFORMATION LITERACY

Assessment Planning Committee * Indiana University Bloomington Libraries May 1, 1996 (Final)

At Indiana University Bloomington, assessment refers to research and inquiry into the improvement of teaching and learning. Assessment is a process in which goals and learning objectives of a program or course are identified and data are collected from multiple sources to document student, teacher, or program achievement of those goals and objectives. Multiple variations are possible: pre-test, post-test of students in a course or major; focus on faculty teaching styles; assessment of subject matter, learning or critical thinking skills; review of departmental goals and objectives, or other creative efforts generated by faculty or departments. (Handbook of Assessment Strategies: Measure of Student Learning and Program Quality, 1993, p. 4)

INTRODUCTION

In the Indiana University Handbook of Assessment Strategies: Measure of Student Learning and Program Quality, information literacy is most closely associated with "Student knowledge base and thinking skills: Applied practical experience," listed under both general knowledge and major program. The Indiana University Libraries Assessment Planning Committee has been working since summer 1995 to write a plan outlining how instructors can assess their students' level of information literacy. Members of the committee regard information literacy as the application of critical thinking to an information problem.

The Assessment Planning Committee of the Indiana University Libraries has developed a plan to help departments and their faculty incorporate the assessment of information literacy into their academic programs, both on the undergraduate and graduate levels. This plan suggests ways in which departments might work in collaboration with librarians to assess information literacy.

We understand 'assessment' to include these essential components: stated goals and objectives and measurable results, with techniques for measuring learning outcomes. Our plan meets these criteria. The Libraries' assessment plan is based upon assumptions drawn from our experience in training library users and the literature of information literacy.

ASSUMPTIONS

Assumption 1. The information environment is too complex and changing too rapidly to expect students to acquire information literacy without a planned, systematic, cumulative instructional program. The hit-or-miss process that worked for students and scholars in the past is not efficient or effective today. Disciplines are changing. Students are expected to employ sophisticated information-gathering techniques for their coursework.

Assumption 2. The most effective learning about library and information use is tied to a specific information need and is often discipline-specific. Examples: preparation of a research paper for a credit class, gathering documentation for a persuasive speech, surveying the literature for a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation, choosing a graduate school, finding a summer internship.

Assumption 3. Students must learn critical thinking and research skills in their disciplines as preparation for a lifetime of changing information needs.

Assumption 4. Students have different learning styles and acquire information in different ways. Any information literacy program must accommodate these differences by using a variety of approaches that provide practice in these skills.

Assumption 5. The IU Libraries cannot reach all students, nor can we meet all their training needs. The most effective way to reach all students and meet their information literacy needs is through a collaboration between the Libraries and the departments and schools and their faculty.

DEFINITION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES

'Information literacy' is the ability of an individual to identify when information is needed, locate and evaluate relevant information, and use it effectively. We believe there are two levels of information literacy: basic and advanced/research level.

Basic Information Literacy

The following goals for basic information literacy form the foundation for advanced/research level literacy. Any effective instructional program must begin with the skills related to these basic goals. However, in order to measure achievement of the goals, we need objectives, "a description of a performance you want learners to be able to exhibit before you consider them competent" (Mager, 1984, p. 3). Each objective will specify the performance, the conditions, and the criterion of acceptable performance (Mager, 1984, p. 3). Basic information literacy should be acquired by the end of the sophomore year. It is expected that by the end of the first two years of an academic program, the student has completed general requirements for a bachelor's degree and is about to enter the major study. Academic departments should incorporate the goals and objectives associated with basic information literacy into core courses at the 100 and 200 level, both for majors and non-majors, in collaboration with the Undergraduate Library librarians and library subject specialists, as appropriate.

Under each objective we have suggested measurement techniques. These are not meant to be exhaustive lists. At the end of this document we have included a glossary describing some of the less well-known measurement techniques. A technique defined in the glossary has been denoted with two asterisks (**) the first time it is listed.

Basic Goal 1. Appreciates the richness and complexity of the information environment.

Objective 1.1.