Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 It’s Just a Click Away Library Instruction Assessment That Works Sarah Blakeslee Meriam Library CSU, Chico

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Clicker is a catchy name referring to… An integrated hardware and software system that allows instructors to present questions and gather students’ responses during a lecture. –Receiver –Clicker –Software

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 The Value Of Clickers In Library Instruction Assessment 1.Assess Audience 2.Assess Background Knowledge 3.Assess Understanding of Concepts 4.Assess Application of Critical Thinking Skills 5.Assess Students’ Perception of Session 6.Assess Teaching

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 The Value Of Clickers In Library Instruction Assessment 1.Assess Audience

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 I have used clickers before 1.Yes 2.No

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 The average number of library instruction classes I teach a semester is… More than 40

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 What Is Your Class Level? 1.Freshman 2.Sophomore 3.Junior 4.Senior

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 The Value Of Clickers In Library Instruction Assessment 1.Assess Audience 2.Assess Background Knowledge

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 You are looking for a book about Ernest Hemingway in the Library Catalog. What kind of search would you perform ? 1.Title search 2.Author search 3.Subject search

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 To find scholarly journal articles on a topic the best place to search is… 1.A periodical database 2.Craigslist 3.The Library Catalog 4.Browse the stacks

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 The Value Of Clickers In Library Instruction Assessment 1.Assess Audience 2.Assess Background Knowledge 3.Assess Understanding of Concepts

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Enclosing one or more search words within quotation marks (e.g. “music downloading”) ensures that your search will only retrieve records that… 1.Have been approved by the RIAA 2.Are about music downloading 3.Appear next to each other in that order 4.Appear next to each other in any order 10

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Searching for psycho* In the PsycINFO database WILL NOT retrieve records with the word… 1.psycho 2.psychology 3.psychosis 4.psychiatry 5.psychosomatic 10

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Increased instructor’s understanding of how well the students’ comprehended the lecture content

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 The Value Of Clickers In Library Instruction Assessment 1.Assess Audience 2.Assess Background Knowledge 3.Assess Understanding of Concepts 4.Assess Critical Thinking

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Which of the following searches would be likely to retrieve the greatest number of articles in a library database? 1.grunge 2.grunge and Seattle 3.grunge or Seattle

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Willis, S. L. & Schaie, K. W, (2006). Cognitive functioning in the Baby Boomers: Longitudinal and cohort effects. In S. K. Whitbourne & S. L. Willis, (Eds.). The Baby Boomers Grow up. (pp ). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1.journal 2.newspaper 3.book 4.Web Site

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Made me think more critically in class

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 The Value Of Clickers In Library Instruction Assessment 1.A ssess Audience 2.A ssess Background Knowledge 3.A ssess Understanding of Concepts 4.A ssess Application of Critical Thinking Skills 5.A ssess Students’ Perception of Session

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 The instructor presented subject matter in a clear, understandable and organized manner… 1.Strongly Agree 2.Agree 3.Neutral 4.Disagree 5.Strongly Disagree

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 After watching this presentation, I will be more likely to use clickers in my own instruction 1.Strongly Agree 2.Agree 3.Undecided 4.Disagree 5.Strongly Disagree

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 The Value Of Clickers In Library Instruction Assessment 1.A ssess Audience 2.A ssess Background Knowledge 3.A ssess Understanding of Concepts 4.A ssess Application of Critical Thinking Skills 5.A ssess Students’ Perception of Session 6.A ssess Teaching

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Session Reports

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Results By Question - Numerical

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Results By Question-Graphical

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 What’s In It For Students Engaging Encourages participation Creates sense of community Measures understanding Enhances learning

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Clickers made the class more engaging

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Made me more willing to participate in class discussions

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Created a stronger sense of community with my fellow classmates

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Enhanced my learning in this class (

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 “It is the professors use of the clicker that makes it a worth while tool.” Response 2, Dr. J ’ s Fall 2007 Clicker Survey

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Designing Clicker Questions Clicker Questions –should relate to a specific class objective –should achieve a purpose Demographics Assessment of previous knowledge Assessment of comprehension Stimulate discussion Student evaluation –keep answer options to five –test questions on screen before using

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Integrating Clickers Into Teaching Active Learning –Research indicates question every 15 to 20 minutes Other purposes –Leave 3 to 5 minutes for every question Be prepared for contingency teaching –Questions on the fly Differentiate between lecture slides and active polling slides (color, sound, or prompt)

Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle Washington, August 2008 Questions?