Down and Dirty Evaluations Laura Heinz and Carrye Syma Associate Librarians Texas Tech University Libraries

ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education Assessment and ACRL Standards are things we hear about often in libraries. But how do you perform assessment and incorporate the ACRL Standards for Information Literacy?

These are the types of devices we are looking at: Smartphone iPad or other tablet Kindle Nook Laptop or netbook We are currently surveying incoming Texas Tech students to find out what mobile devices are preferred. This information will enable the TTU Libraries to create services that will best suit the needs of TTU students.

We are using Turning Technologies clickers for PowerPoint Polling. In the past we have also used Survey Monkey. Turning technologies is quick and easy and generally takes less than 3 minutes of class time. During that time we are able to ask a series of questions and get immediate feedback using clickers. Student responses are anonymous for this type of polling.  For our needs with this assessment, we are focusing in ACRL standard two: The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.

Sample responses from our survey

Survey Monkey Example of Questions

Survey Monkey Example of Graph Response

Survey Monkey Example of Open Ended Response  How do you think the content can be improved? None. It’s simple, perfect and fun to learn. Just technical aspects such as due dates and navigation on blackboard. I can’t think of any improvements, it was a very helpful class overall. I think it was great the way it is. Go into more detail with the videos/graphic novel text.

Pros of Turning Technologies  Instant feedback  Calculates responses for you  Easy to read format Pros of Survey Monkey  Can send out a link  May ask open ended questions  Easy to read format

Cons of Turning Technologies  Cannot ask open ended questions (as we are new to this technology it is possible that we need to investigate this option further)  Must invest in the clickers Cons of Survey Monkey  May take a while to get responses, cannot always complete during class time  Need Survey Monkey account