School of Information Studies Using Rubrics to Collect Evidence for Decision-Making: What do Librarians Need to Learn? Megan Oakleaf, MLS, PhD School of Information Studies Syracuse University 4th International Evidence Based Library & Information Practice Conference May 2007

Overview Introduction Definition & Benefits of Rubrics Methodology Emergence of Expert Rubric User Group Characteristics of Expert Rubric Users Barriers to Expert Use of Rubrics The Need for Training Directions for Future Research

Rubrics Defined describe the 1) parts, indicators, or criteria and 2) levels of performance of a particular task, product, or service formatted on a grid or table employed to judge quality used to translate difficult, unwieldy data into a form that can be used for decision-making

Rubrics are often used to make instructional decisions and evaluations. http://www.southcountry.org/BROOKHAVEN/classrooms/btejeda/images/rubric%20big.JPG

Potential Rubric Uses in Libraries To analyze and evaluate: Information-seeking behavior Employee customer service skills Marketing/outreach efforts Collection strengths Information commons spaces Student information literacy skills

Rubric for a Library Open House Event for First Year Students Indicators Beginning Developing Exemplary Data Source Attendance Attendance rates are similar to the 2006 Open House Attendance rates increase by 20% from 2006 Open House Attendance rates will increase by 50% from 2006 Open House Staff [Committee and Volunteers] records Staff Participation Staff participation is similar to 2006 Open House, no volunteers Increase in participation by library staff [librarians and paraprofessionals] and student volunteers Increase in participation with library staff [librarians and paraprofessionals], student volunteers, student workers, and academic faculty Budget Budget same as 2006 Open House, $200 Budget increases by $100 from 2006 Open House Budget increases by $300 from 2006 Open House Budget, Financial Statements Reference Statistics Reference statistics similar to 2006 Reference statistics increase by 20% from 2006 Reference statistics increase by 50% from 2006 Library Reference Department Statistics Student Attitudes Students are pleased with Open House Students enjoy the Open House, are satisfied with information Students are excited about the Open House, volunteer to participate with the next year’s event Survey Rubric for a Library Open House Event for First Year Students Rubric created by: Katherine Thurston & Jennifer Bibbens

Post-Training Surveys Rubric for a Virtual Reference Service Indicators Beginning Developing Exemplary Data Source Transactions 0 – 4 reference transactions per week. 5 – 7 reference transactions per week. 8 + reference transactions per week. Transaction Logs User Satisfaction Students, faculty and staff report they are “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with reference transactions. Students, faculty and staff report they are “neutral” about reference transactions. Students, faculty and staff report they are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with reference transactions. User Surveys Training Librarians report they are “uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” with providing virtual reference service. Librarians report they are “neutral” about providing virtual reference service. Librarians report they are “comfortable” or “very comfortable” with providing virtual reference service. Post-Training Surveys Technology Between 75 % and 100 % of transactions a week report dropped calls or technical difficulties. Between 25 % and 74% of transactions a week report dropped calls or technical difficulties. Between 0 % and 24% of transactions a week report dropped calls or technical difficulties. System Transcripts Electronic Resources 0 – 50 hits on electronic resources a week. 50 – 100 hits on electronic resources a week. 100 + hits on electronic resources a week. Systems Analysis Logs Rubric created by: Ana Guimaraes & Katie Hayduke

Study Rubric

Benefits rubrics provide librarians the opportunity to discuss, determine, and communicate agreed upon values rubrics include descriptive, yet easily digestible data prevent inaccuracy of scoring prevent bias When used in student learning contexts… reveal the expectations of instructors and librarians to students offer more meaningful feedback than letter or numerical scores alone support not only student learning, but also self-evaluation and metacognition

The Research Question To what extent can librarians use rubrics to make valid and reliable decisions? Library service: an information literacy tutorial Artifacts: student responses to questions within the tutorial Goal: to make decisions about the tutorial and the library instruction program

Methodology 75 randomly selected student responses to open-ended questions embedded in an information literacy tutorial at NCSU 25 raters 15 internal & trained (NCSU librarians, faculty, students) 10 external & untrained (non-NCSU librarians) raters code artifacts using rubrics raters’ experiences captured on comment sheets reliability statistically analyzed using Cohen’s kappa validity statistically analyzed using a “gold standard” approach and Cohen’s kappa This study employed a survey design methodology. The data for the study came from student responses to open-ended questions embedded in an online information literacy tutorial. This textual data was translated into quantitative terms through the use of a rubric. Using a rubric, raters coded student answers into pre-set categories, and these categories were assigned point values. The point values assigned to student responses were subjected to quantitative analysis in order to describe student performance, test for interrater reliability, and explore the validity of the rubric. According to Lincoln, this approach is called “discovery phase” or preliminary experimental design, and it is commonly employed in the development of new rubrics. [1] Yvonna Lincoln. "Authentic Assessment and Research Methodology." E-mail to Megan Oakleaf. 2005.

Kappa Index Kappa Statistic Strength of Agreement 0.81-1.00 Almost Perfect 0.61-0.80 Substantial 0.41-0.60 Moderate 0.21-0.40 Fair 0.00-0.20 Slight <0.00 Poor

Average Kappa Rank Participant Group Status 0.72 1 NCSU Librarian Expert 0.69 2 Instructor 0.67 3 0.66 4 0.62 5 0.61 6 Non-Expert 0.59 7 0.58 8 Student 0.56 9 0.55 10 .055 11 0.54 12 0.52 13 14 0.43 15 External Instruction Librarian 0.32 16 External Reference Librarian 0.31 17 18 0.30 19 20 0.27 21 0.21 22 0.19 23 0.14 24 0.13 25 expert status does not appear to be correlated to educational background, experience, or position within the institution

Expert Kappa Statistics

Non-Expert Kappa Statistics

Expert Characteristics focus on general features of artifact adopt values of rubrics revisit criteria while scoring experience training

Non-Expert Characteristics diverse outlooks or perspectives prior knowledge or experiences fatigue mood other barriers

Barrier 1 Difficulty Understanding an Outcomes-Based Approach Many librarians are more familiar with inputs/outputs than outcomes. Comments from raters: using measurable outcomes to assess student learning focuses too much on specific skills—too much “science” and not enough “art.” “While the rubric measures the presence of concepts…it doesn’t check to see if students understand [the] issues.” “This rubric tests skills, not…real learning.”

Barrier 2 Tension between Analytic & Holistic Approaches Some librarians are unfamiliar with analytical evaluation. Comments from raters: The rubric “was really simple. But I worried that I was being too simplistic…and not rating [student work] holistically.” “The rubric is a good and a solid way to measure knowledge of a process but it does not allow for raters to assess the response as a whole.”

Analytic vs. Holistic Analytic Better for judging complex artifacts Allow for separate evaluations of artifacts with multiple facets Provide more detailed feedback Take more time to create and use Bottom line: Better for providing formative feedback Holistic Better for simple artifacts with few facets Good for getting a “snapshot” of quality Provide only limited feedback Do not offer detailed analysis of strengths/weaknesses Bottom line: Better for giving summative scores

Barrier 3 Failure to Comprehend Rubric Some librarians may not understand all aspects of a rubric. Comments from raters: “I decided to use literally examples, indicators to mean that students needed to provide more than one.” “The student might cite one example…but not…enough for me to consider it exemplary.”

Barrier 4 Disagreement with Assumptions of the Rubric Some librarians may not agree with all assumptions and values espoused by a rubric. Comments from raters: The rubric “valued students’ ability to use particular words but does not measure their understanding of concepts.”

Barrier 5 Difficulties with Artifacts Some librarians may be stymied by atypical artifacts. Comments from raters: I found myself “giving the more cryptic answers the benefit of the doubt.” “If a student answer consists of a bulleted list of responses to the prompt, but no discussion or elaboration, does that fulfill the requirement?” “It’s really hard…when students are asked to describe, explain, draw conclusions, etc. and some answer with one word.”

Barrier 6 Difficulties Understanding Library Context & Culture Librarians need campus context to use rubrics well.

Training Topics Value & principles of outcomes-based analysis and evaluation Theories that underlie rubrics Advantages & disadvantages of rubric models Structural issues that limit rubric reliability and validity (too general or specific, too long, focused on quantity not quality, etc) Ways to eliminate disagreement about rubric assumptions Methods for handling atypical artifacts

Future Research Investigate: attributes of expert raters effects of different types and levels of rater training non-instruction library artifacts impact of diverse settings

Conclusion Are rubrics worth the time and energy? This study confirmed the value of rubrics—nearly all participants stated that they could envision using rubrics to improve library instructional services. Such feedback attests to the merit of rubrics as tools for effective evidence based decision-making practice.

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