VALUE-ing Information Literacy: Developing a Community of Practitioners through Assessment Mary C. MacDonald, Jim Kinnie, and Elaine Finan Project funded by: Davis Educational Foundation, 2010 Wabash 2.0 Study

Introduction Scope of IL on URI Campus  Library IL Programs; scaffolded & incremental  Academic Majors w/SLOs of Information Literacy focus Curricular Framework:  URI outcomes: Think critically, independently, take initiative based on informed choices.  Gen Ed Information Literacy student learning outcome

“Are URI students achieving information literacy competency over the span of an undergraduate program?” URI’s project Share the process What ways can you duplicate this process on your campus? Introduction

Take-Aways At the end of this session, you will learn how to: Adopt a model for building faculty collaboration around assessment Adapt a process that is transferable and expandable Identify opportunities for applying an information literacy (IL) rubric and engage multiple disciplines

Overview Collaborators Practitioners Evaluators “Are URI students achieving information literacy competency over the span of their undergraduate program?”

Community of Practitioners Commitment over four years Thirteen faculty Librarians National information literacy assessment expert Assessment Office (SLOAA) Instructional Development Program (IDP)

Collaborating Create a shared understanding before measuring for student learning ACRL Five IL Standards: Determine information needs Access needed information Evaluate information sources Use information to accomplish a specific purpose Use information legally American Association of Colleges & Universities IL VALUE rubric framework

Collaborating Rubric development, Preparation: Campus wide rubric workshop – 3 librarians Library faculty, subject faculty, national expert, SLOAA Librarians, SLOAA, IDP Developmental scale for IL Competency Beginning, Approaching, Competent

Collaborating Research Analyze/ Evaluate Synthesize/ Integrate Plagiarism Information Literacy

Let’s Collaborate! URI Information Literacy (IL) Rubric* IL OutcomesIL Competent Approaches IL Competency Beginning IL Competency (5A) Uses Information Ethically and Legally - Knows when to cite (5B) Uses Information Ethically and Legally - Knows when and how to paraphrase (5C) Uses Information Ethically and Legally - Mechanics of citations are correct *Adapted from the AAC&U VALUE rubric

Report out – what did you find? Easy/ Challenging? Barriers? Surprises?

Practicing Created a URI-Librarian approved IL rubric Pilot – 2 phases “Library-Friendly” Faculty from 4 of 7 colleges  History, Sociology, Public Relation, Writing & Rhetoric, Business, Pharmacy, Library (undergraduate), and Natural Resources Science 442 students evaluated – at least one element Instructors mapped rubric elements to assignments Applied rubric to student work

Evaluating Combined Results F2011, S2012

Evaluating Combined Results F2011, S2012 No IL courses

Challenges Multiple disciplines & programs to consider in consensus-building Busy faculty Language used in the assignments is key

Rewards Student- centric

Student/Instructor Comparison

Rewards Student- centric Experience in building consensus to define key skills Discipline- neutral discussions about learning and teaching Used results to refine rubric Develop faculty resources and workshops Expand online student resources

Next Steps Expand project into assessment of IL as a general education learning outcome. Replicate assessment process to evaluate other student learning outcomes. Continue collaboration and assessment across disciplines.

Questions/Comments?

American Association of Colleges and Universities. (2013). VALUE: Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education. Retrieved from April 22, American Library Association. (2006). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Retrieved from April 22, University of Rhode Island. (2012). University Catalog Retrieved from April 18, University of Rhode Island. (2013). General Education Application - Integrated Skills. Retrieved from April 18, University of Rhode Island Libraries. (2006). Mission Statement. Retrieved from April 21, References