Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Communications in Information Literacy
Volume
12
Issue
2
Publisher
PDXScholar
Publication Date
1-2018
First Page
1
Last Page
22
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Abstract
This study demonstrates how a team of librarians sustained authentic assessment across multiple studies in order to inform changes to an information literacy curriculum. It demonstrates the cyclical and action-based nature of assessment, including closing one loop only to reopen another and begin the assessment process again, emphasizing the importance of sustainability and making changes that increase student learning. Researchers analyzed 79 English composition papers for evidence of information literacy skills, expanding upon a previous study which established information literacy skill benchmarks. Findings from the previous study led to the development of new library instruction lessons, which targeted skills students struggled with – mainly topic refinement and information synthesis. To measure the impact of the modifications, the authors used two rubrics as well as a citation analysis to identify shifts in student learning. Findings indicate that the new lessons contribute to student improvements in synthesis, topic refinement, and source variety. This study illustrates the importance of engaging in an ongoing cycle of assessment and continually making improvements to instruction practices while implementing evidence-based decisions.
Recommended Citation
Eastman, T., Lundstrom, K., Strand, K., Davis, E., Martin, P. N., Krebs, A., & Hedrich, A. (2018). Closing the Loop: Engaging in a Sustainable and Continuous Cycle of Authentic Assessment to Improve Library Instruction. Communications in Information Literacy, 12 (2), 64-85. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2018.12.2.2
