Assessment

Types of Assessments

Pathfinders An assignment to create a guide to searching the literature of a particular discipline or the literature about a particular topic. The pathfinder is usually organized into such categories as: general overview of the topic, the types of information available about the topic (e.g., statistics, critical works, government publications), appropriate subject headings and keywords for searching in the catalog, appropriate journal and full-text indexes with keywords to use for searching, important reference resources, Internet resources, and the like.

Research Journal Students maintain a journal or diary of their research process. They record their thinking about the topic, questions they wish to answer, keywords, and the progress of their research. For each resource consulted, the student discusses how it was searched, keywords used and how well they worked, what was found, and any changes to the research topic.

Research Paper Proposal Students write a proposal describing a research paper. They do research for the paper but do not actually write the paper. A proposal usually includes a thesis statement, questions to be answered by the research, sources consulted, and a bibliography of resources.

Research portfolio Similar to the research paper proposal. The portfolio includes copies of articles or chapters or other resources the student found most useful and a brief description of why the student felt the item was useful.

Research Worksheet A printed assignment that guides the student through research in one or more resources, such as catalogs, journal indexes, or reference books. The worksheet provides instructions for using the source or sources, and includes space for writing about what was found in that source. Students may choose their own topics or the topics may have been assigned. When the worksheet is completed, it will include such information as the keywords and subject headings that led to useful information in the source, citations found, location of the materials used, evaluation of the source's usefulness for the project, and one or more bibliographic citations.

Scoring Tools

Assignment Scoring, Annotated Bibliography Assignment
http://web.uccs.edu/sbourn/HSci313Web/BibRubric_313.htm
http://web.uccs.edu/sbourn/HSci313Web/BibRubric_313.pdf

Scoring Rubric for Annotated Bibliography
http://ruby.fgcu.edu/courses/ndemers/80462/Annotatedrubric.doc

English 5365 Bibliography Assignment
http://www.iupui.edu/~sharrin/5365/bibgrade.htm

Annotated Bibliography and Research Essay Rubrics
http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/lsc311/02fall2000/final_grade.html

Rubric for Literature Review
http://www.bcpl.net/~dcurtis/reference/alitreview.html

Bibliography

Astin, A. W., Banta, T. W., Cross, K. P., El-Khawas, E., Ewell, P., Hutchings, P., Marchese, T. J., McClenney, K. M., Mentkwoski, M., Miller, M. A., Moran, E. T., & Wright, B. D. Assessment Forum: 9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning. AAHE Assessment Forum. Available: http://www.aahe.org/principl.htm.

Colborn, N. W., & Cordell, R. M. (1998). Moving from subjective to objective assessments of your instruction program. Reference Services Review, 26(3/4), 125-133.

Iannuzzi, P. (1999). We are teaching, but are they learning: accountability, productivity and assessment. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 25(4), 304-305.

Samson, S. (2000). What and when do they know? Web-based assessment. Reference Services Review, 28(4), 335-342.

Williams, J. L. (2000). Creativity in assessment of library instruction. Reference Services Review, 28(4), 323-334.

Resources

Assessment in Library & Information Literacy Instruction
http://www2.library.unr.edu/ragains/assess.html

Selected Case Studies: Using the Using the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
http://www.ala.org/acrl/nili/examples.html

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/assess.html