Creating Student Learning Outcomes for Library Instruction

Creating Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for Information Literacy Instruction Sessions:

Library meeting April 27, 2011 Resources: ShAREpoint > Instruction Documents > Assessment > For Librarians http://library.uncw.edu/instruction/assessment Creating Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for Information Literacy Instruction Sessions

What are SLOs?:

What are SLOs? “Student learning outcomes or SLOs are statements that specify what students will know, be able to do or be able to demonstrate when they have completed or participated in a program/activity/course/project. Outcomes are usually expressed as knowledge, skills, attitudes or values.” ( http://www.uri.edu/assessment/media/public/page_files/uri/outcomes/student/outcomes/outcomes_tools/Handout_Student_Learning_Outcomes_101__8_7_06.pdf )

What is Outcomes Assessment?:

What is Outcomes Assessment? “In higher education, at its simplest, Outcomes Assessment has three stages: 1. defining the most important goals for students to achieve as a result of participating in an academic experience ( outcomes ) 2. evaluating how well students are actually achieving those goals ( assessment ) 3. using the results to improve the academic experience ( closing the loop ).” (http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/outcomes/documents/sloa_handbook.pdf ) Note: “Means of Assessment” or “MOA” is the terminology many at UNCW (and now AP) use when referring to the method selected to assess (e.g. worksheet).

In General: The Process for Library Instruction:

In General: The Process for Library Instruction Develop student learning outcomes (SLOs) for library instruction sessions. Choose assessment methods (MOA). Teach library instruction session(s). Assess (Collect assessment data). Use results to improve teaching and learning.

Why Are We Doing This?:

Why Are We Doing This? Best practices Accountability Connection to academic core Assessment should be useful to you and ultimately helps our students. See .ppt from fall 2010’s retreat

Outcomes Assessment:

Outcomes Assessment Debra L. Gilchrist, Pierce College Assessment of student learning is: Knowing what you are doing Knowing why you are doing it Knowing what students are learning as a result Changing because of the information

SLOs vs. Objectives:

SLOs vs. Objectives Student focused vs. Librarian focused Instead of thinking “What am I going to cover today?” Think about “What should students learn?” Changes in assessment Do they “like” us? Do they think we are nice? (Informal assessment) vs. What can they do? What do they know? (Formal assessment of SLOs)

Outcomes Assessment:

Outcomes Assessment Requires you to think about what you want students to be able to do/know after instruction Librarian centered: “I will show them the library catalog.” Student centered: “After the library instruction session, the student will be able to identify the title, call number, and location of a book relevant to the student’s research topic.”

Outcomes Assessment Cont.:

Outcomes Assessment Cont. SLOs are general enough to capture important learning SLOs are clear and specific enough to be measured A well-designed learning outcome has the following components: 1. Time frame 2. Student focus 3. Action verb 4. Product/process/outcome

Example:

Example Time frame: “At the end of the library session…” Student focus: “… the student will be able to …” Action verb: “… identify …” Product/process: “… one subscription database to retrieve articles from psychology literature.”

Deb Gilchrist/“In order to”:

Deb Gilchrist/“In order to” Verb or action phrase + “In order to” + Why? = Strong, assessable outcome Example: The student will be able to distinguish between scholarly and popular publications in order to think critically about the authority of information .

ABCD Method:

ABCD Method A udience - Who will be doing the behavior? B ehavior - What should the learner be able to do? C ondition - Under what conditions do you want the learner to be able to do it? D egree - How well must it be done?

SMART Method:

SMART Method SMART (Drucker, 1954) S pecific M easurable A ggressive but Attainable R esults Oriented T ime Bound

Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives :

Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Published in 1956 by Benjamin S. Bloom and revised in 2001 by Lorin W. Andersin and David R. Krathwohl Multi-tiered model of classifying learning according to six cognitive levels of complexity There are five levels (lowest to highest cognitive skills): Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation

Objectives to Outcomes:

Objectives to Outcomes Shift from instructional objectives (which describe what instructors do) to student learning outcomes ( which describe what students can do as a result of their educational experiences). Instructional objectives were typically described as things (knowledge, understanding, content, facts) that could be delivered during a lecture or presented in written text. In contrast, student learning outcomes are described using concrete verbs (behaviors that can be observed in the student) rather than nouns. Changes in instructional activities over time: Passive activities such as lecturing can be efficient methods for transmitting basic facts and knowledge. Active learning strategies encourage the development of higher-order learning. ( http://uwf.edu/cutla/assessstudent.cfm )

Bloom’s Revised:

Bloom’s Revised

Bloom’s Revised:

Bloom’s Revised

Simple Example:

Simple Example Knowledge/remembering - Describe where Goldilocks lived. Comprehension/understanding - Summarize what the Goldilocks story was about. Application/applying - Construct a theory as to why Goldilocks went into the house. Analysis/analyzing - Differentiate between how Goldilocks reacted and how you would react in each story event. Evaluation/evaluating - Assess whether or not you think this really happened to Goldilocks. Synthesis/creating - Compose a song, skit, poem, or rap to convey the Goldilocks story in a new form. http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Bloom%27s_Taxonomy#end

Verbs (See SharePoint Lists):

Verbs (See SharePoint Lists) Knowledge/Remembering Define, list, recognize Comprehension/Understanding Characterize, describe, explain, identify, locate, recognize, sort Application/Applying Choose, demonstrate, implement, perform Analysis/Analyzing Analyze, categorize, compare, differentiate Evaluation/Evaluating Assess, critique, evaluate, rank, rate Synthesis/Creating Construct, design, formulate, organize, synthesize

Verbs/Phrases to Avoid:

Verbs/Phrases to Avoid Understand Appreciate Know about Become familiar with Learn about Become aware of You cannot assess or measure these

Examples:

Examples … design a research question from their preliminary topic. …. choose appropriate databases to search for information on their topic. … construct an effective search strategy. … identify credible websites in a Google search. … compare results of searches in library databases and open web. More: http://library.uncw.edu/instruction/assessment/student_learning_outcomes_menu

Transition:

Transition Now: “I am going to show students the library catalog.” What do you want them to know or be able to do? I want them to be able to find books in the catalog – Specifically I want them to identify a book for their research topic – How can this be measured? SLO: Student will identify the title, call number, and location of a book relevant to the student’s research topic. MOA: Student uses catalog to identify a book and fills out worksheet where she lists her research topic and the title, call number, and location of a book in the catalog. This worksheet can be scored using a rubric (e.g. score of 1 to 4 for each component). Changes are made based on results (“I need to explain X differently.”)

Closing the Loop:

Closing the Loop After assessment is completed: What did the students learn? What did they not learn? What is unclear? What did you change in your instruction? Repeat the cycle. We will need to document these changes. I changed X because students demonstrated Y.

For Each Instruction Session:

For Each Instruction Session SLOs MOA Data collection (scoring) Documentation about changes made to instruction (both at the session level and program level) Continuous cycle

CAS Template:

CAS Template Outcome Tools Implementation Summary of Findings Actions Taken Student Learning Outcome 1 Student Learning Outcome 2 Program Outcome 1 Program Outcome 2 http://www.uncw.edu/cas/assess.html

What Has Been Done:

What Has Been Done SLOs have been created for: Freshmen Seminar English Composition (ENG 101, 103, 201) Process: ILSPT “mapped” ACRL standards and these courses What are we already covering? What should we cover? Needs analysis with English Composition faculty and students Discussions with University College Input from Instruction Librarians at various meetings MOAs created for Freshman Seminar and ENG Composition Still need revision (too much, too long, training, etc.) Not happy with Freshman Seminar session or MOA MOA will NOT work in current form (no consistency in worksheet responses)

What Has Been Done:

What Has Been Done Rubrics to score some MOAs in works AP has discussed much of this with Linda Seifert AP also monitoring RAILS ( http://railsontrack.info/ ) NSG 327 pilot SLOs created Research strategy worksheet and student products as MOA AP to score over summer Campus-wide information literacy initiatives and assessment (assessment this semester)

Needs to Be Done: Summer:

Needs to Be Done: Summer By the end of May (2011): Each Instruction Librarian will complete the “ACRL Information Literacy Standards Mapping Survey” This will help to determine our “common” SLOs for our other sessions and help us “map” to the standards ( Example: UNCG ) You will “check off” the outcomes you hope students are achieving in your “regular” sessions What does “regular” mean? What do we want to improve upon? What are we most interested in assessing and therefore changing if needed? See spreadsheet for 2009 and 2010 By the end of July (2011): AP will review results Determine what outcomes seem to be common Will “map” to the standards AP needs to create better documentation of what has already been done

Needs to Be Done: Fall:

Needs to Be Done: Fall AP and ILSPT Assessment Subcommittee (LW, PF, and SAC) will decide on set of common SLOs and present/discuss at Instruction meeting What are we addressing? What do we not address that we should? ( Example from Wartburg College ) Assistance will be provided to librarians to draft any “additional” SLOs (SLOs that are unique to your sessions)

Needs to Be Done: Fall:

Needs to Be Done: Fall By the end of the fall (2011) semester: Each librarian will finalize student learning outcomes for “their” sessions MOA workshop for librarians (given by AP early to mid semester) Program outcomes for library instruction to be completed by mid semester Drafted by ILSPT Assessment Subcommittee and reviewed/edited by all Instruction Librarians Assessment website updated

Needs to Be Done: 2012:

Needs to Be Done: 2012 By early spring (2012) semester: Each librarian will create/adapt MOA to assess “their” SLOs AP and ILSPT Assessment Subcommittee will assist librarians Ideally, some common MOA will be used for common outcomes (e.g. Research Strategy Worksheet) Can be adapted as it has for NSG 327 Final review of all SLOs, program outcomes, SLO/standards mapping, etc. will occur Assessment website near completion Full swing, comprehensive assessment underway by end of spring semester

To Discuss / Changes:

To Discuss / Changes “Library Instruction” vs. “Information Literacy Instruction” (Remember “BI”?) Library instruction statistics Online versus Access db? Dashboard (“live” stats) Record whether SLOs have been created and whether or not a session was assessed FYE Librarian / Changes to UNI / domino effect with ENG Composition Assessment Librarian/Service Quality position SACS

Benchmarking:

Benchmarking Marquette University ( http://www.marquette.edu/library/services/informationliteracy.shtml ) Moraine Valley Community College ( http://www.morainevalley.edu/InformationLiteracy/Default.htm ) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ( http://www.library.illinois.edu/assessment/ ) University of Rhode Island ( http://www.uri.edu/library/instruction_services/infolitplan.html ) Wartburg College ( http://library.wartburg.edu/infolit/ )

Other Stuff …:

Other Stuff … Gagne’s “Domains of Learning” ( http://ibstpi.org/_dev/archived/backup/Products/pdf/chapter_3.pdf ) ( http://people.uncw.edu/moallemm/Webcourse/handout.html ) Process of learning