Information Literacy (IL) Course Development Guidelines

 

Goal Development Guidelines

1. The broad Information Literacy goal and specific, associated Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) addressed by a course should be defined in detail by the department teaching the course.

2. Detailed goals/SLOs for Information Literacy courses must be identical for all sections of the same course and should be clearly documented in the syllabus.

3. Detailed goals must be defined in ways that enable assessment.

4. Information Literacy goals/SLOs are most efficiently defined and embodied in a course if they are simultaneously goals/SLOs for the course.

 

Assessment Development Guidelines

1. Assessment must be linked to the specified SLOs as defined and detailed by the department.

2. Assessment is most efficient and reliable when it is embedded in regular course activities. 
   For example, questions on a final test, written essays, productions and presentations that are part of the regular work of the course can simultaneously serve as assessment instruments.  Students have an incentive in their course grade to take these requirements seriously.

3. Assessment instrument(s) should be substantial and extensive.
   For example, a substantial essay or production could be used for assessment purposes (a single essay question on a test is not sufficient). On a multiple choice test of 100 questions, 20-30 may be used for Information Literacy assessment (these can simultaneously evaluate students’ work in the course). 

4. Assessment should be scheduled at an appropriate point in the semester to measure fulfillment of specified SLOs as final outcomes.

5.  Assessment instruments for Information Literacy courses must be identical for all sections of the same course. 

6.  Alternate instruments or questions may be used simultaneously to develop a data bank of valid and reliable means for subsequent assessments.

7. Assessment must occur at the same point in the course calendar for all sections of the same course.

8.  Assessment instruments must have criteria, characteristics, or rubrics that define levels of achievement.
   For example, if an essay is an instrument used to assess whether students have met an Information Literacy goal, characteristics of an excellent, good, satisfactory, and poor essay each must be defined and described.  This is especially important when more than one professor teaches the same course.

9. Assessment of large classes or multiple sections may involve sampling to reduce workload.

 

Standards of Achievement

1. Departments should set reasonable and respectable standards of achievements.
   For example, if a department anticipates an experimental period for a course, or assessment, a first year standard of achievement might be that 65% of students meet the Information Literacy outcomes of the course.  By the third year, a reasonable standard of achievement may have risen to 70% at a minimum.  In three to five years, the standard may be in the 75-80% range, if not higher.

2. Departments should analyze 3-5 year trends.

 

Frequency and Reporting of Assessment

1. All courses approved for Information Literacy should be assessed each term taught and should follow annual reporting guidelines set by the Undergraduate Curriculum and Standards Committee (UCSC) or the QEP Implementation Team.

2. Departments will carry out the assessment including collection, compilation, analysis of data, and articulation of continuous improvement efforts.

3. Departments and the QEP Director will maintain permanent repositories of annual assessment reports and other related documents.