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Information Literacy Assessment: Wellsville Observations

Wellsville Observations

Wellsville Campus Observations

  • In spite of the fact that Wellsville students do not take Comp1503, the average class scores for some of the ACRL frames were higher than the scores for classes on the Alfred campus.
  • Note that students on the Wellsville campus received a shorter survey, and some questions were edited and revised to reflect the subjects taught on that campus.
  • Wellsville faculty were given the opportunity to review the questions before the survey was launched.
  • With some exceptions, the examples below represent scores that were below a 65% threshold.

 

  1. ACRL Frame:  Searching as Strategic Exploration
    1. On average, 53% of the Wellsville campus students in the classes that participated in the assessment were able to choose the correct answer to questions linked to this ACRL frame.  For example:
      1. Some students did not understand the use of Boolean connectors (Q. 9; 40% chose correctly).
      2. Some students did not seem to understand the importance of field searching (Q. 1; 48% / Q. 14; 31% chose correctly)
      3. Some students were not clear on how “truncation” of terms effects search results (Q. 10; 46% chose correctly).
      4. The arrangement and use of call numbers was poorly understood by many (Q.12; 39% / Q.13; 54% chose correctly).
  2. ACRL Frame: Research as Inquiry
    1. On average, 83% of the Wellsville campus students in the classes that participated in the assessment were able to choose the correct answer to questions linked to this ACRL frame.  For example:
      1. Question 20 was the only one linked to this frame on this version of the assessment. It asked students to evaluate a selection of possible sources and to choose the one that would provide the best evidence of the effects of hybrid vehicles on global warming.
  3. ACRL Frame: Information has Value
  1. On average, 71.50% of the Wellsville campus students in the classes that participated in the assessment were able to choose the correct answer to questions linked to this ACRL frame.  For example:
    1. Although most students could correctly identify the definition of paraphrasing (Q.22; 84% chose correctly), only 59% chose the correct definition of plagiarism (Q.21).
  2. ACRL Frame: Scholarship as Conversation
    1. On average, 70.50% of the Wellsville campus students in the classes that participated in the assessment were able to choose the correct answer to questions linked to this ACRL frame.  For example:
      1. Many students could not identify an article from a trade magazine when compared to a scholarly or academic publication (Q. 3; 50% chose correctly) and, similarly, had a difficult time identifying the type of source (book, magazine, or journal) cited in a MLA citation (Q. 16; 64% chose correctly).
  3. ACRL Frame:  Authority is Constructed and Contextual
    1. On average, 56.67% of the Wellsville campus students in the classes that participated in the assessment were able to choose the correct answer to questions linked to this ACRL frame.  For example:
      1. Many students had a difficult time determining the best source for objective information on a topic (Q.17; 39% / Q.4; 63% chose correctly).
      2. A larger percentage of students (56%) chose the correct answer when asked to identify a characteristic of an academic article (Q.6), but only 64% answered correctly when asked to identify the definition of peer review (Q.18).
  4. ACRL Frame: Information Creation as a Process
    1. On average, 76.75% of the Wellsville campus students in the classes that participated in the assessment were able to choose the correct answer to questions linked to this ACRL frame.  For example:
      1. On questions 2, 5, and 20 students scored well (82%, 86%, 83% respectively); these questions had to do with determining the best source of recent information (Q.2), the definition of a primary source (Q. 5), and determining the source that would provide the best evidence of the effects of hybrid vehicles on global warming (Q.20, also linked to the Research as Inquiry frame).
      2. Question 6, on the characteristics of an academic article, gave students some trouble (56% answered correctly); this question is also linked to the Authority is Constructed and Contextual frame.