Assessment for this semester

Based on the discussions about the ETS exam, we are starting to form a plan of how to proceed with assessment for this semester.

We need to do some kind of program assessment during this semester. In order to get maximum participation we need to administer the assessment before Spring break. As a result, we don't have the time to create our own assessment tool, even if we have the will. Our best option at this point seems to be the SAILS assessment.

While several librarians have expressed some concerns about some of the questions offered on SAILS (see Bonnie for a list of SAILS questions), this exam will provide us with a general picture of the information literacy of the group we assess. Administering the SAILS assessment during this semester will also give us an opportunity to assess the SAILS exam itself.

With SAILS, we can test a wider group of students and focus on several groups.

1. Students with extensive library instruction experience.
2. Students with little library instruction experience.
3. A control group selected to approximate the college as a whole.

We may be able to recruit students for the third group by taking advantage of the Greek students who use Room 104 in the evenings.

The second group may comprise a group of science majors, giving us a glimpse into their needs and skills.

The first group would be pulled from students who have been involved in one of the more library instruction "intensive" classes that several of our librarians are involved with.

This brings us to the question: which classes will count as library instruction "intensive". Think about the classes that you have taught, what defines these type of classes?