Assessing Synthesis of Information from Sources

Synthesis of information from sources is an important component of information literacy, and one that is perhaps less straightforward to teach and to assess than other information literacy skills. At the author’s institution, synthesis was identified as an area in which students were not demonstrating proficiency at the desired level. This led to an iterative, multi-year process of working with faculty from across disciplines to develop, employ, and revise a rubric that measures synthesis and its component parts. The author found that using a multidimensional rubric such as the one developed is a viable method for assessing students’ ability to synthesize information from sources in a way that can lead to improvements in teaching and learning. Additional instructional materials were developed to support the synthesis of information from sources

In Their Words: Student Reflections on Information-Seeking Behaviors

Academic librarians try to facilitate student information seeking by providing classroom instruction, creating tutorials and guides, and selecting and modifying search tools to best meet student needs and preferences. These efforts are often informed by interactions with students, and can be even better informed through analysis of student descriptions of their searching practices. In this case study, 50 upper-division students from the Social and Behavioral Sciences major completed searching tasks in a few library search tools and were then interviewed about their search behaviors, both in the experimental setting and in general. Their responses illuminate some of their tendencies, including considerations when choosing sources, strategies employed when searches fail, and adoption of their instructors\u27 priorities

Preference vs. Authority: A Comparison of Student Searching in a Subject-Specific Indexing and Abstracting Database and a Customized Discovery Layer

Discovery layers provide a simplified interface for searching library resources. Libraries with limited finances make decisions about retaining indexing and abstracting databases when similar information is available in discovery layers. These decisions should be informed by student success at finding quality information as well as satisfaction with search interfaces. Students executed searches in two discovery layer configurations and an indexing and abstracting database. While students reported a preference for discovery layers, the articles selected from the indexing and abstracting database were more authoritative. These results illuminate the relative strengths of these tools, informing decisions about resource allocation and discovery configuration

Impact of Library Instruction on the Development of Student Skills in Synthesis and Source Attribution: A Model for Academic Program Assessment

This paper details the process and results of a multistep assessment project addressing senior Social and Behavioral Science majors\u27 proficiency in information synthesis in capstone papers and source attribution in oral presentations. The study entailed using results from a campus-wide assessment project to identify challenging areas of information literacy for students and subsequently designing and implementing an instructional intervention focused on those areas. The intervention was assessed through a rubric-based evaluation of student work, and the resulting data suggest that the intervention was effective in enhancing students\u27 proficiency in the areas targeted. Our strongest result was an improvement in citation practices in capstone presentations; while improvements in synthesis of information from sources were not as large or definitive, they were still suggestive of the potential that librarians have to increase students\u27 skills in this area. This paper may prove useful for those seeking inspiration for providing instruction on synthesis in written work or attribution in presentations, or those interested in a model for using campus-wide or academic program assessment to measure the impact of library instruction

Measuring the Transfer Experience: Assessing and Improving Information Literacy Skills for Transfer Students and First-Year Registrants

It is not difficult to imagine that transfer students might have specific experiences and needs when it comes to information literacy (IL) and the library, but it may not be obvious to libraries what those experiences and needs are. Rather than rely on our assumptions, we undertook an assessment project intended to investigate the IL skills and library experiences of transfer students. This allowed us to uncover the ways in which the transfer students at our institution can be better supported by the library. In this chapter, we will describe our process for collecting information about the transfer student experience, which included assessing student work with an IL rubric and surveying students. We will share what we learned from the information we collected, how we applied this to our library’s practices, and ways that the library can work with academic programs to assist in supporting transfer students. This investigation took place at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB), a public, comprehensive, Hispanic-Serving Institution with an enrollment of just under 7,000 FTEs. In Fall 2019, 46 percent of our undergraduates were transfer students, with 93 percent coming from community colleges and the remainder transferring from other types of institutions. Our student population is 51 percent first generation, 50 percent underrepresented minorities, and 32 percent low income

Almost in the Wild: Student Search Behaviors When Librarians Aren\u27t Looking

Academic libraries offer a variety of tools for students to find information, including discovery systems and traditional library databases. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on student information-seeking behaviors by comparing how upper-level students majoring in Social and Behavioral Sciences use these two categories of search tools. Student search behavior and the use of search features, facets in particular, are quantified for each tool. The authors explore with statistical analyses whether these practices aid or hinder students in their search for high quality information. Qualitative data from student interviews is selectively employed to aid in explaining the results. Key findings include the differential use of search features in the discovery system versus the traditional database, and the relationships between the use of certain facets and the quality of sources chosen by students. Implications for instruction, search interface configuration, and default settings are discussed