Developing a Comprehensive, Assessment-based Continuous Improvement Process for a Library Instruction Program

Sarah Lucchesi; Jennifer Sams; Lauren Movlai; Erin S Matas; Nora Allred

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Conference: 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Publication Date: June 26, 2016
Start Date: June 26, 2016
End Date: June 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-68565-5
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Foundations for Pedagogical Success
Tagged Division: Engineering Libraries
Page Count: 23
DOI: 10.18260/p.26717
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/26717
Download Count: 982

Paper Authors

biography

Sarah Lucchesi Michigan Technological University

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Sarah Lucchesi has a BA in Biological Sciences from Wellesley College, an MA in Science Education from Boston University, and an MLS from Simmons College. She has been working at Michigan Technological University since August 2012 with a focus on information literacy instruction, assessment, and patents.

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Jennifer Sams Michigan Technological University

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Jennifer Sams received both her BA in English with a concentration in Secondary Education and her MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois. She started at Michigan Technological University in the Fall of 2012 as an Instruction & Learning Librarian.

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Lauren Movlai Michigan Technological University

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Lauren Movlai has BAs in Psychology and English from University of the Pacific, and an MLS from University of Denver. She is an instruction and learning librarian at Michigan Technological University with a focus on information literacy instruction.

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Erin S Matas Michigan Technological University

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Erin Matas holds an MSI from the University of Michigan. She is the Faculty Engagement and Research Support Librarian at Michigan Technological University and leads the library's Student Research Consultants, a group of students who provide peer-to-peer library research help.

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Nora Allred Michigan Technological University

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Nora Allred is Scholarly Communications and Copyright Librarian at the J. Robert Van Pelt and Opie Library at Michigan Technological University. She provides copyright and fair use awareness to the campus community through the library's webpage, presentations, instruction sessions, and one-on-one consultations. As Co-PI on the NSF ethics education project, she lead the learning module on copyright and fair use for graduate students.

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Abstract

The library education team at Michigan Technological University, an engineering-focused university, is developing a multifaceted process for assessment of our information literacy instruction program in order to continuously improve our teaching and related activities. The majority of library instruction sessions are 50-minute one-shot classes with little or no follow-up from the faculty or students involved; as such, the efficacy of library instruction programs can be difficult to measure. In addition to already existing rubric-based information literacy assessments of student work, the education team is establishing a suite of accompanying methods for gathering both quantitative and qualitative data about our instructional activities. In summer 2015, the team participated in a retreat at which a number of methods of data collection were proposed. Four areas were selected for further development. A formal method for soliciting faculty feedback via a post-instruction survey has already been deployed and will collect responses throughout the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters. Three additional data collection methods will be launched in January 2016: a peer observation system, a rubric-based self-assessment, and analysis of student work products generated in the library instruction sessions. Collectively, these feedback mechanisms provide actionable information about the teaching effectiveness of individual librarians as well as the effectiveness of our education program as a whole. Information gathered from these assessment processes will be used in a variety of ways, including individual goal-setting for the following academic year, changing lesson plans to more closely align with students’ needs and abilities, and generating specific and concrete recommendations for improving teaching and pedagogy for each instruction librarian. This paper reports on the process of developing each of these data collection methods, the information that has been gathered, and how that information has been applied to the improvement of our library instruction program.

Citation
Format

Lucchesi, S., & Sams, J., & Movlai, L., & Matas, E. S., & Allred, N. (2016, June), Developing a Comprehensive, Assessment-based Continuous Improvement Process for a Library Instruction Program Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26717

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The library education team at Michigan Technological University, an engineering-focused university, is developing a multifaceted process for assessment of our information literacy instruction program in order to continuously improve our teaching and related activities. The majority of library instruction sessions are 50-minute one-shot classes with little or no follow-up from the faculty or students involved; as such, the efficacy of library instruction programs can be difficult to measure. In addition to already existing rubric-based information literacy assessments of student work, the education team is establishing a suite of accompanying methods for gathering both quantitative and qualitative data about our instructional activities. In summer 2015, the team participated in a retreat at which a number of methods of data collection were proposed. Four areas were selected for further development. A formal method for soliciting faculty feedback via a post-instruction survey has already been deployed and will collect responses throughout the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters. Three additional data collection methods will be launched in January 2016: a peer observation system, a rubric-based self-assessment, and analysis of student work products generated in the library instruction sessions. Collectively, these feedback mechanisms provide actionable information about the teaching effectiveness of individual librarians as well as the effectiveness of our education program as a whole. Information gathered from these assessment processes will be used in a variety of ways, including individual goal-setting for the following academic year, changing lesson plans to more closely align with students’ needs and abilities, and generating specific and concrete recommendations for improving teaching and pedagogy for each instruction librarian. This paper reports on the process of developing each of these data collection methods, the information that has been gathered, and how that information has been applied to the improvement of our library instruction program. 
AU  - Sarah Lucchesi
AU  - Jennifer Sams
AU  - Lauren Movlai
AU  - Erin S Matas
AU  - Nora Allred
CY  - New Orleans, Louisiana
DA  - 2016/06/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Developing a Comprehensive, Assessment-based Continuous Improvement Process for a Library Instruction Program
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/26717
DO  - 10.18260/p.26717
ER  -