Work in Progress:  Critical Thinking and Information Literacy:  Assessing Student Performance

Ruth E. H. Wertz; Michael Fosmire; Senay Purzer; Austin Iglesias Saragih; Amy S. Van Epps; Megan R Sapp Nelson; Brian G Dillman

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Conference: 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Publication Date: June 23, 2013
Start Date: June 23, 2013
End Date: June 26, 2013
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Fresh Perspectives on Information Literacy
Tagged Division: Engineering Libraries
Page Count: 9
Page Numbers: 23.1377.1 - 23.1377.9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--22762
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/22762
Download Count: 700

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Paper Authors

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Ruth E. H. Wertz Purdue University, West Lafayette orcid.org/0000-0002-9698-3392

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Ms. Wertz is a doctoral candidate in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. She holds a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Trine University (formally Tri-State University). Ms. Wertz is a licensed Professional Engineering in the state of Indiana with over six years of field experience and eight years of classroom teaching experience. Ms. Wertz’s research interests include teaching and learning engineering in online course formats, and the development of information literacy in engineering students.

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Michael Fosmire Purdue University, West Lafayette orcid.org/0000-0002-5138-8178

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Michael Fosmire is Professor of Library Science and Head of the Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Technology Division of the Purdue University Libraries. His research interests focus on understanding the information gathering habits and attitudes of science and engineering students, academics, and professionals.

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Senay Purzer Purdue University, West Lafayette orcid.org/0000-0003-0784-6079

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Senay Purzer is an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering Education and is the Director of Assessment Research for the Institute for P-12 Engineering Research and Learning (INSPIRE) at Purdue University. Dr. Purzer is a NAE/CASEE New Faculty Fellow. She is also the recipient of a 2012 NSF CAREER award, which examines how engineering students approach innovation. Her expertise is on assessment and mixed-methods research.

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Austin Iglesias Saragih Purdue University

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Amy S. Van Epps Purdue University, West Lafayette orcid.org/0000-0002-5986-5952

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Amy S. Van Epps is an Associate Professor of Library Science and Engineering Librarian at Purdue University. She has extensive experience providing instruction for engineering and technology students, including Purdue’s first-year engineering program. Her research interests include finding effective methods for integrating information literacy knowledge into the undergraduate engineering curriculum.

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Megan R Sapp Nelson Purdue University, West Lafayette

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Megan Sapp Nelson is Associate Professor of library sciences at Purdue University Siegesmund Engineering Library. She is liaison to the schools of Civil and Electrical Engineering and Earth and Atmospheric
Sciences, and related College of Technology disciplines.

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Brian G Dillman Purdue University, West Lafayette

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Abstract

Work in Progress: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy: Assessing Student PerformanceCritical thinking and information literacy share many common goals. Fundamentally, criticalthinking involves the systematic and appropriate exploration and evaluation of ideas for thepurpose of making a decision or forming an opinion on a topic or problem. In order to supportthe making of an effective decision, students must ingest appropriate information, evaluate itsquality and authority, as well as its relevance to the topic at hand. Students must integrate thenew information gathered with their prior knowledgebase to resolve any conflicts, and finally,draw reasonable conclusions and understand limitations to the certainty of their conclusions aswell as determine what additional information would help determine the validity of theirconclusion. Information literacy competencies are tightly intertwined with critical thinking, asinformation literacy requires students develop an appropriate research question, locate relevantinformation, evaluate it, apply it to their question, and communicate the results.The authors are exploring the interaction and connectedness of critical thinking and informationliteracy by assessing student populations of engineering and engineering technology students.The authors disseminated the Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT), developed by TennesseeTech, as well as a two-tiered multiple choice/short answer assessment, the Critical EngineeringLiteracy Test (CELT) to determine the baseline level of performance and the correlation betweencritical thinking and information literacy in a technical context. Preliminary results frompopulations of first-year and advanced engineering and engineering technology students will bepresented, focusing on the overlap of skills needed for critical thinking and information literacy.By broadening the discussion of information literacy to encompass critical thinking, additionalavenues of collaboration between librarians and engineering educators can be opened toward theshared goal of producing not only better lifelong learners, but higher quality problem solvers ofthe open-ended, complex tasks students will face in their careers after graduation.

Citation
Format

Wertz, R. E. H., & Fosmire, M., & Purzer, S., & Saragih, A. I., & Van Epps, A. S., & Sapp Nelson, M. R., & Dillman, B. G. (2013, June), Work in Progress: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy: Assessing Student Performance Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--22762

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -         Work in Progress: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy:                       Assessing Student PerformanceCritical thinking and information literacy share many common goals. Fundamentally, criticalthinking involves the systematic and appropriate exploration and evaluation of ideas for thepurpose of making a decision or forming an opinion on a topic or problem. In order to supportthe making of an effective decision, students must ingest appropriate information, evaluate itsquality and authority, as well as its relevance to the topic at hand. Students must integrate thenew information gathered with their prior knowledgebase to resolve any conflicts, and finally,draw reasonable conclusions and understand limitations to the certainty of their conclusions aswell as determine what additional information would help determine the validity of theirconclusion. Information literacy competencies are tightly intertwined with critical thinking, asinformation literacy requires students develop an appropriate research question, locate relevantinformation, evaluate it, apply it to their question, and communicate the results.The authors are exploring the interaction and connectedness of critical thinking and informationliteracy by assessing student populations of engineering and engineering technology students.The authors disseminated the Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT), developed by TennesseeTech, as well as a two-tiered multiple choice/short answer assessment, the Critical EngineeringLiteracy Test (CELT) to determine the baseline level of performance and the correlation betweencritical thinking and information literacy in a technical context. Preliminary results frompopulations of first-year and advanced engineering and engineering technology students will bepresented, focusing on the overlap of skills needed for critical thinking and information literacy.By broadening the discussion of information literacy to encompass critical thinking, additionalavenues of collaboration between librarians and engineering educators can be opened toward theshared goal of producing not only better lifelong learners, but higher quality problem solvers ofthe open-ended, complex tasks students will face in their careers after graduation.
AU  - Ruth E. H. Wertz
AU  - Michael Fosmire
AU  - Senay Purzer
AU  - Austin Iglesias Saragih
AU  - Amy S. Van Epps
AU  - Megan R Sapp Nelson
AU  - Brian G Dillman
CY  - Atlanta, Georgia
DA  - 2013/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Work in Progress:  Critical Thinking and Information Literacy:  Assessing Student Performance
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/22762
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--22762
ER  -