Be still my little librarian heart! It's assessment time!
This week we are looking at student learning assessment, and I love that we are focusing on assessment that enhances the quality of student learning. Forward thinking assessment forces the student to use their learning, and not just recite it. This is also called authentic assessment, where students demonstrate their knowledge/understanding of the material by doing something.
In attempting to come up with this type of assessment, I need to answer the question "In what kind of situation do I expect students to need, or to be able to use this knowledge?"
For my freshman experience course on information literacy, I know I want my students to be able to use this information in other courses during their time in school. However, I also want to go beyond that. For example, after graduation, students will leave their small town and move to a big city. I want my students to be able to choose a good location to live. So, one activity we could do is to analyze information to help the students make the best decision. I would ask them to do research on a particular area in the city they would like to live. They should consider the geography; walkability; insurance rates; cost of living; etc. This is a very real-world application of their knowledge.
In order to assess whether or not students are succeeding at applying their knowledge to this activity, I must have criteria and standards by which to measure their performance.
Criteria 1
Students will be able to analyze social media reviews of apartment in order to decide where to live.
Standard 1Student will show they eliminated fake, unhelpful, or inappropriate reviews from their search.
Standard 2Student will show they used a variety of websites (social media, news, apartment sites) to make their decision.
Criteria 2
Students will be able to design a budget around maintaining an apartment and city lifestyle.
Standard 1Student will show they identified various factors that go into their monthly budget -- rent, rental insurance, utilities, fees, groceries, and so on.
Standard 2Student will itemize their budget and show me a monthly breakdown of what it costs to live in their city of choice.
Along with this exercise, I would build in opportunities for student self-assessment. I would ask students to discuss their research process with their peers in small groups, and ask them for advice. Then I would have the students reflect on their choices. Could they live in a cheaper house in order to have a better social life? Could they spend less on eating out so they could save money for retirement? I think questions like these would force students to think about how they are using the information they have to make decisions about their future.
Finally, in order to make sure the students are fully engaged, I need to be engaged in their learning by giving them feedback. I believe each week I could give students a progress report in class on where I think the class is, and what we can work on. After assignments, I would make sure my feedback was immediate. I don't like to wait for feedback before beginning my next project, and I do not want to make the students wait for theirs before they begin the next assignment. In order to give discriminating feedback, I would layout the criteria and standards for the students, in writing, before the assignment. I want the students to know exactly what to do in order to receive a good grade. Finally, I believe in compassion in the classroom, so I would make sure my feedback was delivered in a kind manner. If the feedback is in an open discussion, I would treat the person with respect and dignity. If this is private feedback, I would make sure the student knows that they can come to me at any time if they disagree with my feedback.
I can understand if some people think this is an odd example for the library, but I think it parallels critical pedagogy discussion happening in another forum. I want to engage students will real issues they are having, and something like personal finance is a huge issue that no one talks about. No one teaches financial literacy. I think this is just one avenue we could explore in this class while incorporating other important information literacy concepts into the course.
Actually, I don't think it's odd at all! I think it's a great assignment and very practical. This is the type of information that students are going to be looking for once they graduate. Is your course a whole semester long? And if so, do students get credit? I'd love to be able to do something like that at my institution!
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