Education Commons^™

Good Research (Literally) Pays: The Library Prize For First-Year Research, Amanda Y. Makula

Library and Information Science: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

The Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research recognizes an outstanding research paper written by a first-year Augustana College student for a class in the Liberal Studies or Honors sequence. The award promotes students’ active engagement in the processes of library research and encourages them to synthesize library research skills with the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills developed in the Liberal Studies First Year (LSFY) sequence.

Concept/Context: Information Literacy And Assessment In The First Year, Stefanie R. Bluemle, Amanda Y. Makula, Margaret W. Rogal

Library and Information Science: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

At Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, where the academic calendar consists of trimesters, all first-year students enroll in a year-long sequence of three "Liberal Studies First Year" (LSFY) courses, which are taught by faculty from a variety of disciplines. LSFY emphasizes core competencies in reading, writing, oral communication, and information literacy.

Since 2011, the Augustana librarians have been using performance-based assessment to evaluate their work with LSFY classes. This qualitative approach, which encourages real-life application of skills, has proven well-suited to an information literacy program in which concepts carry more weight than the mechanics of searching. Each term, the …

The Joy Of (Performance) Assessment, Amanda Y. Makula, Stefanie R. Bluemle, Margaret W. Rogal

Library and Information Science: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

How can librarians assess student learning in a way that is organic to the assignment and instruction session, yet gives results that are comparable across classes?

Performance Assessment is a qualitative method of assessment in which students demonstrate learning by completing specific tasks related to targeted learning outcomes. Performance Assessment encourages real-life application of skills and is well-suited to an information literacy program in which concepts carry more weight than the mechanics of searching.

The Augustana College instruction librarians use performance assessment to evaluate their work with a three-term sequence of required first-year general education classes (”Liberal Studies First Year” …