Assessing information literacy skills in the real world: the good, the bad and the literate

Abstract

At the University of Kansas two librarians teach Bibliography of Chemistry (CHEM 720), a one-hour credited class offered through the Chemistry Department for 1st and 2nd year graduate students. The chemistry and pharmacy bibliographers have organized and taught the class since 1995. The content and teaching methodologies have changed over time but no formal assessment had ever been conducted. For the spring 2004 semester class, a measurement tool was designed to gauge the development of information literacy skills during the course of the semester. The survey was based on a one-to-one interview with each student answering questions posed with the use of a computer to locate resources and conduct searches. The assessment was conducted before the semester session began and repeated with the same questions after the last class. The major goal was to determine if the content of the class contributed to the development of information fluency skills. To add further weight to the results, a control group of graduate students majoring in chemistry related disciplines but not enrolled in the bibliography class was also sought, but not enough students volunteered to participate to validate that part of the study. Descriptive notes based on the students’ behavioral responses to the questions were collected. Results were ranked to allow for quantification, with a statistically significant increase in the students’ demonstrated skills between the beginning and end of the semester.