Learning to Assess: A Professional Development Model for Librarians - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

• Dr. Corinne Laverty

Teaching & Learning Specialist & Librarian Queen’s University Centre for Teaching & Learning

Learning to Assess:

A Professional Development Model for Librarians

Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario: 25,000 students, 1,000 faculty

I support:

• Educational research
• Inquiry and undergraduate

research

• Information literacy

development Teaching and Learning Working Group

• 20 librarians
• Four years
• Learning to assess

Teaching and Assessment Challenges

• Quality assurance: requirement for programs to document

how learning outcomes and assessment are aligned to meet degree level expectations; library must demonstrate VALUE

• Changing delivery models (flipped, blended, online)

– Backwards design approach (outcomes – assessment – activities NOT outcomes – activities – assessment) – Active learning – Multimedia (interactive video tutorials and animations)

Based on: Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by

• design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Outcomes

What librarians need to do

Assessment

What librarians need to demonstrate

Curriculum & Activities

Content and approach

Learning from Assessment

What librarians put into practice

Student Learning & Teaching Improvement

Feedback from assessment

Learning to Assess

TO-LEAD: A Curriculum Framework for Librarian Professional Development

Teaching

Strategies Application of backwards design principles for active learning and assessment in physical and virtual classrooms.

Open

Accountability Demonstrating standards set within the quality assurance environment in teaching and learning initiatives.

Learning

Partners Working with multiple partners (other librarians, faculty, educational developers, technology specialists, writing and learning specialists).

Educational

Technologies Technical expertise in the creation of online tools (e.g. videos, LibGuides, quizzes, tutorials, rubrics, accessibility requirements).

Advocacy

Tactical skills and knowledge to engage in teaching and learning debates, initiatives, planning, and partnerships.

Developing

Self-regulation Becoming a reflective educator who plans, monitors, and sets goals for professional teaching practice.

Sample Workshop Topics

Learning outcomes: write and evaluate; analysis of level; group writing Educational technologies: Camtasia, Jing; online video; LibGuides; learning management systems Curriculum mapping: course, program, discipline; undergraduate, graduate Collections: e-reserves; open educational resources; database evaluation tools Forms of assessment: multiple choice quiz; rubrics; exemplars; round tables Accessibility: different formats; closed captioning Student engagement: clickers; case study; peer review; group work Quality assurance: how librarians participate; report templates; data collection Designing assignments: make checklists; exemplars; alternative assignments Working with partners educational developers; instructional designers; library systems

Professional Development Programs

Professional Information Literacy Development Model (Queensland University of Technology, Peacock, 2001) – Mandatory, eight 3-hour modules Framework for Teaching Excellence (Oregon State University, Hussong-Christian, 2012) – Monthly workshop series on instruction Professional development program (University of Auckland, Moselen & Wang, 2014) – Year long, five modules

Communities of Practice Framework

Groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn to do it better as they interact regularly.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Focused on a topic of shared interest where participants gradually absorb and are absorbed in a ‘culture of practice,’ giving them exemplars, leading to shared meanings, a sense of belonging and increased understanding.

Stoll, L. (2010). Professional Learning Community, International Encyclopedia of Education, (pp. 151 – 157). London: University of London.

Analyzing Outcomes

Improving Quiz Questions

• a. An article about architecture from http://www.ebuild.com/ for a

research paper on libraries

• b. Statistics from the Statistics Canada website for a research

paper on international students c. The book called Modern philosophy from Descartes to Nietzsche: an anthology for a research paper on philosophy.

• d. A speech by John F. Kennedy for a research paper on famous

speakers in American politics e. Photographs in a newspaper or magazine with pictures of the Vietnamese conflict from 1961-1975 for a study of journalism during the Vietnam War.

Identify whether the item is a primary or a secondary source:

Basics: Cognitive Skills Rubric Builder

http://www.queensu.ca/qloa/assessment-tools/basics/

http://library.queensu.ca/webedu/Research-Assignment-Handout-Checklist.pdf

What Makes a Learning Community?

Three components:

• Shared domain of interest
• Interact and engage in shared activities as a community
• Members are actively engaged in practice

Key assumptions:

• Knowledge construction about teaching and learning emerges

from reflection on practice

• Individuals benefit from sharing expertise during common

pursuit

• Knowledge constructed transactionally richer than in isolation

Pennington, F. (2011). Communities of practice: A framework for learning and

• improvement. https://convcme.wordpress.com/tag/communities-of-practice/

Impact

Face-to-Face Classes

Course Class size Learning outcomes – are they set? Shared with dept.? Assessment goals Teaching strategies Blended/Online Courses Course development team membership Learning outcomes for information literacy – set? Shared? Assessment goals Teaching strategies

Support needed?

• Action plans
• Map courses

with IL

• IL campus

plan

• Common

tools

• Share ideas
• Assessment

data

Research Study: Quality Assurance

67 Ontario academic teaching librarians:  49% of respondents stated that they are unsure how the library is integrated into the quality assurance process.  71% of respondents were uncertain about what policy documents had been written in the library regarding the role and programming of information literacy.  More than half (53%) of survey respondents do not assess student information literacy outcomes.

91% of respondents are not required to assess information literacy outcomes.

Research Study: Learning Gaps

 More than half identified learning how to design authentic and reliable information literacy assessment instruments and analyzing assessment data as priority learning.  Preferred methods of learning about assessment are online courses/webinars (53%) and face-to-face workshops (46%).  Approximately 50% learned to assess through learning on their own, through webinars, readings, campus workshops.

Research Study: Confidence

 Of those who do assess student information literacy

• utcomes, 64% are somewhat confident in the accuracy of

their measurements, 23% are not confident, and 14% are confident or very confident.  36% reported that their libraries did not arrange for any professional development on assessment, while 41% noted that support services provided workshops on their campus.  29% have had no formal training in assessment.

Your Experience

Do you think a community of practice is an option for your library?

• Learn from action
• Develop tools
• Sustained learning
• Work together
• Motivation to belong
• Opportunities for reflection
• Expertise distributed
• Knowledge socially constructed