The Assessment Conundrum

Creating and using practical instruction assessment techniques is increasingly being recognized as an important part of being an effective librarian instructor. This panel outlines the attempt by librarians at Kennesaw State University (KSU) to develop a culture and practice of assessment of learning outcomes and instruction. Assessing instructional design and delivery, learning outcomes and students’ engagement is different when librarians conduct one shot instruction, serve as an embedded librarian, or co-teach a course. Members of the panel, a Graduate Studies Librarian, Dr. Olga Koz, who co-teaches a course and two librarians in charge of Instruction for both KSU campuses (Chris Sharpe and Kelly Ansley) will discuss assessment methods and techniques that can be used by librarians at their institutions. Olga Koz will share her experience in the collaboration with faculty on assessing student papers, citation analysis, creating a rubric and assignments (annotated bibliography, literature review, and evaluation matrix assignments). Chris Sharpe will talk about the development of an undergraduate library instruction program assessment plan, which includes student learning, faculty feedback, and curriculum review. Kelly Ansley will cover in-class assessment, alternative informal assessment, and teacher self-reflection. The panel also will discuss “learning analytics” (collection and analysis of data about students achievements, searching habits, and resources use) and how this data may affect instruction