Assessment
of Learning Outcomes: A Step Forward
By Denise Millman, Reference Coordinator
On December 7, Reference Librarians Ed Keane
and Denise Millman, along with Paolina Taglienti and Zary Mostashari
of the Technical Services Department, attended a symposium on
assessing learning outcomes organized by the New York Chapter
of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Taglienti and Mostashari were also on the Symposium
Planning Committee.
The process of measuring outcomes is important in higher education,
as it is an indicator of achievement or non-achievement of objectives,
and a way to study what works or does not work. It involves institutional self-study; a way
of seeing and evaluating what we do, and keeping practices that
work, or trying new things altogether.
Information literacy is an increasingly important part of a college
education and will play a more significant role in higher education
curricula. Within the
context of lifelong learning, information literacy focuses on
five broad abilities: to recognize the need for information; to
know how to access information; to understand how to evaluate
information; to know how to synthesize information; and to be
able to communicate information. An information- literate person recognizes the different levels,
types and formats of information and their appropriate uses. The LIU libraries have begun to focus on the
goals of information literacy through their various instructional
programs.
Teaching faculty as well as librarians must be
involved in this effort. The
symposium provided information on how to quantify and qualify
“outcomes assessment” for one’s institution, on what are the “best
practices” for measuring outcomes assessment in the teaching of
information literacy skills, and finally how to involve and engage
faculty in the process.
Symposia and conferences serve as an important avenue of professional
development, and also provide opportunities for networking and
exchange of ideas. Brooklyn
Campus librarians are encouraged to be active in professional
organizations, and to attend professional conferences, workshops
and symposia.
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