Over the past several months our team has been been focused on defining the performance indicators that reveal students’ information literacy knowledge practices. From these indicators, we wrote dozens of critical thinking, problem solving, and knowledge-based test items. Now we’re able to use results from our early field tests, such as the length of time students need to answer each question and the fit between the item and its performance indicator, to be selective about which indicators and items will move forward. Our updated versions of the first two modules (Evaluating Process & Authority and Strategic Searching) will be ready for continued field testing this month.
Meanwhile, our third module, Research & Scholarship, is taking shape. We’ve drafted scenario-based items to measure the following situational dispositions: Feeling Responsible to Community, Mindful Self-Reflection, and Grit. And our item reviewers are currently preparing feedback on drafts of questions about how to use information responsibly, how knowledge evolves through inquiry, and how iteration fits into the research process.
In my next update, I’ll share insights from the LOEX Fall Focus Conference, coming up on November 13 and 14. I’m presenting at 1:45pm on Friday. My session is titled “Affective and Effective: How One Test of Information Literacy is Taking the Dispositions Head-on,” and I’ll share the slides in this blog when I return from Ypsilanti.
While I’m gone, please join the growing list of institutions that will be field testing one or more of the test modules this year. You can get more information at the TATIL website.