Assessment

The information literacy competency of students near graduation is assessed once every five years by a campus-wide faculty task force. The Task Force customized the AAC&U VALUE Rubric for Information Literacy to evaluate a representative sample of 150 student research papers from students' General Education e-Portfolios. Additionally, the Task Force evaluated students’ citation practices and drew on findings from a previous observational study of students’ searching skills.

The benchmark was that 85% of students in their final three semesters before graduation should perform at Proficient or Advanced levels in each of the five dimensions of information literacy. In aggregate, students were close to the benchmark in every dimension of information literacy, however, further analysis revealed small but statistically significant differences among demographic groups. In order to “close the loop” to ensure that all students master these skills, the the Library is piloting faculty workshops and collaborations.

Read the 2023-2024 Core Competency assessment.

The SOAP provides a detailed timetable for assessment of learning outcomes using a variety of direct and indirect measures.

Read the 2019-2027 SOAP document.

The centerpiece of the library’s 2022-23 assessment report was an observational study of students’ search skills (p.5-10). The library recruited fifty undergraduate students to participate in an in-person, facilitator-guided observational assessment. Students selected one of two research scenarios made planning notes for a search for published sources using the resource discovery tool, OneSearch. Students’ search notes and recordings were scored with a rubric to determine proficiency in three dimensions of searching: vocabulary, strategy and resilience.

In aggregate, students exceeded the study benchmark: that 70% of all students should demonstrate proficiency. However, there were statistically significant differences in proficiency between demographic groups, for example:

• First Generation students lagged behind their peers in developing search vocabulary and demonstrating resilience in modifying their searches.
• Students from historically Under-represented Minority (URM) croups lagged behind their peers in every aspect of searching.

We hypothesized that Fresno State students may have unequal access to research experiences and education throughout their lives, and that these gaps must be addressed to ensure that graduates have the information literacy skills they need to be successful.

Read the 2022-2023 searching skills document.

A CSU-wide Task Force analyzed Information Literacy instruction’s impact on students’ academic success. Across the CSU, 29% of first-year students took courses where IL instruction was provided. The effect of IL instruction on students’ academic success, measured in their earned credits and GPA, was not found to be significant and there was notable variation in effect among participating CSUs. The effect of specific teaching methods on students’ earned credits and GPA was negligible. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted data collection and analysis, but the study can serve as a baseline for future comparative and longitudinal studies.

Read the success study report.