Group items tagged

(Part of Assessment Report) http://www.uncw.edu/cas/assessmentplanandreport.html

Assessment Checklist 1. What are our research questions? (What are we trying to discover about student skills, knowledge, abilities, etc.; and what evidence do we have already?) 2. What is the expected level of performance? 3. When in the students‟ career do we assess this outcome? (entry, end of sophomore year, senior, etc.) 4. In which course(s) or venue? 5. What student work/artifacts are collected? 6. How is the student work evaluated? (criteria/rubric) 7. Who evaluates the student work? 8. Who analyzes the results? 9. Where do recommendations for action go? 10. Who takes action? (And how do we ensure changes are evidence‐based and data‐driven?) 11. How is the process documented? 12. Where is the documentation kept? 13. What is the timetable/schedule for determining which outcomes are assessed Developed by the General Education Assessment Committee for designing assessment of a learning when? outcome.

Every interview subject conducted some sort of a literature review as part of any research project

Every researcher described some strategies for keeping up with new developments in their area of expertise, all of which involved some scanning of new publications and some personal contact with individuals exploring the same territory.

For most, presenting research at conferences was a common part of bringing their research to completion. For all, writing up results for publication was an important final step, and they seemed acutely aware of the pecking order for publication venues in their field.

(In contrast, undergraduates mostly encounter articles within databases, called up by key words, not as artifacts within a particular journal which carries clout.)

One thing the students all gained through these interviews was an appreciation that research is not a matter of finding answers in other people’s publications. Every scholar interviewed described how they had asked a question that nobody had asked before, a question they couldn’t answer themselves until they had completed the research. It struck me that so much of what undergraduates experience as “research” is very nearly the opposite, a process of uncovering answers others have already arrived at.

I’m also thinking about what these interviews said collectively about how real research is conducted. It makes me a little crazy when students abandon a truly interesting question because they can’t find sources to quote that provide the answer, or when they change their topic based on what they can find easily. Or (shudder) when they say they've written their paper, but need help finding five sources to cite. Clearly, they are not learning how to do research; they aren't even learning what research is.  What I would really, really like is to figure out how to give every student the experience of not worrying so much about getting the right answers, but learning how to ask a really good question. The kind they won't find answered in the library.

For those colleges or universities that can’t create a physical makerspace, what are some other ways we can encourage the maker ethos in our libraries?

We could produce a student journal or create a zine, and I have a colleague who asks students to create their own citation style. But I’m struggling with the idea of the one-shot instruction session as makerspace. What can students “make” in a one-shot?

We need to find ways to support creating, not just finding. The Student as Producer project at the University of Lincoln in the UK is an interesting model to consider.

But I’m interested in adapting the *spirit* of makerspaces for an academic setting, by giving students a space the facilitates content creation and experimentation and play. I’m wondering if Digital Media Labs are in some ways equivalent to makerspaces in this way?

Students generally have one thing on their mind–pass their classes and they visit the library to do that. Even if they never speak to a librarian, they may find the ambiance of a library conductive to the end goal of passing a class. They often do not have the time or current interest to pursue creative endeavors, at least not in the library. They instead go work out at the student athletic center or participate in student organizations that provide a more creative outlet. In other words, it’s a different community and a different mission than the public library.

I guess more than anything I’m interested in the spirit of makerspaces, as Elizabeth notes, as a place where creativity and excitement are encouraged. Maybe these feelings aren’t as closely-associated with a place intended for (school)work as they are with one intended for hobbies/leisure. But I think it *is* exciting to research a topic and make something out of the information you find.

At U.Iowa we’ve been developing a 75-90 minute lesson plan with an overview of zine history, hands on time with zines, and then time to make a collaborative zine. I’d be happy to chat about it, send an e-mail! Colleen Theisen, Special Collections & University Archives – University of Iowa