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Information Fluency and Education Reform:
Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives
by George Lorenzo
March 2007
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this work. Please cite as follows: George Lorenzo, "Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-theCurriculum
Initiatives," (Clarence Center, NY: Lorenzo Associates, Inc., 2007), http://www.edpath.com/stn.htm.
Introduction today. Also included are descriptions of three in-
College graduates unable to communicate flu- stitutions that have significant information-flu-
ently would obviously face more stumbling blocks ency-related initiatives in place that emphasize
along their lifelong learning pathways than gradu- across-the-curriculum practice.
ates who are proficient at communicating fluently.
The same holds true for any college graduate who Information Fluency as Education Reform
may not be "information fluent." A graduate with Has higher education reached a new plateau
basic computer software and hardware skills; un- where information fluency initiatives are repre-
derstands how websites work; can find and evalu- sentative of an early-phase education reform
ate information; understands privacy, security and movement?
ethical issues related to online information; and
is able to present valid information effectively We are gaining a much clearer picture of the
in other words, a graduate who could be consid- activities associated with student learning
ered information fluent would certainly be a step through the National Survey of Student En-
ahead of a graduate who was weak in such skills. gagement (NSSE); at the same time, we are
This is especially true within the context of our realizing the richness of the expanding array
fluid and frequently changing digital/information of abilities known as information literacy and
society where new technologies and vehicles for related concepts such as information fluency
disseminating information-podcasting, online so- and ICT skills.2
cial networking and bookmarking, the
blogosphere, wikis, etc.-grow in usage and popu- Within the education reform question, informa-
larity seemingly overnight. tion fluency is construed as
The benefits of the Internet age carry with · a "way of thinking" in which "faculty, librar-
them a number of serious issues concerning ians, and others create new understandings,
quality of information, access, and commercial- new knowledge, and personal growth;"
ization of information, development and pres- · a "dispositional habit" that, when sustained,
ervation of knowledge and student learning. reaches "across disciplinary boundaries... to
form a habit of mind that seeks ongoing im-
We in higher education need to provide a mean- provement and self-discipline in inquiry, re-
ingful framework for the various components search, and integration of knowledge from var-
of the expanding information base; we need to ied sources;" and
ensure open access to information; and we need · "a collective enterprise in the academy through
to teach people how to choose wisely among a set of cultural practices. . .," whereby "appren-
the variety of information resources.1 tice-like environments takes students to a new
plane of thinking, acting, and being informa-
Elements for building a meaningful framework tion-literate professionals." 3
around information fluency initiatives are pre-
sented in this paper. Information fluency here is Information literacy becomes central to the
used as a term that can include all or partial ele- learning culture when individual students, fac-
ments of the definitions educators typically apply ulty, and librarians see how individual ways
to information literacy, computer literacy, and in- of thinking, collective dispositional habits, and
formation and communication technology (ICT) cultural practices begin to merge beyond the
skills. individual, course, departmental, or program
At the start of this paper, a point is made that levels into a pervasive feature of the academic
information fluency initiatives are starting to be- community. 4
come part of a higher education reform movement.
This is followed by a description of some notewor- Assessment
thy information-fluency-related assessment tools There are many strategies and instruments
and practices being utilized in higher education used by colleges and universities across the coun-
2 Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives
try to discover and evaluate students' information- rency, coverage, and accuracy of digital infor-
fluency-related habits and skills. A review of the mation.
literature that was part of an information literacy · Manage: Ability to organize information for
project at the University of Maryland, Baltimore later retrieval, including an ability to apply ex-
County (UMBC) found more than 70 information isting organizational or classification scheme for
literacy survey instruments at colleges and uni- digital information.
versities across the country. Many of these instru- · Integrate: Ability to interpret, represent, sum-
ments contain elements of, but are not solely based marize, compare/contrast, and/or synthesize in-
on, the American Association of School Libraries formation from a variety of sources.
(ACRL) Information Literacy Competency Stan- · Create: Ability to generate, adapt, express, sup-
dards for Higher Education. 5 port, apply, and/or design information in digi-
Four well-cultivated assessments available to tal environments.
institutions (three are fee-based of varied costs and · Communicate: Ability to disseminate informa-
one is free) aligned with measuring the informa- tion relevant to an audience in a digital format,
tion-fluency-related habits and skills of students including being able to gear electronic informa-
are: tion to an audience and communicate knowl-
edge in the appropriate venue. 6, 7, 8
· The Educational Testing Service Information
and Communications Technologies Literacy As- The ICT Literacy Assessment has an "Evidence
sessment Centered Design" (ECD) that includes interactive
· Project SAILS (Standardized Assessment of In- tasks using simulated software in real-life sce-
formation Literacy Skills) narios. For example,
· The Bay Area Community Colleges Information
Competency Assessment Project in the assessment, a student might encounter
· James Madison University Information Compe- a scenario that requires her to access informa-
tency Exams tion from a database using a search engine.
The results are tracked and strategies scored
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) Information and based on how she searches for information,
Communications Technologies (ICT) Literacy Assessment such as key words, sequentially refined search
From September 2003 through June 2004 ETS strategies, etc. Her proficiency is estimated
spent more than 1,000 hours developing the first based on her ability to identify how well the
iteration of the ICT Literacy Assessment that has information returned meets the needs of the
resulted in a Web-based, interactive tool designed task. 9
to measure cognitive problem-solving and critical-
thinking skills associated with using technology In January 2005 ETS delivered an institution-
to handle information. The ICT test covers both level ICT Literacy Assessment to about 5,000 stu-
computer literacy skills and information literacy dents at 30 institutions. Most of the students were
skills. It measures ICT literacy within the con- enrolled in California State University institu-
text of seven proficiencies: tions. At this time it was a 2-hour test (it has since
been reduced to 75 minutes), and the score reports
· Define: Ability to formulate a research state- were issued only at the institutional level. Some
ment and use ICT tools to identify and repre- of the results that came out of this large testing
sent an information need. included:
· Access: Ability to find and retrieve information
from a variety of sources, including digital en- · 48 percent identified a Web site that met crite-
vironments. ria for timeliness, authority, and objectivity.
· Evaluate: Ability to judge the appropriateness · When constructing a persuasive presentation
and adequacy of information including having slide, 80 percent included irrelevant points.
an understanding of how to evaluate quality, · Few students accurately map material for a new
relevance, authority, point of view/bias, cur- audience.
Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives 3
· Community college students did not perform as Libraries, the Ohio Board of Regents, and the Aca-
well as students from 4-year institutions. 10 demic Library Association of Ohio. Eighty-two
higher education institutions in Canada and the
The results of this large-scale test, as well as a U.S. participated in the research and development
number of additional field trials and pilots held phase of Project SAILS.14
during 2004 through 2006, helped ETS to revise The test contains 45 questions and takes ap-
the ICT Literacy Assessment into a new 75-minute proximately 35 minutes to complete. It is admin-
test, offered at two levels of difficulty-one at a core istered during the Fall (August through Decem-
level and one at an advanced level-measuring the ber 15) and Spring (January through May 15).
aforementioned seven proficiencies. Only cohort scores are provided, not individual
scores.
The advanced test is geared towards basically
answering the question, `Are students ready At the end of a test session, schools receive re-
for the ICT literacy demands of upper-level ports detailing the performance of their stu-
course work?' Whereas the core test is more, dents on the SAILS test. Results are organized
`Are students ready for the ICT literacy de- by ACRL standards and by skill sets.
mands of college?' 11
Student performance is also compared to per-
ETS has also incorporated a model for individu- formance at groups of other schools.15
als to receive score reports, as opposed to the in-
stitutional scores that were utilized in the earlier According to the project administrator of Project
field tests, pilots and large-scale administration SAILS, it is an easy test to administer on a large
of the ICT Literacy Assessment. Individual core scale for discovering what students know about
and advanced tests are now scored through a "cali- information literacy. After a three-year research
bration group" process. The calibration group for and development phase that included a third-
the advanced test is comprised of sophomores, jun- phase field testing of 19,000 students from 60 in-
iors and seniors. For the core test, it's high school stitutions, Project SAILS was retooled and offi-
seniors and college freshmen. Scores are scaled so cially made commercially available in August 2006.
they have a certain mean and standard deviation 16
based on these two calibrations groups.12 The analyses of the third-phase field testing re-
Additionally, ETS moved to a continuous test- vealed, in part, that
ing model in August 2006, meaning that institu-
tions can administer the ICT Literacy Assessment · there was a noticeable difference between as-
whenever they want. Administering the ICT Lit- sociates-degree-granting institutions and all
eracy Assessment was priced in September 2006 other institutions;
from $27 per test to $33 per test, depending on · in most skill sets, the differences are not sig-
the number of tests ordered.13 nificant;
· history majors performed significantly better
Project SAILS than most majors; and
Project SAILS, which started its early develop- · business majors performed significantly better
ment phase in 2001, is a fee-based, multiple-choice than all other majors on skill set 8 of the ACRL
test. As much as feasibly possible, it is based on Information Literacy Competency Standards for
information literacy skills listed inside the ACRL Higher Education, which is related to evaluat-
Information Literacy Competency Standards for ing and revising search results.17
Higher Education. It does not cover computer lit-
eracy skills. The 2006-07 pricing was $3.00 per The project administrator added that all of the
student up to a cap of $2,000 per administration. test questions have been grouped inside what the
The project is based at Kent State University and Project SAILS team considers to be meaningful
has been supported by the Institute of Museum information literacy skill sets. It was also noted
and Library Sciences, the Association of Research that the test is developed and operated under a
4 Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives
continuous improvement cycle whereby more ment, because they have information compe-
questions could be added to the test bank as more tency graduation requirements at their schools.
data is collected from test results. 18
They're using it in their own ways. We intended
The Bay Area Community Colleges it that way right from the get-go. As long as
Information Competency Assessment Project people read the test specification document,
The Bay Area Community Colleges Information they'll have a lot of guidance on how to adapt
Competency Assessment Project began in 2000, it and modify it.22
before the ETS ICT Literacy Assessment and
Project SAILS came onto the scene of information James Madison University
literacy assessment. The project evolved from a Information Competency Exams
Diablo Valley College initiative along with state- James Madison University (JMU) has a strong
wide initiatives that were geared toward develop- historical focus on assessment, in general, that
ing an information competency graduation re- emanates from its Center for Assessment & Re-
quirement at the associate degree level for all search Studies. JMU offers a Master of Arts Pro-
California community colleges. The exam created gram in Psychological Sciences that has a concen-
from this project contains multiple-choice, match- tration in quantitative methods (assessment, mea-
ing and short-answer questions, as well as perfor- surement, & statistics), as well as a Doctoral Pro-
mance-based exercises. Like Project SAILS, it does gram in Assessment and Measurement for more
not cover computer literacy, and it is, as much as advanced study.23
feasibly possible, based on the ACRL Information In the middle to late 1990s, JMU was going
Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Edu- through a general education program review and
cation. Unlike Project SAILS and the ETS ICT revision process. Two assessments related to in-
Literacy Assessment, the Bay Area Community formation fluency were created from that process
Colleges Information Competency instrument is for what's called "The Human Community," which
currently available for free. However, the exam comprises the core academic program required of
was never fully developed. As noted on its website, all students at JMU today, regardless of their
educators are welcome to make a request to re- major or professional program.24
ceive copies of the two-part assessment instrument The first required test is the Tech Level 1 test,
at no cost, but "the exam was not sufficiently field- which must be completed by the end of a JMU
tested for the project team to confirm its absolute student's first semester. The second required test
validity and reliability." 19, 20, 21 is the Information Seeking Skills Test (ISST),
The project leader of the Bay Area Community which must be completed by the end of a JMU'
Colleges Information Competency Assessment student's second semester. Both are multiple-
Project explains that although the initiative did choice, performance-based tests. The Tech Level
actually conduct two field tests during its devel- 1 test is a software capabilities test that measures
opment, it never made it to a final step for com- a student's proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word,
plete confidence about is validity and reliability. and PowerPoint. The ISST test is an information-
However, some community colleges in California seeking competencies test that has students dem-
are, in fact, using the exam in one form or an- onstrate their ability to identify and locate library
other today. services and collections, formulate and conduct an
information search using a variety of references,
All of us (Bay Area Community Colleges) had evaluate information, employ efficient database
very individual, institutional purposes for searching techniques, identify bibliographic ele-
working on the Information Competency As- ments and cite properly, and apply ethical guide-
sessment Project. For our purposes we had lines when using information. 25
gone as far as we needed. Many of the Bay Area Test results for the 2005-06 academic year
Community Colleges are using the instrument, showed that about 3,500 incoming JMU students
or some modification of it, as a test-out instru- took both tests. For the Tech Level 1 test, 48 per-
cent passed the Excel section, 40 percent passed
Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives 5
the Word section, and 94 percent passed the · Operational Excellence and Assessment Sup-
PowerPoint section, On the ISST test, only 86 stu- port (OEAS): OEAS provides "support to all ad-
dents failed. 26 A Web-based instruction program, ministrative units and academic programs
called "Go for the Gold," as well as various course- through integrated processes that include con-
related assignments that students participate in tinuous quality improvement, survey develop-
during their first year, are geared toward helping ment, data collection, analysis, and guidance in
students pass the ISST test. 27 assessment."29
About three years ago, the ISST test became · The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning
the basis for a commercial version offered by JMU's (FCTL): FCTL "provides workshop and one-on-
Institute for Computer-Based Assessment and the one assistance to faculty members and admin-
Center for Assessment and Research Studies. istrators on course, program and college assess-
Called the Information Literacy Test (ILT), it mea- ment, and the integration of effective pedagogies
sures standards 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the ACRL Infor- that support student learning." FCTL works in
mation Literacy Competency Standards for Higher collaboration with OEAS by offering workshops
Education. Pricing is $5 to $10, depending on the and consultations, covering course and program
number of test takers.28 assessment .with UCF teaching and student
support units.30
From Assessment to · The Research Initiative for Teaching Effective-
Across-the-Curriculum Practice ness (RITE): RITE provides leadership and sup-
As noted, the aforementioned assessments are port to faculty members across campuses who
being utilized to acquire both individual and group are conducting research in effective pedagogy,
scores, depending on the test, that reveal various much of which concentrates on information flu-
levels of student information fluency competen- ency."31
cies. In addition, the data collected from any of
these assessments, or from any information-flu- In the Fall 2006 semester, the Information Flu-
ency-related assessment, can be a jumping board ency Initiative officially kicked off inside four pi-
for the early development of initiatives that can lot programs: the Philosophy Department, the
bring together students, faculty, staff, and admin- School of Nursing, a freshmen-level Strategies for
istrators under the umbrella of a sustainable Success course, and the UCF Burnett Honors Col-
across-the-curriculum information fluency pro- lege. Each of these pilots has its own assessment
gram. What follows are three examples of insti- strategies that entail collaborating between fac-
tutions with across-the-curriculum information ulty, information literacy specialists from the UCF
fluency initiatives that have a variety of assess- libraries, FCTL, and OEAS to identify and develop
ment measures and strategies. information-fluency-related student learning out-
comes (SLOs) and measures inside key courses,
University of Central Florida and to revise these SLOs and measures continu-
The University of Central Florida's (UCF) "In- ously through regular review and approval pro-
formation Fluency Initiative" was born out of its cesses. 32 Based on data they will have collected
Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) for a recent and analyzed through assessments, all four pilots
Commission of Colleges of the Southern Associa- will ultimately embed solid SLOs in a variety of
tion of Colleges and Schools reaffirmation of ac- their courses before the Fall 2009 semester.
creditation. It is an example of a large-scale project In the Philosophy Department the focus is on
to infuse information literacy across the curricu- improving critical thinking skills of students in
lum. It was officially launched in August 2006, and its ethics program. In the School of Nursing the
its early progress will be partially determined by focus is on increasing training to help students
a variety of information fluency assessments. evaluate and determine what research and infor-
UCF has an innovative and established assess- mation is most effective in their day-to-day work
ment system that flows out of three campus units: as health care specialists. 33 The Strategies for
Success course is an optional one-credit freshman-
orientation course that typically enrolls as many
6 Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives
as 2,000 students each year. An information-lit- WebCT. It is considered that learning how to navi-
eracy-related assignment has been embedded gate effectively through a CMS is itself an infor-
within this course where students must conduct mation fluency technology skill that students must
research on three events from the year they were master.36
born and write a paper on how those events have Finally, once information-fluency-related SLOs
shaped their lives. The exercise is geared toward have been fully developed through analyzing the
building information literacy skills from both criti- assessments from all current and future pilots, it
cal thinking and technical perspectives. 34 The is expected that faculty throughout UCF will even-
Burnett Honors College attracts about 480 aca- tually incorporate information fluency pedagogies
demically successful freshmen each year. The in- into their courses.
coming class for 2006-07 had an average SAT score
of 1350. The average SAT scorer for the entire UCF We do not own our faculty, so we cannot tell
campus student body is 1180. The Burnett Hon- our faculty what to do. All we can hope for is to
ors College, which serves all disciplines and ma- create this culture and encourage them to in-
jors at UCF, plans to introduce information flu- fuse it in their courses. We cannot impose in-
ency components to its freshman symposium cur- formation fluency within our general educa-
riculum, which is the cornerstone of the 4-year tion courses. We can put it in the [Honors Col-
Honors College experience that is required for its lege] symposium, and we can encourage fac-
incoming students each Fall semester.35 ulty who teach interdisciplinary seminars
[which is another component of the Honors
From the Perspective of UCF's Honors College College] to infuse it, or to use it as an impor-
Similar to all the pilots currently in progress at tant part of what they are teaching, but that is
UCF, the Honors College's goal is to help fresh- about it.37
men students get on a fast rack to understanding
the basic tenets for finding and evaluating infor- The UCF Information Fluency Initiative Web
mation, as well as for building their technology site has a downloadable PDF document addressed
skills. By the time they enter their junior year, to students that has the following question and
these students should also be on a solid pathway answer that succinctly places this initiative within
that significantly enhances their information flu- its proper context:
ency critical thinking skills.
In its first year of implementation during Fall Why do I need to be information fluent?
2006 the College is collecting baseline data con- Information fluency is vital to university stu-
cerning students' perceptions and attitudes about dents' academic achievements and professional
information fluency (e.g., how familiar are you successes and will contribute to their lifelong
with library databases), as well as administering learning processes. Information fluent stu-
several quizzes that are cognitive in nature, (e.g., dents are valuable to employers and corpora-
identify key words for a specific query and use tions as they move beyond the university en-
them in a variety of databases). In the following vironment into the workplace. The ability to
year the College plans to utilize the same assess- extrapolate useful concepts and ideas from
ment tools and compare the results to fine tune existing information into new applications con-
these early assessments for the next administra- tinues to be a crucial skill in the 21st Century
tion. Additionally, the ETS ICT Literacy Assess- work place.38
ment will be administered to about 10 percent of
the Honors College students in order to collect Philadelphia University's Budding Infrastructure
more data about these students' information flu- Philadelphia University, a relatively small pri-
ency skills. Another component of the College's vate institution with a little more than 3,000 stu-
information fluency assessment strategies will dents-and obviously very much unlike the much
analyze how students learn how to use their course larger state institution UCF with more than 45,000
management system, which will be accomplished students-has also built a sophisticated infrastruc-
through a test provided and administered by ture for preparing its students to be information
fluent.
Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives 7
The Information Literacy Project at Philadel- and student learning outcomes adapted from the
phia University (PhilaU) started in Spring 2000 Information Literacy Project frameworks and
as a discussion among PhilaU's Teaching Learn- goals.
ing and Technology Roundtable (TLTR), 39 which
is a group of faculty and staff whose mission re- Writing Seminars with
volves around "providing students with the tech- Information-Fluency-Related Outcomes
nological skills for career success and lifelong For example, a Writing Seminar I course, of-
learning." 40 Detailed information about PhilaU's fered through the College Studies Program, re-
Information Literacy Project is published on a quires students to
special Web site that includes its history and mis-
sion, along with access to documents and resources · learn how to access, and become familiar with,
for students, faculty and staff.41 the campus library Web site;
The PhilaU Information Literacy Project is a · use electronic tools to locate information, includ-
course-integrated and interdisciplinary-based ini- ing accessing electronic databases;
tiative currently being built on a framework in · understand citations and learn how to "select
which solid information-fluency-related student and integrate quotations and to refer to and
learning outcomes have been identified and pub- paraphrase from sources;" and,
lished across freshmen, sophomore, junior and · under the heading of `critical thinking and
senior levels.42 To implement this initiative, librar- evaluation of information,' practice evaluating
ians, faculty, and staff are working in partnership, primary and secondary sources of information.
with faculty taking ownership for developing
courses, to incorporate information fluency In addition, faculty who teach Writing Seminar
pedagogies that are in line with the already-cre- I are "strongly encouraged" to integrate informa-
ated student learning outcomes. The PhilaU ad- tion technology into their course design by, at least,
ministration recognizes the importance of the In- communicating with students via e-mail and cre-
formation Literacy Project and encourages faculty ating a course website through PhilaU's course
to get on board. management system, Blackboard.44
Six PhilaU Schools Adapt to Students in the Writing Seminar II class are
Information Literacy Project Frameworks further required to
Each of Philadelphia University's six schools is
utilizing a combination of instruments and meth- · perform online searching at a basic to interme-
ods to assess the information fluency competen- diate level;
cies being reached by their undergraduate stu- · use literatures of selected disciplines and pro-
dents. Thus far, assessment measures are defined fessions;
primarily in the context of assignments, such as · demonstrate effective and ethically responsible
written papers, oral presentations and capstone use of a range of print and electronic resources;
courses and projects, along with various other and
measures such as student portfolios and pre and · demonstrate efficient, responsible, and appro-
post multiple -choice, short answer and true/false priately creative use of available information
tests. None of the six schools are utilizing any of technologies.45
the assessment tools described earlier in this pa-
per as they create and modify their own assess- One PhilaU educator summed up the Informa-
ment instruments internally.43 tion Literacy Project from an instructional stand-
The School of Liberal Arts (SLA) is a good ex- point as follows:
ample of the emphasis that is being placed on de-
veloping information-fluency-related skills in a It's not just coming to class and explaining to
variety of courses. SLA faculty, with help from them how to use a database and what buttons
PhilaU librarians, have built an array of assign- to push so that they'll be able to do that. We're
ments, rubrics, assessment grids, faculty guides trying to help students over the course of four
8 Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives
years develop a whole range of skills so when and research skills in courses as appropriate
they graduate they will have this ability to find, to the level of student and nature of the disci-
evaluate and present information.46 pline.51
UC Berkeley's Fellowship for Undergraduate Research Much of the continuous development of the Fel-
In 2001, UC Berkeley began to pinpoint their lows for Undergraduate Research project lies in
teaching and learning initiatives around helping the high levels of collaboration occurring between
educators and students enhance their information the campus administration, the library adminis-
literacy skills in a research-based learning envi- tration and the faculty and support units from the
ronment. This effort took a stronger foothold in academic side of UC Berkeley.52
July 2002 through a $138,000 two-year grant from The early process for getting UC Berkeley edu-
the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation titled the cators involved with the Fellows for Undergradu-
Mellon Library/Faculty Fellowship for Under- ate Research project begins with the Vice Provost
graduate Research that had the primary focus for Undergraduate Education and the Mellon
of Project Director who "meet with chairs from tar-
geted departments to gain a deeper understand-
redesigning courses across disciplines, reener- ing of how undergraduate research and informa-
gizing large enrollment courses, and enabling tion literacy are-and could potentially be-embed-
students to develop their information literacy ded into their curricula, and to elicit recommen-
and critical thinking abilities within and out- dations for specific courses as well as instructors
side the formal classroom.47 who would be promising candidates for the Fel-
lowship." 53
As UC Berkeley educators participated in the One-year Fellowships are awarded to thirteen
Fellowship for Undergraduate Research, it became UC Berkeley faculty each year who are deemed
obvious, particularly to the academic librarians as "change agents who would impact a broader
involved in this grant, that the skill sets needed community of peers." The Fellowship begins with
to bring research-based learning into any given a three-week "Institute" held in early summer
course were typically based on information literacy where the Fellows meet with librarians, and staff
outcomes and standards as defined by ACRL.48 from the Graduate Student Instructor Teaching
However, at a high research institution such as and Resource Center, Educational Technology Ser-
UC Berkeley, the word "research" resonates with vices, the Office of Educational Development, and
faculty and administrators more effectively than the Division of Undergraduate Education. The
the words "information literacy" or "information Institute exposes faculty to "concepts and teach-
fluency."49 ing methods in support of research-based learn-
In December 2003, UC Berkeley was awarded ing and emphasizes an exchange of ideas with
another $749,000 by Mellon to further enhance peers and academic partners instead of formal lec-
and develop the Fellowship for Undergraduate tures." For the actual redesign of their courses,
Research project over the next four years through each Faculty Fellow works with an implementa-
2007.50 tion team comprised of a librarian, an educational
At the heart of the Mellon initiative is a re-con- technologist, and a staff member from the Gradu-
ceptualizing of the library's role, where ate Student Instructor Teaching and Resource
Center for one year.54
librarians and faculty are envisioned as part- There is an assessment component in which an
ners in the effort to address challenges such assessment consultant was assigned to three
as developing refined research skills among implementation teams to work on developing
students who increasingly rely on open methods and tools that could be applied to other
Internet search engines as the sole research courses. This part of the project is attempting to
strategy, increasing students' awareness of build support with the goal of having Faculty Fel-
academic scholarship and library collections lows assess student learning in order to help in-
overall, and positioning information literacy form their class as well as inform their students.
Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives 9
Assessment instruments from outside suppliers, by course, to ensure that students of all ages and
such as those described earlier, are currently not disciplines are gaining knowledge about both ba-
being used in the Fellowship for Undergraduate sic and advanced tools and strategies that fall
Research project. In addition, an evaluation con- under the information fluency domain. How
sultant was hired to evaluate the entire project prevalent of a reform movement within this con-
primarily through obtaining feedback from all of text has yet to be fully determined, but it seems
the project's participants.55, 56, 57 safe to say that information-fluency-related ini-
Overall, the Fellowship for Undergraduate Re- tiatives have certainly gained significant promi-
search has been successful. nence in recent years at colleges and universities
across the country.
In the past three years, 35 faculty represent-
ing the sciences, social sciences, and humani- End Notes:
ties have participated in the Mellon initiative.
Collectively they have redesigned 33 lower-di- 1. Breivik, P. S., & Gee, E. G. (2006). Higher
vision and upper-division courses to include education in the internet age: Libraries
research components influencing nearly 8,000 creating a strategic edge. Westport, CT:
students. Through their experiences as Mellon Praeger Publishers.
Faculty Fellows, many faculty have been in- 2 Gibson, C. (Ed.), (2006). Student engage-
spired to incorporate research-based learning ment and information literacy. Chicago:
and information literacy development into Association of College and Research Librar-
other courses they teach. Additionally, through ies, American Library Association, p. viii.
formal events and informal conversations,
3 Ibid, p. ix.
these faculty members continue to spark in-
terest in research-based learning among col- 4 Ibid, p. ix.
leagues on campus, providing a form of 5. Neely, T.Y. & Ferguson, J (2006). Developing
grassroots publicity and increased credibility information literacy assessment instru-
for the initiative.58 ments. In Neely, T.Y., Information literacy
assessment: Standards-based tools and
Conclusion assignments. Chicago: American Library
When looking closely at all these assessment Association, pp. 158-159.
and across-the-curriculum activities it becomes
6. Brasley, S.(2006), Building and using a tool
clear that helping students become information
to assess info and tech literacy, Computers
fluent cannot be accomplished in one semester, or in Libraries Magazine, Vol 26, Issue, 5,
in one class. Additionally, while portions of infor-
pp 6-7.
mation-fluency-related assessments and
pedagogies can be integrated throughout a 7. Brasley, S, Katz, I, & Smith, G. (2006) The
student's academic career, enhancing students' national ICT literacy assessment initiative:
information fluency skills is not purely an aca- A unique partnership, presented at CARL
demic concern. Information fluency is a lifelong 2006, April 22.
learning issue that starts in K-12, through higher 8. Katz, I & Macklin, S.A. (2006). Information
education, and into the workplace and our per- and communication technology literacy:
sonal lives.59 Integration and assessment in higher
In short, all of the skills that revolve around education. Paper to appear in Proceedings of
the notion of being information fluent have become the 4th International Conference on Educa-
critical life skills today. We understand that to tion and Information Systems, Technologies
succeed academically students need to have tech- and Applications.
nology skills, information literacy skills, and criti- 9. Ibid.
cal thinking skills at a higher level than they have
10. Katz, I., personal communication, June
in the past.60 Many colleges and universities rec-
2006.
ognize this and are reforming curriculums, course
10 Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives
11. Ibid. 30. University of Central Florida, What if? A
12. Ibid. foundation for information fluency. (March
2006) .Available from http://www.if.ucf.edu.
13 For more information,
see http://www.ets.org/ictliteracy. 31. Ibid.
14. Project SAILS Brochure https:// 32. Ibid.
www.projectsails.org/pubs/ 33. Binette, C. (April 2006). Information fluency
2006_ALA_Brochure.pdf?page=aboutSAILS. effort to help students with research, ca-
15. Ibid. reers, UCF News & Information, April 19,
2006, http://news.ucf.edu/UCFnews/
16. Radcliffe, C., personal communication, July
index?page=article&id=002400410774959e30
2006.
109f4453599006d98.
17. Salem, J., (2006). Measuring college-level
34. Marinara, M., personal communication, May
information literacy with SAILS, presented
2006.
at New Hampshire Educational Media
Association (NHEMA), Spring Conference, 35. Alvin Wang, personal communication,
May 24, 2006. https://www.projectsails.org/ August 2006.
pubs/sails_nh.pdf. 36. Alvin Wang and Madi Dogariu, personal
18. Radcliffe, C., op. cit. communication, August 2006.
19. Bay Area Community Colleges Information 37. Madi Dogariu, personal communication,
Competency Assessment Project Web site. August 2006.
http://www.topsy.org/ICAP/ICAProject.html. 38. See "IF Resources for Students," at
20. Topsy N. Smalley Web site at http:// http://www.if.ucf.edu.
www.topsy.org/infocomp.html. 39. History of the Information Literacy
21. Bay Area Community Colleges Information Project@Philadelphia University,
Competency Assessment Project, (2003). http://www.philau.edu/infolit/history.htm.
Developing and field-testing and instrument 40. Philadelphia University TLTR Mission
for assessing information competency Statement, http://www.philau.edu/tltr/
learning outcomes of community college mission.htm.
students: Final report of the Bay Area 41. http://www.philau.edu/infolit/index.htm.
Community Colleges Information Compe-
42. See reports and documents related to the
tency Assessment Project. http://
PhilaU Information Literacy Project under
www.topsy.org/ICAP/FinalReport.pdf.
the "Proposal and IL Framework" heading
22. Gratch-Lindauer, B., personal communica- at http://www.philau.edu/infolit/
tion, June 2006. documents.htm.
23. See http://www.jmu.edu/assessment/. 43. Information Literacy Framework for Phila-
24. See http://www.jmu.edu/gened/index.html. delphia University (March 2006),
25. See http://www.jmu.edu/gened/ http://www.philau.edu/infolit/IL
info_lit_general.html. Revisions031906Framework.pdf.
26. Mahoney, C and Cameron, L, personal 44. Faculty Guide - L111: Writing Seminar I
communication, September 2006. (2004-2005). Philadelphia University School
of General Studies.
27. See http://www.lib.jmu.edu/library/gold/
modules.htm. 45. Shane, J., e-mail communication, August
2006.
28. See http://www.jmu.edu/icba/prodserv/
instruments_ilt.htm. 46. Bell, S, personal commuication, August
2006.
29. UCF Operational Excellence and Assess-
ment Support, http://oeas.ucf.edu/.
Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives 11
47. Dupuis, E. A., Maslach, C., Schrager, C.D.,
and McDaniel, S. "Information Literacy and
Undergraduate Research at the University
of California, Berkeley." In Information
Literacy Collaborations that Work (T.E.
Jacobson and T.P. Mackey, Eds.) Neal
Schuman: New York. In press.
48. Ianuzzi, P., personal communication, April
2006.
49. Dupuis, E., personal communication, May
2006.
50. See http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Staff/
MellonProject/.
51. Dupuis, E. A., Maslach, C., Schrager, C.D.,
and McDaniel, S., op.cit.
52. Dupuis, E., personal communication, May
2006.
53. Dupuis, E. A., Maslach, C., Schrager, C.D.,
and McDaniel, S., op.cit.
54. Ibid.
55. Dupuis, E., personal communication, May
2006.
56. For more information about assessment
practices and results, see "Models of Aca-
demic Support: Library/Faculty Fellows for
Undergraduate Research-Planning and Pilot
Project, University of California, Berkeley,
2002 - 2004 Final Report, September 27,
2004, pp. 12-14, http://library.berkeley.edu/
Staff/MellonProject/2002-
2004_Final_Report.doc.
57. For more information about evaluation
results, see "Evaluation Report: Mellon
Faculty Institute on Undergraduate Re-
search, April 2004, http://library.
berkeley.edu/Staff/MellonProject/2002-
2004_Final_Evaluation_Report.doc.
58. Dupuis, E. A., Maslach, C., Schrager, C.D.,
and McDaniel, S., op.cit.
59. Gibson, C, personal communication, August
2006.
60. Walter, S., personal communication, July
2006.
12 Information Fluency and Education Reform: Assessment Tools and Across-the-Curriculum Initiatives