Using Assessment Results

Interpreting results

How do your results compare to the criteria you set for student learning success (e.g. 80% of students will be able to identify the subject specialist librarian for their major)? Are there any trends you can identify, such as a particular skill that students still don't seem to grasp? Where is there room for improvement?

Rewriting outcomes

The first thing you might do after you analyze your results is to re-examine your learning outcomes. Do they accurately reflect the key skills you want students to learn? Sometimes your results will prompt you to rewrite an outcome, or add a completely new one.

Revising assessment methods

Next, examine your assessment methods. Were they appropriate? Did they give you the information you need? If you wrote questions for a knowledge test, do the results tell you that students didn't understand the question?

Changing what you do

In order to improve student learning, you might need to change what you do in your library instruction session. Take a pedagogical approach: think about the content (what you teach) and process (how you teach it).

Working with librarian colleagues

As you begin to assess student learning, you can share your outcomes, methods and findings with your colleagues. You might begin discussions about shared outcomes, investigate curriculum mapping to see where particular skills are taught in library instruction classes, and share teaching tips.

Sharing results with faculty

With the culture of learning outcomes assessment growing stronger on campus, faculty members might be interested in your assessment process and results. This can be useful feedback for faculty as they design assignments and work with students on their research.