Program Description
Higher education institutions of all types are facing intensified attention to assessment and accountability issues. Academic libraries are increasingly connecting with colleagues and campus stakeholders to design and implement assessment that documents their contributions to institutional priorities. In this day-long workshop on strategic and sustainable assessment, participants will identify institutional priorities and campus partners, design an assessment project grounded in action research, and prepare a plan for communicating the project results. This workshop is based on the highly successful ACRL Assessment in Action program curriculum.
Number of presenters: One presenter for up to 40 participants, or two presenters for up to 100 participants.
Who Should Attend
This workshop is intended for all librarians, library staff, and library administrators who seek to design and implement an assessment project that investigates the impact of the library on student learning and success. The workshop is particularly relevant for those who are interested in working with campus partners and aligning assessment with institutional priorities. Attendees are not expected to have previous experience with assessment.
Learning Outcomes
Workshop participants will be able to...
- Design and implement assessment practices to document and improve the impact of libraries on student learning and success.
- Collaborate with key campus partners to align library outcomes and measures with institutional initiatives, priorities, and assessment activities.
- Communicate results of assessment activities to engage library stakeholders and to sustain a culture of continuous improvement.
Sample Schedule
Total Time: 7 hours, 40 minutes
- 60 Minutes: Introduction to Assessment and Action Research
- 30 Minutes: Aligning with Institutional Priorities
- 20 Minutes: Break
- 50 Minutes: Assessment Cycle: Outcomes and Criteria; Developing an Inquiry Question
- 45 Minutes: Assessment Cycle: Evidence and Tools
- 75 Minutes: Lunch
- 60 Minutes: Assessment Cycle: Alignment and Casual Claims; Assessment Cycle: Analysis and Interpretation
- 20 Minutes: Break
- 70 Minutes: Taking Action and Communication; Collaborators and Stakeholders
- 30 Minutes: Personal Learning Plan; Community of Practice; Next Steps
Presenters
Sara Lowe
Eric Resnis
Melanie Sellar
Brandy Whitlock
Testimonials
Don't take our word for it. See what participants are saying!
"If you are new to assessment, the ACRL RoadShow will inspire, prepare, and jump-start you toward assessment. If you have been practicing assessment, the RoadShow reinforces and expands upon what you know and are doing."
"We are planning an assessment of information literacy skills project, and this will help us get off to a good, informed, start!"
"I went into this workshop with little to no knowledge on assessment. After the workshop, I returned to work with a bunch of ideas on how we can implement assessment practices in our library."
“The organization of the workshop around the assessment cycle made the information easy to follow and showed exactly the steps that need to go into an assessment project.”
“I was able to create outcomes for our information literacy class in the workshop. During the class, I emailed them over to be approved by my library director and they were approved and used by my library!”
"I didn't realize how much I didn't know! I also now realize we need a librarian whose entire job is assessment."
Bring this workshop to your campus!
To schedule the AiA RoadShow, please contact Margot Conahan at mconahan@ala.org.