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Information Literacy Assessment

This guide is to assist in the development of tools to assess information literacy

Sample Arts SLOs

Standard 1: The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.

  • Students will incorporate appropriate information sources from their artistic disciplines into their research process
    • (E.g., dance students will show proficiency in choosing between historical/social sources versus health/Kinesiology sources based on the research project.)

Standard 2: The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.

  • Students will create and refine research questions of appropriate complexity and scope using their disciplinary knowledge
    • (E.g., an art history student will refine a thesis topic and seek more complex answers as she accumulates knowledge about her subject.)

Standard 3: The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

  • Students will demonstrate abilities to critically evaluate information sources and to recognize markers of quality based on discipline
    • (E.g., when presented with multiple editions of the same work, a music student will choose an edition with greater accuracy and authority)

Standard 4: The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

  • Students will contextualize their artistic product with coherent written documentation that draws from their prior knowledge and knowledge acquired through research
    • (E.g., theatre students will create program notes for productions by drawing from both engagement with the text and research into the history and social context of the play.)

Standard 5: The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

  • Film Studies students will apply documentation in an appropriate venue and style in order to convey the contributions of others to their creative and scholarly work

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

  • Students will identify markers of authority corresponding with the type of information needed in order to choose trustworthy sources.
    • (E.g., a student working on a documentary will weigh the authority of personal testimonies versus published literature on a subject)

Information Creation as a Process

  • Students will distinguish different types of sources created in different timelines and contexts in order to match their information need
    • (E.g., a student researching theatre history may choose a book to contextualize a work in a social and historical context as well as a website to gain information on a current production information)

Information Has Value

  • Students will demonstrate responsibility in intellectual property in order to act within the expected legal and ethical frameworks of their disciplines
    • (E.g., through citations in written papers as well as adherence to U.S. Copyright law in performance practices)

Research as Inquiry

  • Students will formulate increasingly complex research questions in order to explore research as an open-ended investigation
    • (E.g., A student working a music thesis can discuss the evolution of their thesis topic based on the information uncovered during research)

Scholarship As Conversation

  • Students will summarize the changes in scholarly perspective over time on a particular topic within a specific discipline in order to recognize the ongoing scholarly conversation
    • (E.g., dance students will contextualize a work as it was understood during its premiere versus in current contexts)

Searching As Strategic Exploration

  • Students will effectively use different types of searching language (e.g., controlled vocabulary, keywords, natural language) and refine searches based on their discoveries in order increase their results in both quality and quantity.