InfoGuides: Student Learning Assessment Toolkit: Outcome 6

SLAP Outcome 6

Students will be able to critique the ways authority is constructed. (Authority is Constructed and Contextual / Information has Value)

Some skills that teach to this outcome:

How publishing processes disadvantage marginalized groups 
Flaws surrounding scholarly information: when is it appropriate to use scholarly information and when isn’t it? 
Who we cite, when we cite them, and how we cite them 
What is positionality and how can it affect the ways you interpret and use information? 
Recognize that systems privilege authorities and that not having a fluency in the language and process of a discipline disempowers their ability to participate and engage 
maintain an open mind and a critical stance; 
IF I APPLY 
Understand the role of cognitive biases, such as confirmation bias and anchoring bias, in interpreting information 
Solicit feedback from others 
Respectfully provide feedback to others 
Evaluation of a collection for biases

Ideas for Assessment: Activity 1

Activity 1:

Outcome: Students understand how and why some individuals or groups of individuals may be underrepresented or systematically marginalized within the systems that produce and disseminate information.

Skills:

How publishing processes disadvantage marginalized groups 
Recognize that systems privilege authorities and that not having a fluency in the language and process of a discipline disempowers their ability to participate and engage

Imagine that you have to explain to a first-year student why they are having difficulty finding marginalized voices in scholarly literature. How would you explain this to them? Include both sides of the dialogue, with questions the first-year student would ask.

Scoring Option 1:

	Criteria	Yes/No	Comments
Information clearly articulated	The student’s explanation of the concept is concise, accurate and understandable
Language suited to audience	The language used is appropriate for the audience, neither too advanced nor too basic.
Knowledge correctly transferred	The information is conveyed in a way that makes sense for the audience and the setting.

Scoring Option 2:

Criteria	Incomplete	Developing	Competent	Exemplary
Demonstrates an understanding of the issue of marginalized representation in scholarly literature	Did not respond	Gives a vague and/or unclear synopsis of the issue	Explains the main points of the issue	Thoroughly explains the issue, giving insights into multiple viewpoints (author, researcher, etc)
Uses language geared toward the a first-year audience	Did not respond	Language used is too complex and/or unclear	Uses language that is appropriate for the audience

Ideas for Assessment: Activity 2

Activity 2

Outcome: Student will be able to see the difference between researching in the open web and doing research using the library website.

Skills:

Flaws surrounding scholarly information: when is it appropriate to use scholarly information and when isn’t it?

Idea 1: Research the topic provided by the Library Instructor in class using the internet and then using the library website: library.gmu.edu. In a minute paper review the top ten results from each search and describe whether the information found on each site was more informative, easier to access, and lead to additional results.

Idea 2: Research the topic provided by the Library Instructor in class using the internet and then using the library website: library.gmu.edu. In a minute paper describe if one search was easier than the other, the advanced search options, and whether the materials found could be accessed with ease.

Scoring Option 1:

	Criteria	Yes/No	Comments
Questions Clearly Answered	The answer is concise and understandable
Knowledge is Correctly Articulated	The information is accurate

Scoring Option 2:

Instructor categorizes the responses into major themes and then compares these themes to a pre-conceived list of things that they wanted students to learn.

Ideas for Assessment: Activity 3

Activity 3

Outcome: Students describe the commodification of information and how it affects access to various types of information.

Skills:

Recognize that systems privilege authorities and that not having a fluency in the language and process of a discipline disempowers their ability to participate and engage 
Maintain an open mind and a critical stance

List 3 ways your access to sources will change after you graduate.

List 2 ways your George Mason University Libraries’ access affects the type of sources that are available to you.

Explain how the information divide affects people’s ability to find reliable sources.

Scoring Option 1:

	Present
List 3 ways your access to sources will change after you graduate.
List 2 ways your George Mason University Libraries’ access affects the type of sources that are available to you.
Explains how the information divide affects people’s ability to find reliable sources

Scoring Option 2:

Criteria	Incomplete	Developing	Competent	Exemplary
Articulates changes in access after graduation	Did not respond	Does not give 3 ways access changes and/or gives unclear and meaningless ways access changes	Gives 3 clear ways access to sources changes after graduation	Gives 3 meaningful and articulate ways in which access to sources changes for students after graduation
Describes the ways the University Libraries’ access affects source access	Did not respond	Does not give 2 ways library access affects sources and/or gives unclear and meaningless ways library access affects sources	Gives 2 clear and understandable ways in which library access affects sources	Gives 2 meaningful and articulate ways in which library access affects sources
Explains how the information divide affects people’s ability to find reliable sources	Did not respond	Gives an unclear and/or meaningless way the digital divide affects reliability of sources	Gives a clear and understandable way the digital divide affects reliability of sources	Gives a meaningful and articulate way the digital divide affects reliability of sources