What strategies can be used to assess students' information literacy skills?

Implementing pre- and post-assessments to measure growth is a highly effective strategy for assessing students' information literacy skills. This approach allows educators to establish a baseline of students' knowledge and skill levels before instruction begins, and then compare it to their performance after targeted teaching. The results can provide valuable insights into how much progress students have made in their ability to find, evaluate, and use information effectively.

Pre-assessments can identify specific areas where students may struggle or excel, helping educators tailor their instruction to meet the diverse needs of their students. Post-assessments then evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional strategies employed and demonstrate student learning. This kind of data-driven approach supports continuous improvement in teaching methods and helps in refining the curriculum to better support information literacy development.

Other strategies mentioned, like relying on subjective feedback, using only informal observations, or ignoring assessments altogether, lack the structure and reliability needed to effectively measure growth in information literacy skills. They can lead to inconsistencies and may not provide a clear picture of student understanding or areas needing improvement.