Teaching Tips and Resources for Librarians

Incorporating some form of assessment into your instruction sessions gives you the opportunity to reflect and improve upon your teaching practice and make meaningful, data-driven decisions. It also provides an avenue through which to communicate the impact of your teaching to others. 

There are a variety of tools and methods for conducting assessment and each will result in a different type of data or information. How and what you choose to assess should stem directly from your student learning outcomes.

These assessment techniques can be done on paper or index cards, or using Google Forms, which can be embedded into a course guide.

• Three Things you Learned: At the end of the session, have students write down three things they learned.
• Muddiest Point: Have students write down one thing they are still confused about. You can use this for follow-up instruction.
• One-minute Paper: Give students one minute to write down everything they learned at the end of the session.
• Wrap-up Questions or Pre/Post Tests.
• Online polls or surveys with Qualtrics, Poll Everywhere, Survey Monkey, or Google Forms.

If you have developed a strong,working relationship with a faculty member, additional assessments can also be performed.

• Check sources: Review students' works cited lists for or with faculty.
• Faculty feedback: Ask faculty to reflect and share on observed gains and gaps in student learning.
• Research log; Work with faculty to incorporate a research log into the assignment that you can review.
• Student work samples: Develop a rubric for or with faculty and take part in evaluating student assignments.

Contact lib-instruction@utlists.utexas.edu for more ideas or help with student assessment.

Assessment is an ongoing, cyclical process. Goals are the entry point, and it is important to consider how to "close the loop", by directing findings into actionable steps that feed back into goals.