Library Assessment of Student Learning

The Chalmer Davee Library adopts the following information literacy standards developed by the Association of College and Research Libraries as our student learning outcomes. A UW-River Falls graduate will be able to: 

• Determine the extent of information needed
• Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
• Evaluate information and its sources critically

The library’s core activities of information literacy instruction, supplemented by on-demand reference and consultation services, form the foundation of our teaching and learning program.

Individual librarians conduct student learning assessment projects as important components of specialized library instruction developed for particular sets of students and their specific information needs.

The library measures student learning both directly and indirectly. Routine indirect measures include faculty evaluation of each information literacy instruction session for its effectiveness in teaching students the information literacy skills they need for the course. Also, direct observations of information seekers by librarians provide useful insight into the effectiveness of our efforts. The library periodically employs direct measures of student learning in the classroom as well.

The library uses assessment findings to inform the revision of lessons and learning objects in deliberate efforts to measurably improve student learning.