Instruction: September Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Are you effectively assessing your library instruction? Do the students in your classroom understand the concepts you are teaching? Does your instruction have an impact on student learning? These are all important questions that every instruction librarian should be asking. Many of us struggle with determining what to assess and the best way to do it. Finding adequate time to plan assessment activities in the midst of everything else we do can sometimes be overwhelming. Yet effective assessments can help us create more meaningful instruction experiences for our students and illustrate the impact of the library on student learning at our institutions. In tight financial times sharing this information is particularly important.

During the coming year look for the CARLI Instruction Committee to provide guidance for developing assessments for your library instruction beginning with a webinar series this fall and culminating with the spring forum. We will help you answer questions from the broad to the specific: What do I assess? How do I write effective assessments? What assessment activities are most meaningful in the classroom? What is a CAT? (And we aren't talking about felines in the library!) We look forward to helping you discover the answers to these questions and more. Stay tuned!