Retreat on Core Competencies: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy

Targeting Critical Thinking and Information Literacy in General Education Writing Assignments

One of the most effective and efficient strategies for assessing critical thinking and information literacy across the undergraduate curriculum is to use existing written assignments generated in general education courses. But, assessing essential learning outcomes across courses raises interesting challenges. This session will explore strategies for creating effective CT-IL rubrics that can be applied to diverse assignments but yet yield generalizable results. Participants will also examine the features of writing assignments that facilitate the assessment of CT-IL outcomes.

Critical Conversations: Standardized and Embedded Assessments of CT across the Curriculum

Teaching and assessing CT and related skills often involves negotiating multiple perspectives and priorities, including disciplinary, methodological, and practical. We will explore disciplinary differences in defining CT, methodological and practical obstacles to teaching and assessing CT within programs and in the general education, and potential solutions. Examples of standardized and embedded assessments will be shared. Strategies for facilitating faculty, student, and overall institutional engagement in CT and related skills development and assessment will be discussed.

Creating Coherent Pathways for Quality Learning

One of the three components of the WASC redesign is a focus on making clear the meaning of the degree; addressing what graduates are expected to know and be able to do, and at what level of proficiency, at each degree level. This session focuses on strategies and models for creating coherent pathways for students’ information literacy and related intellectual and practical skills embedded in the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of their academic programs.

Promoting Information Literacy though Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions in our Classrooms and Programs

Critical thinking and information literacy are essential skills for success in the workplace. In this session we will examine ways to integrate information literacy based pedagogical strategies that promote the effective evaluation of sources, build students’ ability to conduct successful information and source searches, and engage students in thinking critically about the ethical use of information. Applied examples from courses
and program assessments will be offered as case studies.

It takes a Village: Creating a Culture to Support Critical Thinking in the Digital Age

Massive amounts of unfiltered, unedited information – that some liken to trying to drinking from a fire hose – and others have called infoglut – has led to an intellectual laziness in information consumption patterns. Seeking instant information gratification, students can often be indiscriminate and uncritical consumers. How do classroom faculty work collaboratively with librarians and other academic partners on campus to break down silos and create user centered, technology rich, active learning environments that engage students and help them become intelligent consumers in the digital age.

Integrated Course Design for Teaching and Learning Strategies

We know it’s not just about what we teach, but how we teach, and how we intentionally create co-curricular experiences that support student success. This session will focus on the role of faculty as teachers and on faculty support for pedagogical approaches that not only integrate information literacy learning outcomes within the context of the discipline, but do so while aligning course learning outcomes with active learning
activities and authentic assessments.

Empowering Students as Researchers: Teaming Up to Teach Critical Thinking and Information Literacy across the Disciplines

One great challenge in undergraduate education is teaching students how to effectively engage the research process. This session will provide an indepth illustration of how faculty and librarian teams operationalized critical thinking and information literacy skills as a basis of conducting research across different disciplines. Participants will consider how similarities and variations in skill sets can be examined across disciplinary case studies at lower and upper division undergraduate levels. Each case will show how the teams empowered students as researchers through CT-IL skills’ application.

Embedding and Assessing Critical Thinking and Information Literacy in Online Courses

While online learning approaches continue to morph and evolve (through MOOCs and badges, etc.), the idea of distance and/or blended learning formats continue to resonate as an effective mode for course and program delivery. Core skills and dispositions, such as critical thinking and information literacy, are essential skills for higher education and workplace success, regardless of delivery modality. In this session we will examine ways to embed assignments and assessments that address critical thinking and information literacy in the online format. Participants are encouraged to come with specific questions/scenarios and to be willing to share success stories!

Leveraging Existing Assessment Practices to Measure Information Literacy

Campuses already assess learning in the major. These practices can be used to intentionally assess the integrated intellectual skills of oral and written communication, critical thinking, and information literacy. In this session, participants will explore how culminating experiences such as capstones, portfolios, research projects, signature assignments, comprehensive examinations, and authentic performances already in use, can provide evidence that can be analyzed for information literacy as well as for other outcomes, both content and skills.

A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Creating Valid Task-based Assessments of Critical Thinking

The key to obtaining solid evidence of student learning is to craft assessments that provide students the opportunity to successfully demonstrate their mastery of targeted learning objectives. This session is ideal for those who would like to practice the craft of designing authentic assessments of critical thinking for the classroom or for use on a larger scale throughout the institution. Participants will experience the phases of developing a task-based CT assessment activity including: the identification of authentic source materials, development of thinking question prompts, and training in scoring real student responses using a holistic CT skills and dispositions rubric.

Strategies for Assessing Critical Thinking across the Institution: Developing and Implementing a Rubric

What are effective strategies for developing a critical thinking rubric for your campus? CSU Northridge developed a rubric for university wide yet disciplinary sensitive assessment of critical thinking. We will discuss the strategy we used and consider other strategies. When your campus is ready to assess critical thinking, how will you decide what is the best strategy for implementing it with programs and faculty? In this session we also will discuss strategies for integrating institutional learning outcomes assessment into program level assessment plans.

Assessments that Scale: Information Literacy Rubrics and Standardized Tests

What assessment methods will generate the kind of evidence you need, and how can they be incorporated into overall assessment of student’s information literacy when they leave us? This session will introduce some specific information literacy rubrics and share case studies for how they have been used. It will also provide an overview of the suitability of different standardized tests and how they address information literacy.