Intended Student Learning Outcome #1

This assessment was for the first SUNY Learning Outcomes in Information Management.

  • Students will perform the basic operations of personal computer use.

Geneseo Learning Outcomes in Information Management

Students will demonstrate the ability to

  • Identify, access, and use the basic operating system features of a personal computer.
  • Identify, access, and operate the appropriate software for a given task.
  • Access and navigate the Intranet.
  • Access, navigate, and evaluate information and resources on the Internet.
  • Use a computer to communicate with others.

SUNY Learning Outcomes in Information Management

Students will:

  • perform the basic operations of personal computer use;
  • understand and use basic research techniques; and
  • locate, evaluate, and synthesize information from a variety of sources.
Alignment with institutional mission and goalsPlease type text in boxes below. They will expand as needed.
College Mission Reference


Relevant College Values ReferenceLearning: Embracing high expectations for intellectual inquiry, critical thinking, scholarly exploration, and personal growth.
Relevant Strategic Plan Focus Area
Relevant Program Goal or Learning OutcomeGeneral Education
First Means of AssessmentPlease type text in boxes below. They will expand as needed.

Procedures & Criterion for

Success

  • Under the heading of "Information Management,” Geneseo assesses only the first of the three SUNY learning outcomes listed above. Geneseo assesses the second and third SUNY outcomes under the heading of Basic Research.
  • To assess students' ability to perform the basic operations of personal computer use, Geneseo averages each student's score on the five Geneseo Learning Outcomes in Information Management listed above. In 2020-2021, Milne Library administered a computer-based information literacy pre-test/post-test in a library skills tutorial. The assessment contained questions that directly assessed the students’ use of technology, which was used to assess this outcome. The tutorial format was used for this assessment given that the College was partially in a period of remote learning.
  • In total, 218 first-year students participated in the assessment as a requirement for their Basic Communication course (INTD 105). The groups of students took the tutorial at various points throughout the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters.
Assessment Results

Results

 

Perform the basic operations of personal computer use

Exceeding

16%

Meeting

65%

Approaching

14%

Not Meeting

5%

N=218

Reflection on Results

The librarians assessed this competency using an online tutorial due to the pandemic. The tutorial allowed us to reach students in a partial period of remote learning and made it so we did not have to gather students in a computer lab space. In the past, one of our challenges was encouraging INTD 105 faculty into the library’s computer lab to take the assessment. In order to facilitate better engagement, we used the tutorial to supplement or replace our traditional library workshops in any online sections of INTD 105. In Fall 2021, the tutorial was offered only as a supplement to in-person instruction and a few professors required their students to complete the tutorial.

Generally, there was improvement seen in the students’ basic computer use since 2018. A part of this could be accredited to students spending more time in computer-mediated learning environments during the 2020–2021 academic year.

While students continue to increasingly demonstrate competency with basic computer use, we need to consider if and when in the curriculum we should include computer literacy skills. While certainly students are entering college with more technical skills, they are not necessarily receiving training in using specific software packages. This may present a challenge as students’ understanding and use of technology continues to evolve and differ from the technological conventions used by faculty.

Summarize departmental discussion of assessment results. (Discussion Guidelines) Have you made, or are you considering, any changes (to courses, programs, co-curriculum, use of other campus resources) in light of assessment results?  If so, please describe the changes below.

  • As we move toward new information management learning outcomes, the faculty needs to decide if INTD 105 is an appropriate place to assess information management. Given that many academic programs incorporate more specific forms of technology use in their respective majors, it may be more beneficial to assess it in upper-level courses after students have better adapted to the college environment.
  • A problem with this assessment is that is not a course requirement. In order to gather a larger population of students to assess, it would be beneficial to require faculty to participate in the assessment in the future.
  • As the College moves toward a better understanding of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, there may need to be some consideration given to how we assess students who may require assistive technology or accommodations. This is not something that has been traditionally considered, and it would be worth speaking with the Office of Accessibility in how to be more mindful of accessibility needs in future iterations of the assessment.
  • In future iterations of the assessment, it would be useful to include a self-reflective component of technology use. Specifically, it could be illuminating to ask students about their confidence in utilizing technology and comparing that with the results of the assessment. It would be beneficial to identify areas of technology use in which students’ confidence may not align with their actual abilities.
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