CARL Pre-Conference
Beyond
Usage Statistics: WASC and Library Contributions to Educational Effectiveness
and Student Learning
April 21, 2006
Panelist: Tom Carter
1.
How have you and
your library been involved in the WASC process?
I
saw the WASC visit as an opportunity: 1) To draw the Collegeís attention to the
issue of library resources by associating resources with student learning, and;
2) To promote the integration of the library into student learning through
information literacy instruction.
Background: Saint Maryís College Library had been
found lacking in resources and space over the space of several WASC
visits. The new WASC standards,
especially in standards 2 and 3, assume that library resources and services
contribute to educational effectiveness.
a.
I volunteered to serve
on the WASC Preparatory Review steering committee, about 35 faculty and staff
from across campus.
b.
I chaired the Standard 3
team, focusing on resources and organization,
c.
I co-wrote the Standard
3 self study, which examined (among other things) adequacy of library
resources.
d.
I also co-chaired the
Collegeís Educational Effectiveness Review team on alignment of resources with
the College mission (Catholic, Lasallian, Liberal Arts), and co-wrote the self-study.
Another
important benefit ñ besides contributing to the Collegeís self studies, my
service on these teams also educated other parts of the campus about the
library and our resource needs vis a vis our competitors, and engendered
support beyond the academic side of the campus for improving library resources.
2.
What impact is
your library having on educational effectiveness, student learning, and
furthering the college or universityís mission?
Educational
effectiveness (support for academic programs)
I
didnít have any direct evidence that library resources and services contributed
to student learning, so I tried an indirect approach. I decided to look for evidence of how well Saint Maryís
Library resources and services were contributing to educational effectiveness
at the level students our needed and at the level the College was aspiring
to. I did this by linking external
measures of student learning and engagement to SMC Library resource and service
outputs, and then benchmarking these output measures, like circulation volume
per student, number of volumes owned per student, staffing positions per 1,000
fte, and collections expenditures per student, with the peer institutions we
like to compare ourselves with (West Coast Conference schools).
a.
Correlations between
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the College Senior Survey
(CSS) data and the library.
…
NSSE ñ I correlated SMC
studentsí reported high level of academic challenge with comparatively low
level of library resources and services.
…
CSS ñ I correlated
several years of poor satisfaction with ìlibrary facilitiesî with the level of
resources and services.
b.
I showed a correlation
between low circulation rates and a poor collection compared with other WCC
schools. Affirmed by Link+ interlibrary
borrowing statistics and database use.
c.
I linked a low number of
open hours and reference hours to staffing shortages.
d.
I illustrated continued
student interest in the Library by showing modest increases in reference
questions, circulation, database use, information literacy sessions, and gate
count.
Student
learning (the libraryís information literacy program)
a.
We developed a tutorial
(based on ACRL standards) to extend our information literacy program with less
impact on staff. The tutorial
includes pre-tests and post-tests, which show improvement in learning (at least
in the short term).
b.
Bibliography studies,
both to show faculty the level of resources their students use and to assess
whether students use a higher level of resources after information literacy
instruction.
3.
How else do you
think your library can have an impact on educational effectiveness, student
learning, and furthering the college mission?
…
Every five years each
SMC program undergoes a program review process to assess its effectiveness
in teaching and learning. A part
of that program review is an assessment of library resources and the extent to
which they address the learning outcome of information literacy instruction. Getting information literacy more
explicitly addressed in the program review standards beginning next year will
improve our educational effectiveness.
…
A process to look at
revising the core curriculum has begun at SMC, and this affords an
opportunity to better integrate information literacy instruction into the
curriculum. We intend to use our
ACRL derived learning goals, plus the WASC standards and any evidence we can
accumulate on the effectiveness of our instruction, to argue for an information
literacy component in any revised core curriculum.
4.
Has thinking
about the libraryís impact on educational effectiveness, student learning, and
furthering the college mission made a difference in planning at your library?
The library has a strategic plan that we revise every
three years or so. Weíre in the
midst of revising it now, and WASCís focus on assessment and evidence is
helping us focus on including an assessment in most of our major goals. We are more aware of the need for
assessing what we do in the context of student learning, and of gathering
evidence to support our effectiveness and resource proposals.
5.
Where have you
been able to find support for these activities?
Our Provost has been most supportive in encouraging
the libraryís efforts to integrate information literacy into the
curriculum. Our challenge is to
persuade the faculty of the value of our information literacy goals to their
students and their programs.
a.
A 10-year plan to
increase resources and staffing was approved by campus Budget Committee. This results in more money for
collections and staffing.
b.
Greater awareness among
faculty about information literacy instruction.