A Novel Assessment Tool for Quantitative Evaluation of Science Literature Search Performance: Application to First-Year and Senior Undergraduate Biology Majors

Abstract

Expertise in searching and evaluating scientific literature is a requisite skill of trained scientists and science students, yet information literacy instruction varies greatly among institutions and programs. To ensure that science students acquire information literacy skills, robust methods of assessment are needed. Here, we describe a novel tool for longitudinal, crossover assessment of literature-searching skills in science students and apply it to a cross-sectional assessment of literature-searching performance in 145 first-year and 43 senior biology majors. Subjects were given an open-ended prompt requiring them to find multiple sources of information addressing a particular scientific topic. A blinded scorer used a rubric to score the resources identified by the subjects and generate numerical scores for source quality, source relevance, and citation quality. Two versions of the assessment prompt were given to facilitate eventual longitudinal study of individual students in a crossover design. Seniors were significantly more likely to find relevant, peer-reviewed journal articles, provide appropriate citations, and provide correct answers to other questions about scientific literature. This assessment tool accommodates large numbers of students and can be modified easily for use in other disciplines or at other levels of education.

Information Literacy Strategies Used by Second- and Third-Year Biology Students

“…While students in this study saw the value of giving credit, they had mixed feelings about citation styles and the process of citing accurately. Other researchers support this finding of increasing awareness but lack of specific skills regarding citation (Blank et al 2016). Citation is, therefore, a logical topic to include in librarian-led instruction.…”

“…Molteni and Chan (2015) found that upper-level health sciences students were over-confident in their abilities to complete research tasks. Blank et al (2016) developed an assessment tool to compare IL skills of first-year and senior biology students and found that seniors had stronger skills in searching peer-reviewed literature, citing articles correctly, and answering other questions about scientific literature correctly. They found that students with senior-level standing were more likely to find "relevant, peer-reviewed journal articles, provide appropriate citations, and provide correct answers to other questions about scientific literature," and first-year students and seniors also indicated different levels of training with such skills.…”