Purpose & Goals

This poster will present the ongoing research of the ACRL National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Information Literacy Module Review Task Force, which was tasked with revising the “Experiences with Information Literacy” topic module. The NSSE measures first-year and senior undergraduates’ engagement and participation in programs and services at four-year colleges and universities. In 2020 the “Experiences with Information Literacy” topic module was placed on hold to review and realign it with the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. This module offers libraries an opportunity to connect information literacy to student engagement indicators on their campuses. Additionally, it can serve as an outreach tool for librarians with their faculty and campus partners. Revised questions for the topic module were beta tested during the 2023 administration of the NSSE and the finalized module is an option for the 2024 survey. The Task Force work is now focused on the research question, “How can libraries use the assessment results of the NSSE and ‘Experiences with Information Literacy’ module to inform outreach practices and student engagement work?” We hope that this project will help address how libraries can build stronger connections and partnerships with their institutional assessment offices as they are often the responsible parties for the NSSE administration.

Design & Methodology

Assessment and research have driven the work of the ACRL NSSE Task Force thus far. To revise the module, we deployed a survey and ran a focus group of libraries who ran the NSSE “Experiences in Information Literacy” module during its initial iteration. The results of these projects informed the module revision. Beta-testing through the national administration, and in partnership with administrators from NSSE, occurred in spring 2023. The results of that testing informed final revisions of the module. At the time of the conference, we will have institutionally de-identified results from the first initial administration of the revised module. We plan to analyze not only the results of the module questions, but also compare them to the NSSE’s engagement indicators across the main survey. These indicators include Higher-Order Learning, Reflective & Integrative Learning, Learning Strategies, Quantitative Reasoning, Collaborative Learning, Discussions with Diverse Others, Student-Faculty Interaction, Effective Teaching Practices, Quality of Interactions, Supportive Environment. In comparing these indicators with the self-reported data from the IL module, we hope to draw statistical connections to the role of information literacy with student engagement on campuses.

Findings

Beta testing of the modules provided the Task Force with preliminary results about the interaction of information literacy with student engagement questions. For example, analysis using Pearson’s’ Correlation from previous modules indicated positive correlations with moderate effect size to questions connected to the engagement indicators of “Reflective & Integrative Learning” and “Supportive Learning.” We plan to test these correlations and relationships with the results from the revised “Experiences with Information Literacy.”

Action & Impact

The goal of the task force in the next couple of years is to inform the library community about how they can partner with institutional assessment/research on their campuses to add the “Experiences with Information Literacy” module to their local administration of the NSSE. This national survey offers libraries an opportunity to plug into institutional assessment efforts that may already be underway on their campuses. By administering this module, libraries can collect assessment data to support the role of information literacy with student engagement. To this end, the Task Force plans to create a toolkit for libraries who run the NSSE - either with the “Experiences with Information Literacy” module or not - to help use this assessment data as an outreach tool with institutional partners such as Student Life or other student success initiatives.

Practical Implications & Value

In addition to educating the library community about the NSSE and its topical options, we hope to inspire libraries to partner with institutional assessment to connect the work of libraries to larger campus-wide initiatives.