title: Best methods for evaluating educational impact: a comparison of the efficacy of commonly used measures of library instruction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Libraries are increasingly called upon to demonstrate student learning outcomes and the tangible benefits of library educational programs. This study reviewed and compared the efficacy of traditionally used measures for assessing library instruction, examining the benefits and drawbacks of assessment measures and exploring the extent to which knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors actually paralleled demonstrated skill levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  An overview of recent literature on the evaluation of information literacy education addressed these questions: (1) What evaluation measures are commonly used for evaluating library instruction? (2) What are the pros and cons of popular evaluation measures? (3) What are the relationships between measures of skills versus measures of attitudes and behavior? Research outcomes were used to identify relationships between measures of attitudes, behaviors, and skills, which are typically gathered via attitudinal surveys, written skills tests, or graded exercises.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results provide useful information about the efficacy of instructional evaluation methods, including showing significant disparities between attitudes, skills, and information usage behaviors. This information can be used by librarians to implement the most appropriate evaluation methods for measuring important variables that accurately demonstrate students' attitudes, behaviors, or skills.
authors.affiliation: School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University, 755 West Michigan Street, UL3100A, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. katschil@iupui.edu
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schilling
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Applegate
mesh_terms: D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods*; D003479:Curriculum; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D016245:Librarians; D007993:Libraries, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007998:Library Science / Q000193:education*; D024382:Professional Role; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States