As a part of the redesign of the Introduction to Theological Education course, BSK Theological Seminary pre- and post-tested students in the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 sections of the course using “Module 3: Research & Scholarship” from ACRL’s Threshold Achievement Test for Information Literacy (TATIL). The aim was primarily to get a sense of the Information Literacy competencies had upon entering (or early in their seminary careers) and to gauge development in a short timeline. This was a largely successful trial despite some mixed results and limitations. The results and conclusions of this study will aid the seminary to improve both Information Literacy Instruction (ILI) and program assessment. An overview of the testing process, high level testing results, and recommendations will be included in this session.
Learning Outcome
Assessment of ILI can be vague: a primary aim of this session to offer attendees a sense of the return on investment for this particular tool/set of instruments. Secondary takeaways would be to get attendees to be motivated to imagine ways to assess ILI in their contexts and to consider what the timeline for this type of skill building might be.
Audience Engagement
Other than the standard Q and A time (as well as questions during the presentation) I would hope to include a limited amount of live polling to engage more than eyes and ears. Demonstrative slides and data visualization will be included. For better or worse, this is very much a “what we did, why we did it, and how it turned out” style proposal.
