Case Study: Implementing a Sustainable, Long-Term Student Learning Assessment Program

Abstract

This case study offers a model and set of practical approaches to implementing a sustainable, long-term student learning assessment program. While many academic libraries assess student learning outcomes, and the literature offers a variety of techniques and models for doing so, librarians can still struggle to build this activity into an ongoing practice. The Campus Library at the University of Washington Bothell developed a multiyear program that aimed to make assessment routine, predictable, and manageable. Strategies for developing a flexible assessment plan, managing the process of creating student learning outcomes, writing rubrics, assessing outcomes collaboratively with librarians and faculty, and using assessment results to make changes to the information literacy curriculum are discussed.