A Critical Conversation about Assessment of Student Learning in Academic Libraries

Over the past decade conversations about the methods academic libraries and institutions of higher education more broadly use to support and assess student learning have become more prevalent, and we believe that trend will continue for the foreseeable future. Indeed, the recent Academic Library Impact report encourages librarians to identify metrics related to student learning to demonstrate value and to enhance the quality of the teaching and learning experience at our institutions. While assessment of learning can provide us with powerful indicators related to student learning and surface individual and collective elements of success, it can have unintended negative consequences for particular student populations when we do not carefully consider how it intersects with our core values of equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice. In other words, assessment can potentially reinforce privileged identities and practices and harm students with identities that have traditionally been marginalized in higher education. In this panel discussion, we approach the assessment of student learning with a critical lens, identifying ways in which we can ensure that we explore and enhance the student learning experience in ways that can benefit minoritized student populations. Our panelists will use the following questions as a springboard for this discussion to help academic librarians make informed decisions about how to assess student learning with a critical and equitable lens.
Questions that the panelists will be asked to consider include:
How do you approach the assessment of learning from a critical perspective?
What does this look like in practice?
How might the assessment of learning (for example, the use of learning analytics) reinforce stereotypes or harm marginalized student populations?
What steps can libraries take to mitigate the risk of reinforcing stereotypes or harm marginalized populations through assessments of learning?
What considerations have you, your library, or your institution given to ensuring that equity, diversity and inclusion are more fully incorporated into assessing student learning?
How have you used what you have learned using critical assessment approaches to inform your work with students and instructors?
How do you approach the idea of adding value to our institutions/campuses with a critical lens or perspective? How do you define the value that librarians add to the teaching and learning experience?
What are some helpful resources or tools for our colleagues who like to approach the assessment of student learning with a critical lens?

Panelists:
Nicole Branch, Co-Interim University Librarian and Associate University Librarian for Learning & Engagement
Veronica Arellano Douglas, Instruction Coordinator, University of Houston
Kyle Jones, Assistant Professor, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Principal Investigator for Data Doubles