Alterna(veAssessmentstoDevelopInforma(onLiteracyDrKatherineJ.Haxton

k.j.haxton@keele.ac.uk@kjhaxtonSchoolofChemicalandPhysicalSciences,KeeleUniversity

“To be information literate, a person must be able to recognise when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.”1

Ensuringourgraduateshavetheabilitytoevaluateinforma(onasbeing‘fake’or‘authen(c’seemsmoreimportantthaneverintheAn#-ExpertBrexitTrumpianEra.Informa(onliteracycanbethoughtofasakeytransferrableskillandinit’sdevelopment,provideopportunitytogainawiderangeofothertransferrableskillssuchaswriLenandoralcommunica(on,(memanagementandtheabilitytointeractwithotherpeople,akeyrequirementofRSCaccredita(on.2Byselec(ng‘non-tradi(onal’assessmentformatssuchasinfographics,screencastpresenta(ons,magazinear(clesandgroupprojects,studentscandeveloptheseskillswhileresearchingtopicsofpersonalinterestaswellasrelevancetotheprogrammeofstudy.GivingstudentsmorecontroloverthetopicandnatureofassessmentcanleadtogreaterengagementwiththetaskandgreateraLainment. Formoreinforma+on:bit.ly/AltAssess

FurtherInforma+on:themodularsystemhasbeenexploitedtofulladvantagetocreateasequenceofassessmentsacrossthreeyearsandfoursemesterstodevelopwriLen,oralandgraphicalpresenta(onskills,andinforma(onliteracy.In1styear,studentsareencouragedtocri(quetheiruseofinforma(on,par(cularlythatfoundonline,andengagewithscien(ficjournalar(cles.Assessmentinvolvesthecrea(onofshortreportsiden(fyingandcorrec(ngincorrectchemicalinforma(onontheInternet,iden(fyingthekeycomponentsofeverydayitems,anessaywriLeninthestyleofanEduca(oninChemistryar(cle,andascreencastpresenta(on.Eachassignmentbuildsontheprevious,anduseoffeed-forwardisrequired.Agroupprojectin2ndyearincludesgrouppresenta(onsandabusiness-orientedreport,thenaninfographicin3rdyearallowsstudentstoengagewithkeyconceptsrelatedtotheircourseandfocusonsummarisinginforma(ongraphically.Theseassessmentsfollowonfromoneanotherwithcommonvaluesaroundreferencing,presenta(onandwri(ngstyleandshowhowalterna(veassessmentstylescansuccessfullybeembeddedthroughoutaChemistryCurriculum.

References:1.  AmericanLibraryAssocia(on(ALA)Presiden(alCommiLeeonInforma(onLiteracy(1989)

Online.Availableat:hLp://www.ala.org/acrl/publica(ons/whitepapers/presiden(al[Accessed08/17]

2.  RoyalSocietyofChemistryAccredita(onRequirementsAvailableat:hLp://www.rsc.org/images/Accredita(on%20criteria%202017-%20update%20july%2017_tcm18-151306.pdf[Accessed08/17]

3.  Johnston&Webber,2003.Informa(onliteracyinhighereduca(on:Areviewandcasestudy.StudiesinHigherEduca(on,28(3),335–352.

4.  Waller&Schultz,2005,HowtoSucceedatuniversityinGGEESdisciplines.Availableat:hLps://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/resources/how_to_succeed_in_gees_0.pdf[Accessed08/17]

*Addi+onalMaterial:Ifyou’dliketoknowmoreabouttheseassignments,pleasevisit:bit.ly/AltAssess

Informa+onLiteracyStep3,4 SkillsDevelopedYear1 Year2 Year3

Someonewaswrongontheinternet*

WhatAmI?Infographic*

ScreencastPresenta+on*

SustainableChemMagazines

IndustrialChemGroupProject

(ChemistrySME)

Infographics*

IDENTIFYtheneedforinforma(onanddefinethetypeofinforma(onthatwouldbemostsuitable.

Analysetheassessmentbrief Theassessmentbrief(wriLen,orin-personpresenta(on,orscreencast)outlinestheguidelinesandmarkingcriteria.Studentsusethistodefinethetypesofinforma(onrequiredtocompletethetaskintherequiredformat.

LOCATEinforma(onusingappropriatesearchenginesandspecialistdatabasesandscreeningtodeterminewhetheraccesstothesourceisavailable.Acommonpilallistoexcludeoldersources,andsourcesnotreadilyavailableonline.

Searchstrategies SearchEngine,textbooks

GoogleScholar,ChemSpider

GoogleScholar,SearchEngine

GoogleScholar,SearchEngine

SearchEngine,WebofScience,Google

Scholar

WebofScience/GoogleScholar

Assessingreliabilitytodeterminebestsources

dodgywebsites,textbooks

journals various various various journals

ACQUIREthatinforma(onindigitalor‘dead-tree’formatfromlibraries,onlinerepositories,andpublishers

Naviga(ngaccessrequirements

web publisherwebsites,ChemSpider

EVALUATEtheinforma(onisessen(altoverifythequalityofthesourceandit’srelevancetothetaskinhand.

Repor(ngInforma(on X X XSummarisinginforma(on X X X XCri(quinginforma(on X X XGenera(ngNewIdeas X X X

APPLYtheinforma(ontocompletethetask.Thisincludessynthesisngtheinforma(onintoawriLenoutput,analysingandrepresen(ngtheinforma(oningraphicalforms,andusingspecificsoowaretodelivertheassignedtask.

GraphicalPresenta(onSkills ChemicalStructureDrawing

Slides/VisualAids Figures Slides/VisualAids ChemicalStructureDrawing

OralPresenta(onSkills Individual GroupWriLenPresenta(onSkills Report X Magazinear(cles Report

ACKNOWLEDGEthesourceoftheinforma(onusinganappropriatereferencingsystem.

Referencing,aLribu(on,ethicalissues

RecommendedformatistheRSCVancouverstyle.Allimages,videos,soundsunlesscreatedbythestudenttobeproperlyacknowledgedandawarenessofcopyright/publicdomain/crea(vecommonslicensesdemonstrated