FALL 2010 FIQWS WRITING AND INFORMATION LITERACY ASSESSMENT
January 2011
Assessment of Writing Skills and Information Literacy Skills in FIQWS was conducted
January 13th-January 28th, 2011 by veteran FIQWS composition instructors: Adam
Bubrow, Casey Gordon, MacAdam Smith, Nicole Treska, and Amy Veach. The project
was coordinated by Ana Vasovic, Coordinator for General Education.
Forty final research papers from twenty different FIQWS sections were assessed
(instructors were asked to submit two random papers each) using the General Education
Writing and an Information Literacy rubrics so as to understand where progress has been
made and where struggles still exist in regards to the FIQWS program.
Findings and recommendations
Overall, students’ papers are satisfactory and have improved in clarity and structure from
the previous assessment conducted in Fall 09. Summary of findings and areas that can be
improved are described below:
WRITING
1. Thesis:
An emerging thesis appears in nearly every essay, which is an improvement over
last year’s findings. Students still struggle with articulating the thesis clearly and
creating a thesis statement that merits complex analysis. Thesis statements rarely
articulate opposing viewpoints, because few students develop true, dual-sided,
debatable topics.
2. Structure and Organization:
Introductions and conclusions are in place and competent, though not always
compelling. Every essay has a clear beginning, middle, and end. Organization of
information throughout the body of the essay is weaker. Transitions are most
often missing or ineffective.
3. Evidence and Development:
All students utilized sources related to their topics. Students struggle to really
assess their sources and recognize the bias of the sources. Few students give
counter-arguments. It seems as though students don’t have enough time to
familiarize themselves with the topic and the political landscape about which they
are writing.
4. Mechanics and Style:
Most students are approaching competency in this category. While ESL issues
account for some errors, papers show evidence of difficulty in areas of agreement,
diction, and syntax. In addition to grammar concerns, students at times show
difficulty in articulating complex ideas.
INFORMATION LITERACY
1. Demonstrates a clear understanding of information needs and is able to search
efficiently:
Students show a good variety of sources, some of them from scholarly journals.
Still an over-reliance on Internet sources with no authors specified. Students
struggle with interpreting these sources. Sources are rarely challenged, and often
information is inserted without evaluation.
2. Effectively evaluates information sources:
Students seem comfortable finding sources, and most use at least one scholarly
source. The majority of sources, however, are Internet sources. The credibility of
sources is left unchallenged.
3. Articulates credibility of sources:
The students show very few mentions at all of sources’ credibility, probably
because few experts are used as primary sources. Students mention nothing more
than the name of the author, and often the information is introduced without the
use of any signal phrase.
4. Uses information ethically:
Students seem very conscious of plagiarism and the idea of citations, footnotes,
and bibliographies. Where students struggle is in using the precise format of the
given citation style. Lapses in citation or citation style may be attributed to
students’ lack of skill in documentation rather than ethical issues.
The suggested actions for further improvement are as follows:
-Teachers should introduce strong student essays as examples. Along with sharing the
Writing and Information Literacy Rubrics with students, teachers should produce
examples of Beginning(1), Developing(2), Competent(3), and Accomplished(4) essays.
Those examples may be provided by the teacher, though it was also suggested that
examples be made available directly through the FIQWS program. Perhaps CUNY has
sample papers already in place.
-Content instructors should provide students with clusters of materials to be used as
possible sources for the final papers. While it is important that students learn how to
develop their own, original research question for the final paper, students seemed to have
trouble locating valuable, applicable sources. By asking content instructors to provide
clusters of materials grouped under examples of research paper topics, students could be
more focused in their research, thus learning how to thoroughly analyze and use a source
rather than using a source simply for the sake of fulfilling the requirement of the
assignment.
-Supplemental support for ESL and grammar instruction should be utilized.
Instructors should partner with the Writing Center more actively in trying to reach out to
students struggling with ESL issues (TOEFL certified tutors are available). The idea
of separate ESL FIQWS courses was discussed but ultimately seen as an unfit solution to
the problem, as it would segregate ESL students from the larger student body. Grammar
courseware is available for use at the College.
-Students should be encouraged to use all of the resources offered by the library.
While students seem to be somewhat capable of performing research in the online
databases, little evidence was shown that the students utilized other areas of the library.
Students should be encouraged to look at print sources; students should also feel
comfortable approaching the reference desk for assistance.
-Writing instructors should focus on the value of sources and expertise of the
authors of these sources. One of the most sweeping areas of concern was with the
students’ use of sources. While the content instructor should take lead in guiding
students to quality sources, the writing instructor should refocus his/her energy on
helping students thoroughly analyze sources.
-The plagiarism policy should be clarified for faculty. Many faculty are uninformed
or misinformed about the University’s plagiarism policy and therefore fail to report
plagiarism all together. A FIQWS Faculty handbook will be developed and will
include policies and procedures involving plagiarism.
-Both assessment rubrics should be modified. The Writing Rubric: Suggested
amendments to the language included adding terms such as “development” and
“transition” to the “Structure and Organization” section. It was the feeling of the
assessment team that the sections of each rubric should be divided into more succinct,
observable parts.
-A checklist for students should be composed and posted, along with the rubrics, online
for easy student access. The checklist is currently being composed and is intended for
use as a friendlier version of the rubrics.
In conclusion, it is important to note that the common sentiment was that the papers have
improved in clarity and structure from the previous assessment. The average rubric scores
are shown below and, in comparison with Fall 09 data, they do show an improvement in
students’ writing and information literacy skills.
Note: Scale 1-4 reflects the ability range from the beginning level to the accomplished
level – it is meant as a “college span” scale; it is expected that the majority of freshmen
would not be at the “accomplished” end of the scale.
1 - beginning
2- developing
3 - competent
4 – accomplished
Writing Skills Scores Average
Structure and Evidence and Mechanics
Organization Development and Style
Thesis
Fall 10
2.34
2.41
2.33
2.37
Fall 09
1.86
2.06
2.13
2.10
Information Literacy Scores Average
Understand
info needs/
Evaluate info Credibility of Use info
search
ethically
sources
efficiently sources
Fall 10
2.38
2.19
2.01
2.42
Fall 09
2.23
2.07
1.88
1.99