Assessing the reliability and validity of locally developed information literacy test items

Abstract

PurposeWith a call for increased accountability for student learning across higher education, it is becoming more important for academic libraries to show their value to the greater university community with the use of quantitative data. This paper seeks to describe the development of an information literacy test at the University of Arizona to measure student learning in an online credit course. In order to measure the impact of an online course, a test that was statistically valid, and reliable was created by local librarians.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology involved administering test items to undergraduate students enrolled in an online information literacy course and applying both classical test theory and item response theory models to evaluate the validity and reliability of test items. This study included the longitudinal and cross‐sectional development of test items for pre and post‐testing across different student groups. Over the course of two semesters, 125 items were developed and administered to over 1,400 students.FindingsThe creation of test of items and the process of making test items reliable and valid is discussed in detail. Items were checked for construct validity with the use of a national standardized test of information literacy (SAILS). Locally developed items were found to have a higher than average reliability rating.Practical implicationsThe process described here offers a method for librarians without a background in assessment to develop their own statistically valid and reliable instrument.Originality/valueOne of the unique features of this research design was the correlation of SAILS items with local items to test for validity. Although SAILS items have been used by many libraries in the past, they have not been used to create new test items. The use of the original SAILS test items is a valuable resource for instruction librarians developing items locally.