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An investigation into pre-service teachers' information evaluation skills at a large university suggests that formative assessment can improve student performance. Pre-service teachers were asked to apply information evaluation skills in the areas of currency, relevancy, authority, accuracy and purpose. The authors compared the pre-service teachers’ and researchers’ evaluations and used Perreault and Leigh’s Index of Reliability to analyze final projects from two semesters. When asked to evaluate the sources cited in a final project for an Education methods course, pre-service teachers who received formative feedback from librarians improved in most information evaluation areas. Formative assessment is explored as a tool for improving information literacy instruction.
This is an electronic version of an article published in Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, Volume 30, Issue 2, 2011. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp. DOI: 10.1080/01639269.2011.565405
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sara_fry/11/