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This study aims to investigate the effects of the use of symbols in the development of young children's ability to form questions in mainstream early‐childhood education. Hypotheses examined whether the use of graphic symbols help 3. 5‐5 year‐old students to increase the number of questions and the number of words in the questions asked for a particular subject.

Following an experimental design approach, an experimental (EG) and a control group (CG) of children, matched to age (4:2) and to their ability to make questions (pre‐test), attended an instructional programme. The EG used Widgit Symbols and the CG the traditional methods used by educators to teach questioning. Data collection involved pre and post oral assessment tests, which measured the number of questions and the length of questions in role play activities.

Findings of the study showed that symbols have positively affected children's ability to make questions. The EG scored higher than the CG on variables examined, and the within groups improvement (pre to post test) was again higher for the EG.

The paper discusses some possibilities of a lengthier implementation of the use of symbols and their effect on language acquisition.

The study raises some considerations about the development of new teaching methodologies with the use of symbols and Information Communication Technology to enhance language development and maximize learning for all learners.

Usually emphasis is placed on the use of symbols as a means of assistive technology (AT) for the accommodation of the needs of children with disabilities. This paper is an effort to cover a gap in literature and emphasize on the benefits of AT in general learning environments for all children.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

The paper provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an annotated bibliography of resources on the topic of academic librarians collaborating with English composition faculty and instructors for the implementation of information literacy instruction into English composition courses.

In order to find relevant resources for the bibliography, the author consulted a library catalog, the WorldCat database, to find books not available in the local library, and databases to find journal articles. Databases consulted include a general database, an information science‐related database, and a library and information science‐related database.

Whenever librarians collaborate with English composition faculty for information literacy, students' information literacy skills are improved.

This bibliography is limited to the time period 1998‐2007. Articles and books published before 1998 are not included. Also, popular magazines articles and newspapers articles are not included.

This paper will be helpful to academic librarians who want to collaborate with English composition faculty members for information literacy instruction. Several examples of this type of collaboration are provided.

This paper is a useful contribution on this topic to the library literature. Particularly, it contributes to the library literature pertaining to information literacy. Also, a database search indicates that this paper is the first annotated bibliography on its topic.

The purpose of this paper is to explore more agile and effective learning processes that help identify potentially high-performing staff during workplace training.

To test the efficacy of the learning-oriented assessment (LOA) process in workplace training, a pharmaceutical sales organization implemented an online training over three months that was modeled with the LOA process. During work hours, employees within the organization took two tests (one before and after training) as well as participated in training with essential work-related content, where they were given problem sets and scenarios to complete that would vary based on their responses. Their assessment scores, formative learning behaviors and quarterly revenue were recorded to determine the effects of the training.

The outcome of this study supported the theory that the LOA model would facilitate the acquisition and application of knowledge differentially between employees of the organization, and this knowledge would serve to improve the performance of the employees to the extent that it increased revenue.

This study was a field experiment that did not allow for the control of possible confounds. However, the real-world real people outcomes provide novel insights on best practices in workplace training.

The findings of this study showed the short-term effectiveness of the LOA process in professional knowledge acquisition and application in relevant skills that increase organizational revenue.

This study provides an applied understanding on the applicability of the LOA process in workplace learning and training which has not been previously investigated.

The purpose of this paper it to determine the effectiveness of “single‐session” information literacy instruction as it was integrated into the curriculum of a general education course at Monmouth University, New Jersey.

Two types of assessment instrument were used: a pre‐ and post‐test to measure any changes in learning outcomes of information literacy (IL) concepts after an IL instruction (ILI) session, and a student survey conducted after the post‐test. Installed on the course management system, these assessments were administered by teaching faculty over three semesters.

Single‐session ILI had a positive if not dramatic impact on learning outcomes. The pre‐ and post‐test instrument was able to show specific strengths and weaknesses in the students' comprehension of IL concepts. And the survey revealed that most students believed that their ILI was valuable.

The paper did not employ a control group – a common practice in similar studies – although doing so could result in richer data and would conform the paper to general practices.

The results of this assessment study concur with other research that supports the position that single‐session ILI has a measurably significant positive effect on student learning outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the strategies and an effective model for creating and implementing a sustainability internship program at a university campus.

This study assessed Western Michigan University’s sustainability program’s interns’ gain of environmental knowledge on sustainability topics via pre- and post-test assessments. A sample of 50 interns between fall 2016 and spring 2019 comprising six cohorts participated in this study. Data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences to calculate descriptive statistics and sign tests.

The sign tests of the accumulative internship pre- and post-test assessment scores significantly increased for all 14 sustainability knowledge dimensions.

The pre- and post-test assessments of the internship program are unable to track and predict the long-term behavior changes of the interns after the completion of the program. Therefore, a future longitudinal study is needed.

This sustainability internship program’s content and experiential learning model has been proven to be effective in increasing interns’ knowledge of sustainability issues and creating sustainability stewards. Institutions and universities should consider creating their own sustainability internship program based on Western Michigan University's program using pre- and post-test assessments as a method of evaluation.

The internship programs’ main strength is that it offers students from all academic backgrounds an opportunity to dig deep into sustainability issues, build new social networks, gain knowledge, develop leadership skills, become sustainability stewards and immediately apply what they have learned on campus and in their local community. On-campus internships are unique learning opportunities worthy of study and refinement.

This research paper is unique because it analyzes the combined pre- and post-test scores of six cohorts of interns’ across multiple knowledge dimensions of sustainability. This study empirically shows that the combined interns’ sustainability knowledge across all dimensions significantly increased from the pre- to post-test over the semester-long program.

The purpose of this study is to obtain preliminary evidence over a three‐year period on the efficacy of a curriculum designed to foster information literacy skills in graduate students in a chemistry bibliography course.

Specifically, the researchers examined the application and results of an assessment tool and its connectivity to instructional strategies for improving literacy outcomes. ACRL's “Information literacy competency standards for higher education” provided the basis for the construction of the assessment tool. The instrument was given to chemistry graduate students enrolled in the course at the beginning and at the end of the semester.

The assessment results from all three years indicated marked improvements in the average student score from the pre‐ to the post‐test. The assessment provided evidence of skill development over the course of the semester for specified outcomes.

The research would have been strengthened by the use of a valid control group of graduate students in related chemistry majors who were not enrolled in the class. The extended study would have supplied rates of improvement in the control group over a given period of time compared with rates of improvement of students enrolled in the class.

The paper provides methods for approaching the assessment of information literacy skills by focusing on tool development based on desired learning outcomes.

The study developed, refined and applied a methodology to assess student information literacy skills based on learning outcomes over a three‐year period. The literature lacks reports of studies looking at the assessment of information literacy development of graduate students in the sciences as well as the use of “backward design” in creating evaluative tools.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the results of a study that assessed whether students learned information literacy concepts after taking the interactive online Tutorial for Information Power (TIP).

The methodology and design involved a pre‐ and post‐test assessment of students who completed an online tutorial.

Students who spent more time working through the tutorial had a statistically significant increase from their post‐test to their pre‐test scores.

Statistically significant results reported from this study are of interest to the educational community involved with the teaching and assessment of information literacy.

This study offers a successful model for evaluating student learning from an online tutorial.

This study is one of the few in the literature addressing the assessment of information literacy and online tutorials.

Assessment for learning (AfL) or formative assessment is an idea widely embraced by the education field; however, it is recognised as difficult to practice at classroom. This paper, with a case study, explores how an action research activity, learning study, helps a group of teachers in Hong Kong transcend some assessment boundaries and develop assessment tools that are more conducive for student’s learning. As guided by variation theory, a distinctive feature of learning study is its intensive use of formative assessment tools, including pre- and post-tests and interviews with students, to provide feedback to teaching and evidence of learning. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how teachers learn to use the formative assessment tools to overcome practical problems in teaching and improve their instruction.

A case study was conducted. Data collected included field notes on classroom observations, records of meetings, students’ interviews and students’ writings in both pre- and post-tests. The general framework for qualitative data analysis by Miles and Huberman (1994) guided the data analysis process with the foci on the change in teachers’ perceptions and improvement of their skills in adopting formative assessment tools.

Although the initial aim of conducting learning study was examination-driven, i.e., to improve the students’ performance in an external examination, it became evident over time that teachers participating in the inquiry process had gained a better understanding of making use of the assessment results as feedback to improve student learning and their instruction. This constituted an ideal case for studying the learning process of the teachers as they practiced AfL and transcend some conventional assessment boundaries in an authentic classroom situation.

This is one of the scarce studies, which demonstrates how the assessment elements of learning study, i.e. pre/post tests and student interviews, can be integrated into the working practice of teachers as a form of AfL and become an integral aspect of classroom practice.

This study aims to examine the instruction of basic information literacy (IL) skills taught to the socio‐economically disadvantaged students in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at Rider University in summer 2011. The study set out to determine how the beginning IL levels of EOP freshmen differ from those of other freshmen, their learning outcomes, and retention of IL as a means to improve future research instruction.

Faculty of a speech communication class and two librarians collaborated in integrating IL in the class assignments of the 2011 summer EOP program. The assessment tools include identical pre‐ and post‐tests, a second post‐test with different multiple correct answer questions, a survey about students' perceptions of their IL training, and the teaching faculty's observations of EOP students' research skills.

EOP freshmen are equivalent to the peer freshmen in their low levels of IL skills. The findings suggested that EOP freshmen complete IL instruction with stronger IL skills. The second post‐test revealed that many students were confused about some basic IL concepts. Faculty's observation of students' information literacy skills concurs with the pre‐ and post‐tests.

This study fills a void in the literature on recent research of information literacy skills of socio‐economically disadvantaged college students. The multi‐correct answer questions employed are valuable but rarely employed in studies or discussed in the literature. The collaboration of faculty and librarians in assignment design is valuable as an increasing number of faculty are utilizing librarians to teach the necessary IL skills needed in today's curricula.