Embracing the Spiral: An Action Research Assessment of a Library-Honors First Year Collaboration

Librarians often use assessment methodologies to evaluate the efficacy and impact of their information literacy instruction sessions and programs. In this article, researchers use an action research methodology to explore the effect of information literacy instruction on first-year honors student assignments. The researchers explain how they implemented multiple cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting in order to better understand student needs, increase the impact of library instruction, and communicate that impact to library and external stakeholders. Robust and cyclical assessment gave librarians and their strategic partners the opportunity to make iterative improvements to instruction, address issues of overconfidence in students, and make the case for additional information literacy instructional opportunities for honors students.