Article

A systematic review of evidence on psychometric properties of information literacy tests

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Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to present the results of a systematic review of the evidence on psychometric properties of information literacy (IL) tests. Design/methodology/approach A two-stage search strategy was used to find relevant studies in two subject and three general databases. A descriptive review of test characteristics and psychometric properties was presented. The review included 29 studies describing psychometric properties of 18 IL tests. Findings It was found that the classical test theory was applied for all tests. However, the item response theory was also applied in three cases. Most of the psychometric tests were developed in the USA using ACRL IL competency standards. The most commonly used psychometric analyses include content validity, discriminant validity and internal consistency reliability. Research limitations/implications Only studies in English language are included in this review. Practical implications The study recommends that standards should be developed for the use and reporting of psychometric measures in designing IL tests. Librarians need to be trained in psychometric analysis of tests. Originality/value It is the first study that systematically reviewed psychometric properties of IL tests. The findings are useful for librarians who are teaching IL courses.

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... Measures of knowledge, usually multiple-choice tests, are another common way to measure IL (see Mahmood, 2017;Walsh, 2009 for reviews). These are less reliant on students' more or less accurate self-assessments, and they tend to be relatively easy to administer and score. ...
... These are less reliant on students' more or less accurate self-assessments, and they tend to be relatively easy to administer and score. Despite their popularity, relatively few of these measures have been psychometrically evaluated (Mahmood, 2017), and some of the more thoroughly evaluated measures are only commercially available and, therefore, less accessible to most IL practitioners. ...
... Another peculiarity of the literature on the development and evaluation of IL tests is the reliance on internal consistency measures of reliability, in particular Cronbach's alpha. Of the 16 studies reviewed by Mahmood (2017), 14 report alphas, while only four report temporal consistency (i.e., test-retest reliability). Given the aforementioned lack of factor analytic evidence regarding the dimensionality of IL tests, and the seemingly pervasive construal of IL as a multifaceted construct in extant definitions and frameworks, this is potentially problematic. ...
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This study touches upon three major themes in the field of information literacy (IL): the assessment of IL, the association between IL knowledge and skills, and the dimensionality of the IL construct. Three quantitative measures were developed and tested with several samples of university students to assess knowledge and skills for core facets of IL. These measures are freely available, applicable across disciplines, and easy to administer. Results indicate they are likely to be reliable and support valid interpretations. By measuring both knowledge and practice, the tools indicated low to moderate correlations between what students know about IL, and what they actually do when evaluating and using sources in authentic, graded assignments. The study is unique in using actual coursework to compare knowing and doing regarding students’ evaluation and use of sources. It provides one of the most thorough documentations of the development and testing of IL assessment measures to date. Results also urge us to ask whether the source-focused components of IL – information seeking, source evaluation and source use – can be considered unidimensional constructs or sets of disparate and more loosely related components, and findings support their heterogeneity.
... Reliability and validity are the fundamental concepts for the classical response theory. Whereas the item response theory models the association between latent traits and responses to test items (Mahmood, 2017a). The reporting of psychometric characteristics of data collection instruments utilized in a particular research study ensures readers about appropriate utilization and interpretation of the scale. ...
... The common definitions of different types of reliability and validity measures were used by the authors for data extraction and its interpretation. These definitions given in Table 2 were adopted from similar studies in the area of information literacy (Mahmood, 2017a(Mahmood, , 2017b. Table 2 Definitions of reliability and validity measures adopted in the review ...
... The extent that measures of constructs that are theoretically unrelated and are independent of one another. Sources: Adopted from Mahmood (2017aMahmood ( , 2017b ...
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This systematic review examined the evidence of psychometric properties of scales available in studies reporting surveys measuring information related anxieties such as library anxiety, information seeking anxiety, and information anxiety. A systematic search in four databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, LISA, and LISTA was carried out using the keywords 'library anxiety', 'information anxiety', 'information seeking anxiety', and 'information seeking' AND 'anxiety'. This review included those studies reporting the use of any scale measuring information related anxiety published in the English language and included all type of documents (e.g. journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, theses/dissertations, research reports). The screening process resulted in 45 studies meeting the eligibility criterion. The extracted data included author names, year of publication, type of scale used, scale title, background, type of construct assessed, number of items in the scale, scale origin, studies reporting use, studies contributing psychometric information, scale availability, and psychometric properties reported. The results indicated nine instruments assessing information-related anxieties. The classical test theory was applied for eight instruments. No psychometric properties were reported for a single instrument. Most psychometric instruments were developed in the United States. Face/Content validity through experts, construct validity through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and internal consistency reliability through Cronbach alpha was the most commonly used psychometric analysis. None of these studies applied the Rasch model of modern item response theory for psychometric examination. This review has serious implications on the inferences drawn by the practitioners and researchers based on the earlier assessment of information related anxieties. It suggests the development of standards for not only designing new psychometric tests but also for the use and reporting of such tests. This study contributes to the existing research on information-related anxieties by systematic reviewing the evidence of psychometric properties as no such study available so far.
... The results further corroborate with the work of Mahmood (2017). The purpose of Mahmood's (2017) was to present the results of a review of the evidence on psychometric properties of information literacy tests. ...
... The results further corroborate with the work of Mahmood (2017). The purpose of Mahmood's (2017) was to present the results of a review of the evidence on psychometric properties of information literacy tests. The study found that the most commonly used psychometric analysis included content validity, discrimination validity and internal consistent reliability. ...
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Background: The validity and reliability of research outputs are important elements of the research trail. They drive accuracy, transparency, and minimize researcher biases, contributing to rigor and dependability. This paper reviews the frequency of published articles reporting the psychometric properties of the scales/subscales employed in educational research. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of psychometric properties in educational research papers published between 2010 and 2020 from 15 education-related journals. In our search, we included quantitative studies with primary data. The methodological quality assessment was performed using trained reviewers. The search was conducted using PRISMA 2020 to identify, screen eligible papers for inclusion. The extracted was analyzed using SPSS v25 while reported and interpreted in descriptive statistics. Findings: We extracted 763 papers published between 2010 and 2020 from 15 education-related journals. More than half of the articles reviewed did not report either validity (n=456 out of 763, 59.8%) or reliability (n=400, out of 763, 52.4%) statistic. For those reporting either validity or reliability, the alpha coefficient was the most widely used statistic to establish reliability (n=185, 50.9%) and correlation coefficient was frequently reported (n=219, 71.3%) for validity. Conclusions: The paper concluded that to produce dependable conclusions and recommendations in educational research, it is imperative for researchers to pursue psychometric properties to ground their findings and take-home learning. Keywords: validity, reliability, educational research, psychometric properties
... With regard to the validation of the quality of the assessment instruments, the classical test theory was applied in most of the tests identified, and the most commonly performed analyses were content and discriminant validity and internal consistency reliability [59]. Therefore, experts argued the need to have free available assessment instruments for measuring IDL, performing a more effective assessment, validated and independent of the domain and the context [57]. ...
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Until recently, most of the digital literacy frameworks have been based on assessment frameworks used by commercial entities. The release of the DigComp framework has allowed the development of tailored implementations for the evaluation of digital competence. However, the majority of these digital literacy frameworks are based on self-assessments, measuring only low-order cognitive skills. This paper reports on a study to develop and validate an assessment instrument, including interactive simulations to assess citizens’ digital competence. These formats are particularly important for the evaluation of complex cognitive constructs such as digital competence. Additionally, we selected two different approaches for designing the tests based on their scope, at the competence or competence area level. Their overall and dimensional validity and reliability were analysed. We summarise the issues addressed in each phase and key points to consider in new implementations. For both approaches, items present satisfactory difficulty and discrimination indicators. Validity was ensured through expert validation, and the Rasch analysis revealed good EAP/PV reliabilities. Therefore, the tests have sound psychometric properties that make them reliable and valid instruments for measuring digital competence. This paper contributes to an increasing number of tools designed to evaluate digital competence and highlights the necessity of measuring higher-order cognitive skills.
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How information literate are students in higher education, and how accurate is their metacognition related to that ability? Are students’ perceived needs to learn more and their level of interest in becoming information literate related to their pursuit of information literacy (IL) skill development? First-year undergraduates, master’s, and PhD students ( N = 760) took an objective IL test and estimated their scores both before and after the test. IL ability, as well as students’ estimation of their IL ability, increased with higher education experience and IL test experience, though also varied notably within groups. Low-performers tended to overestimate their abilities, while high-performers tended to underestimate them—both evidence of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Furthermore, gender comparisons revealed that men tended to estimate higher, and more accurate, scores than women. Finally, PhD students reported greater interest in becoming information literate than undergraduates. Although undergraduates felt a greater need to learn more, PhD students were more inclined to pursue IL growth. For both groups, interest in becoming information literate correlated far more with their likelihood to invest effort into developing IL competencies than their perceived need to know more. What implications might these findings have for how we conceptualize the teaching of IL?
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Psychometrics and measurement are important for all aspects of psychological research and especially so in social/personality psychology. This volume provides conceptual and practical foundations in scale construction and psychometrics for producers and consumers of social and personality research. It covers basic principles, practices, and processes in scale construction, scale evaluation, scale use and interpretation of research results in the context of psychological measurement. It explains fundamental concepts and methods related to dimensionality, reliability, and validity. In addition, it provides relatively non-technical introductions to special topics and advanced psychometric perspectives such as Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Generalizability Theory, and Item Response Theory. Social/personality research is often grounded in effective measurement, but poor measurement can and does compromise the meaningfulness of psychological research. This volume is intended to raise awareness and understanding of issues that will enhance even further the generally good conduct and interpretation of research in social and personality psychology. This text will be perfect for all advanced students and researchers in social and personality psychology using psychometrics or measurement as part of their studies or research.
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Information literacy is defined as the capacity to identify, locate, evaluate, use, create, store and index information. This article deals with the assessment of information literacy. Therefore a list of skills an information literate person should possess in the 21st century was developed. Based on these indicators, multiple-choice tests were developed which focus on the target groups of pupils, university students, teachers and researchers. With these tests it is possible to assess the knowledge in terms of information literacy.
Article
This pilot study was developed to determine if the University’s students were proficient in information literacy (IL) based on the requisite skills defined by ALA (2000), to define faculty and student perceptions and behaviours related to IL and to test an evaluation rubric using empirical inquiry and triangulated methods. Findings suggested that not all students ( n =164) had satisfactory IL skills even at the senior student level. While 4th year college students (seniors n =91) fared better on an IL survey when compared to 1st year college students (freshmen n= 53), analysis of the senior students’ theses led researchers to believe that students were most likely not skilled in this area, and had an inflated opinion of their own IL abilities. Overall, students felt they were less IL challenged compared to the faculty’s ( n= 55) observation of the IL challenges experienced by the students. Students’ self-assessment of their literacy skills may have been coloured by the propensity of the faculty to over-edit students’ papers rather than simply providing constructive feedback, thus altering the natural end result. These authors used a triangulated approach including thesis review, comparisons between student and faculty survey responses and comparison of findings from the theses and the student and faculty surveys. Findings and discussion of methodology will hopefully provide valuable lessons for those interested in assessing students’ IL.
Article
BACKGROUND Bullying is a significant problem in schools and measuring this concept remains problematic. The purposes of this study were to (1) identify the published self-report measures developed to assess youth bullying; (2) evaluate their psychometric properties and instrument characteristics; and (3) evaluate the quality of identified psychometric papers evaluating youth bullying measures. METHODSA systematic review of the literature was conducted using 4 electronic databases. Data extraction and appraisal of identified instruments were completed using a standardized method and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. RESULTSThirty-one articles describing 27 self-report instruments were evaluated in our analysis. Quality assessments ranged from 18% to 91%, with 6 papers reaching or exceeding a quality score of 75%. Limited evidence supporting the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of existing youth bullying measures was identified. CONCLUSIONS Evidence supporting the psychometric soundness of the instruments identified was limited. Many measures were in early development and additional evaluation is necessary to validate their psychometric properties. A pool of instruments possesses acceptable initial psychometric dependability for selected assessment purposes. These findings have significant implications for assessing youth bullying and designing and evaluating school-based interventions.
Article
Purpose – This paper aims to report on the development of an information literacy test for German psychology students. Design/methodology/approach – The test consists of 22 items covering two facets of information literacy (searching for information and evaluating information) which are mapped on Standards Two and Three of the information literacy framework provided by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL, 2000). A sample of N =64 German psychology students including n =22 freshmen, n =21 advanced students and n =21 PhD students completed the test. The freshmen and advanced students also performed an academic literature search task. Findings – The test has acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha between 0.73 and 0.82). An analysis of variance showed that PhD students scored higher than advanced students, who, in turn, scored higher than freshmen. Additionally, the score on the first scale (Evaluating) showed a significant relationship with the performance on the academic literature search task. Practical implications – The test can be used to determine training needs among German psychology students, or to evaluate instruction programs. Originality/value – The new measure is the only standardized information literacy test for German-speaking populations for which psychometric properties have been reported.
Article
Purpose Since the education of Master of Science students in the discipline of agriculture is catalectic without libraries, the present paper seeks to assess the information literacy competency (ILC) of post graduate (PG) students at Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India, along with the impact of instruction initiatives in this respect. Design/methodology/approach Based on the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology, 2006, an instrument was developed with 79 scoring items in the first part of the questionnaire along with non‐scoring items in the second part. Broad headings of the questions asked are shown in detail. Validity and reliability of the instrument are also reported. Findings Information literacy competency of PG students has been found satisfactory along with significant difference between the first and second year students. Results of the paper distinguish between the first and second year students in the light of five information literacy (IL) standards along with other considerations. Various instruction initiatives were found to have a positive impact upon the ILC of PG students. Practical implications Since the study has been able to establish a positive relationship between instruction initiatives and ILC, such initiatives may be introduced in other academic institutions. Originality/value None of the earlier reported research instruments had used science and engineering/technology IL standards, especially upon PG students in agriculture. This study further paved the way for the development of such an nstrument along with assessing the ILC of PG students and impact of instruction initiatives in an agricultural university.
Thesis
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-directed learning and information literacy. Participants completed the Personal Orientation in Self-Directed Learning Scale ([PRO-SDLS], Stockdale, 2003) and the Information Literacy Test ([ILT], James Madison University, 2003). The PRO-SDLS is a self-report scale consisting of 25 statements about self-directed learning preferences in college classrooms. The ILT is a 60-item multiple-choice test that assesses the information literacy skills of college students. Correlation, ANOVA, and multiple regressions were used to test relationships and differences between self-directed learning and information literacy. Despite claims that teaching information literacy creates self-directed learners, composite scores on the PRO-SDLS and the ILT indicated no statistically significant relationship exists. Likewise, no statistically significant differences were found between the bachelors, masters, or doctoral level participant scores. While composite scores on the PRO-SDLS did not predict scores on the ILT, there was a negative, statistically significant relationship between the Initiative factor on the PRO-SDLS and ACRL (2000) Information Literacy Competency Standard 5 – Ethics & Understanding sub-scale of the ILT. Implications for practice and suggestions for further research are proposed along with discussions and conclusions.
Article
Purpose With 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/approach The 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. Findings The 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 implications The process described here offers a method for librarians without a background in assessment to develop their own statistically valid and reliable instrument. Originality/value One 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.
Article
Librarians and learning researchers at Central Michigan University collaboratively developed an online tool that assesses how student research attitudes and perceptions correlate to their actual research skills in order to educate them about state-of-the-art library resources and prepare them to write high-quality research papers. This article describes the reasons for developing the assessment as well as the design process and technical characteristics.
Article
on a project to develop an instrument for program-matic-level assessment of information literacy skills that is valid—and thus credible—to university administrators and other academic person-nel. Using a systems approach for test development and an item re-sponse theory for data analysis, researchers have undertaken a rigor-ous and replicable process. Once validated, this instrument will be ad-ministered to students to assess entry skills upon admission to the uni-versity and longitudinally to ascertain whether there is significant change in skill levels from admission to graduation. biblical parable on the virtue of tenacity tells of a widow who repeatedly beseeches a judge to grant her request. Fi-nally, the judge, although not sympathetic to her cause, grants her request lest she eventually exhaust [him] with her com-ing. In the golden age of higher educa-tion, when expansion was rapid and funding abundant, the widow's tech-nique may have been effective. In the cur-rent era of finite resources and increased fiscal accountability, however, when li-braries plead their cases for resources to support their information literacy pro-grams, persistence alone does not suffice.
Article
In an era of easy access to information, university students who will soon enter health professions need to develop their information competencies. The Research Readiness Self-Assessment (RRSA) is based on the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, and it measures proficiency in obtaining health information, evaluating the quality of health information, and understanding plagiarism. This study aimed to measure the proficiency of college-age health information consumers in finding and evaluating electronic health information; to assess their ability to discriminate between peer-reviewed scholarly resources and opinion pieces or sales pitches; and to examine the extent to which they are aware of their level of health information competency. An interactive 56-item online assessment, the Research Readiness Self-Assessment (RRSA), was used to measure the health information competencies of university students. We invited 400 students to take part in the study, and 308 participated, giving a response rate of 77%. The RRSA included multiple-choice questions and problem-based exercises. Declarative and procedural knowledge were assessed in three domains: finding health information, evaluating health information, and understanding plagiarism. Actual performance was contrasted with self-reported skill level. Upon answering all questions, students received a results page that summarized their numerical results and displayed individually tailored feedback composed by an experienced librarian. Even though most students (89%) understood that a one-keyword search is likely to return too many documents, few students were able to narrow a search by using multiple search categories simultaneously or by employing Boolean operators. In addition, nearly half of the respondents had trouble discriminating between primary and secondary sources of information as well as between references to journal articles and other published documents. When presented with questionable websites on nonexistent nutritional supplements, only 50% of respondents were able to correctly identify the website with the most trustworthy features. Less than a quarter of study participants reached the correct conclusion that none of the websites made a good case for taking the nutritional supplements. Up to 45% of students were unsure if they needed to provide references for ideas expressed in paraphrased sentences or sentences whose structure they modified. Most respondents (84%) believed that their research skills were good, very good, or excellent. Students' self-perceptions of skill tended to increase with increasing level of education. Self-reported skills were weakly correlated with actual skill level, operationalized as the overall RRSA score (Cronbach alpha = .78 for 56 RRSA items). While the majority of students think that their research skills are good or excellent, many of them are unable to conduct advanced information searches, judge the trustworthiness of health-related websites and articles, and differentiate between various information sources. Students' self-reports may not be an accurate predictor of their actual health information competencies.
Article
To appraise the reported validity and reliability of evaluation methods used in high-quality trials of continuing medical education (CME). The authors conducted a systematic review (1981 to February 2006) by hand-searching key journals and searching electronic databases. Eligible articles studied CME effectiveness using randomized controlled trials or historic/concurrent comparison designs, were conducted in the United States or Canada, were written in English, and involved at least 15 physicians. Sequential double review was conducted for data abstraction, using a traditional approach to validity and reliability. Of 136 eligible articles, 47 (34.6%) reported the validity or reliability of at least one evaluation method, for a total of 62 methods; 31 methods were drawn from previous sources. The most common targeted outcome was practice behavior (21 methods). Validity was reported for 31 evaluation methods, including content (16), concurrent criterion (8), predictive criterion (1), and construct (5) validity. Reliability was reported for 44 evaluation methods, including internal consistency (20), interrater (16), intrarater (2), equivalence (4), and test-retest (5) reliability. When reported, statistical tests yielded modest evidence of validity and reliability. Translated to the contemporary classification approach, our data indicate that reporting about internal structure validity exceeded reporting about other categories of validity evidence. The evidence for CME effectiveness is limited by weaknesses in the reported validity and reliability of evaluation methods. Educators should devote more attention to the development and reporting of high-quality CME evaluation methods and to emerging guidelines for establishing the validity of CME evaluation methods.
The development and validation of all Four TRAILS (Tool for Real-Time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills) tests for K-12 students”, PhD dissertation
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Thinking beyond technology: using the iSkills assessment as evidence to support institutional ICT literacy initiatives
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Using the SAILS test to assess information literacy
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Assessing information literacy: creating generic indicators and target groupspecific questionnaires
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