Rubrics May Be a Useful Tool for Assessing MLIS Student Learning Experiences

A Review of: Adkins, D., Buchanan, S. A., Bossaller, J. S., Brendler, B. M., Alston, J. K., & Moulaison Sandy, H. (2021). Assessing experiential learning to promote students’ diversity engagement. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 62(2), 201–219. https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis.2019-0061 Abstract Objective – To develop a rubric to assess diversity awareness and professional socialization through in-person or online experiential learning for online MLIS students. Design – Exploratory case study. Setting – School of Information Science & Learning Technologies, University of Missouri. Subjects – Six experiential learning projects designed to promote diversity and professional socialization for online MLIS students. Methods – The authors developed a rubric in order to evaluate the characteristics of several experiential learning projects. The major themes that were measured in the rubric were identified through a comprehensive literature search, and these included Professional Socialization, Service Orientation, Values Orientation, and Diversity & Inclusion. The authors also added three original accessibility factors that they considered relevant from a practical approach: time, money, and geographic mobility. Main Results – The rubric was successfully applied to several ongoing experiential learning projects, as well as to a new project. The authors concluded that it provided a useful framework for assessing the accessibility and estimated value of these experiences. Conclusion – The rubric seems to be a useful start to assessing experiential learning. However, more research is needed to ensure that it is actually measuring the domains that it is intended to measure. This study only focused on whether the rubric could be applied, whereas future studies should assess its accuracy. The rubric may be useful for curriculum evaluation and planning, accreditation, tenure/promotion, and instructor self-assessment.