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Summary of Manitowoc Project SAILS Results (1st & 2nd year only)

I. Participation from Manitowoc

•29 credits or under: 21 participants

•30-59 credits: 16 participants

•Other: 3 participants

395 invitations to take the survey were sent to Manitowoc students. 40 students completed the assessment, which is a 10.13% rate of participation, the third largest for a UW Colleges campus.

Results from Manitowoc students were 6% of the UW Colleges total (the fifth largest contribution)

II. Results

A. How did first year Manitowoc students compare to second year Manitowoc students ?

1.) Comparing mean scores using the standard error to identify areas of meaningful differences.

This is the method recommended in the Results of the Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (SAILS) for University of Wisconsin Colleges Administration Fall 2014.

The accuracy of the average score calculation is affected by sample size and variability. Small samples or large variability can reduce the accuracy of the score calculation. In those cases, the standard error is larger. (Standard error is the combination of sampling error and measurement error.) (p.6)

To determine whether two groups are meaningfully different from each other, see whether the ranges of scores overlap. Ranges of scores that do overlap are not meaningfully different from each other; those that do NOT overlap are meaningfully different. (p. 6)

There were meaningful differences in scores between first and second year Manitowoc students for these skill sets:

Second year students scored meaningfully higher than first year students, for these skill sets:

  • Retrieving sources

Second year students were very close to scoring meaningfully lower than first year students for these skill sets:

  • Evaluating sources

There were no meaningful differences in scores between first and second year Manitowoc students for these skill sets:

  • Developing a research strategy
  • Selecting finding tools
  • Searching
  • Using finding tool features
  • Documenting sources
  • Understanding economic, legal, and social issues

Manitowoc hadsimilarnumbers from each group: first year students (21) and second year students (16). Because of this, the size of the standard error for second year students was much larger for some skill sets than it was for first year students.

  • The standard error difference between first and second year students is lowest for the skill set
  • Selecting Finding Tools
  • The standard error difference between first and second year students is largest for the skill sets
  • Using finding tool features
  • Retrieving sources
  • Evaluating sources

Information literacy skill set / S.E. 1ST YR / S.E. 2ND YR / Difference
Developing a research strategy / 11 / 17 / 6
Selecting finding tools / 13 / 16 / 3
Searching / 11 / 19 / 8
Using finding tool features / 14 / 31 / 17
Retrieving sources / 15 / 29 / 14
Evaluating sources / 14 / 33 / 19
Documenting sources / 18 / 30 / 12
Understanding economic, legal, and social issues / 14 / 25 / 11

2. How did the mean average change between the first and second year for Baraboo students?

Baraboomean scores declined between the first and second years for these skill sets:

  • Developing a research strategy
  • Selecting finding tools
  • Understanding economic, legal, and social issues

Baraboo mean scores improved between the first and second years for these skill sets:

  • Using finding tool features
  • Retrieving sources
  • Evaluating sources
  • Documenting sources

Baraboo mean scores stayed about the same between the first and second years for this skill set:

  • Searching

B. How did Baraboo students compare with students from other UW Colleges campuses?

1. First year students and meaningful differences

First year students at Baraboo had meaningfully higher scores than those from other campuses for these skill sets:

  • Developing a research strategy (better than four campuses)
  • Selecting finding tools (better than one campus)
  • Using finding tool features (better than one campus)
  • Retrieving sources (better than one campus)
  • Documenting sources (better than two campuses)

First year students at Baraboo had meaningfully lower scores than those from other campuses for these skill sets:

  • Searching (lower than one campus)
  • Retrieving sources (lower than two campuses)

No meaningful differences in scores between Baraboo and other campuses were found for these skill sets:

  • Evaluating sources
  • Understanding economic, legal, and social issues

Additionally, first year students at Baraboo had meaningfully higher results than the total UW Colleges results for this skill set:

  • Developing a research strategy (shares a border, but no overlap)

2. First year Baraboo students compared to the mean for the UW Colleges

First year Baraboo students scored higher than the UW Colleges mean for these skill sets:

  • Developing a research strategy
  • Selecting finding tools
  • Using finding tool features
  • Retrieving sources
  • Evaluating sources
  • Documenting sources
  • Understanding economic, legal, and social issues

First year Baraboo students scored lower than the UW Colleges mean for these skill sets:

  • Searching

3. Second year Baraboo students and meaningful differences

Second year students at Baraboo had meaningfully higher scores than those from other campuses for these skill sets:

  • Evaluating sources (one campus)
  • Documenting sources (one campus)

Second year students at Baraboo had meaningfully lower scores than those from other campuses for these skill sets:

  • Developing a research strategy (three campuses)
  • Selecting finding tools (three campuses)
  • Searching (two campuses)
  • Retrieving sources (one campus)
  • Evaluating sources (one campus)
  • Understanding economic, legal, and social issues (one campus)

No meaningful differences in scores were found for these skill sets:

  • Using finding tool features

Additionally, second year students at Baraboo had meaningfully lower results than the total UW Colleges results for these skill sets:

  • Developing a research strategy
  • Selecting finding tools.
  • Searching.

4. Second year Baraboo students compared to the mean for the UW Colleges

Second year Baraboo students scored higher than the UW Colleges mean for these skill sets:

  • Using finding tool features
  • Documenting sources

Second year Baraboo students scored lower than the UW Colleges mean for these skill sets:

  • Developing a research strategy
  • Selecting finding tools
  • Searching
  • Retrieving sources
  • Evaluating sources
  • Understanding economic, legal, and social issues

C. How did students from Baraboo compare with those from cohort institutions?

1. The scores of first year students from Baraboowere meaningfully differentfrom those at cohort institutions for these skill sets:

  • Developing a research strategy. First year Baraboo students performed BETTER than students from cohort associates degree granting, U.S. and all institutions.
  • Selecting finding tools. First year Baraboo students performed BETTER than students from cohort associates degree granting institutions.
  • Searching. First year Baraboo students performed BETTER than students from cohort associates degree granting institutions.
  • Using finding tool features. First year Baraboo students performed BETTER than students from cohort associates degree granting, U.S. and all institutions.
  • Retrieving sources. First year Baraboo students performed BETTER than students from cohort associates degree granting, U.S. and all institutions.
  • Evaluating sources. First year Baraboo students performed BETTER than students from cohort associates degree granting, U.S. and all institutions.
  • Documenting sources. First year Baraboo students performed BETTER than students from cohort associates degree granting institutions.
  • Understanding economic, legal, and social issues. First year Baraboo students performed BETTER than students from cohort associates degree granting, U.S. and all institutions.

2. The scores of second year students from Baraboo were meaningfully different from those at cohort institutions for these skill sets:

  • Searching. Second year Baraboo students scored BETTER than students from associates degree granting institutions.
  • Using finding tool features. Second year Baraboo students scored BETTER than students from associates degree granting, U.S., and all institutions.
  • Documenting sources. Second year Baraboo students scored BETTER than students from associates degree granting, U.S., and all institutions.

There were no meaningful differences in the scores of second year Baraboo students from those at cohort institutions for these skill sets:

  • Developing a research strategy
  • Selecting finding tools
  • Retrieving sources
  • Evaluating sources
  • Understanding economic, legal, and social issues

How does Baraboo performance align with the number of information literacy sessions conducted by librarians there?

The following table shows that the ratio of information literacy sessions by FTE students for Baraboo is the fifth highest in the UW Colleges, behind Fox, Sheboygan, Barron, and almost even with Washington.

Campus / 2013-14 Instructional Sessions / Attendance at Sessions / FTE / RATIO SESSIONS/FTE
BRB / 38 / 812 / 353.67 / 0.107445
BRN / 38 / 672 / 328.07 / 0.115829
FDL / 31 / 657 / 514.57 / 0.060244
FOX / 154 / 2,752 / 1104.27 / 0.139459
MAN / 27 / 455 / 360.67 / 0.074861
MTH / 23 / 552 / 769.6 / 0.029886
MNT / 14 / 225 / 276.7 / 0.050596
MSF / 20 / 291 / 373.43 / 0.053558
RLN / 13 / 314 / 293.17 / 0.044343
RCK / 26 / 489 / 714.3 / 0.036399
SHB / 61 / 1,072 / 437.77 / 0.139343
WSH / 69 / 1,250 / 641.8 / 0.10751
WAK / 123 / 2,024 / 1290.8 / 0.09529
Totals / 637 / 11,565 / 7458.82 / 0.085402

Other attachments include

Slides: BRB results by campus 2.14.15

  1. Standard error analysis of meaningful differences between BRB and other campuses
  2. First year students by skill set
  3. Second year students by skill set
  4. Difference in the means between first and second year students: BRB, other campuses, and UW Colleges as an institution by skill set
  5. Table showing the skill sets and difference between the means of first year and second year students at BRB
  6. Table showing number of information literacy sessions during 2013-14 by campus, along with head count attending sessions, fte by campus, and ration session/FTE

Excel file: BRB-results-cohort-1st-2ndyear

  1. Tables of first and second year BRB data, with UW Colleges, Associates, U.S., and all institutions in the cohort, by skill set
  2. Charts for each skill set include
  3. Baraboo first and second year standard error comparisons
  4. BRB first year standard error compared to cohort institutions & UWC total
  5. BRB second year standard error compared to cohort institutions & UWC total

PT/2.15/15