Assessment in Fieldwork Courses: What Are We Rating?

摘要

Fieldwork exists as a component of many library schools' curricula. Site supervisors, students, and the schools themselves all play a role. A final part of most fieldwork experiences involves the use of an evaluation form filled out by a site supervisor about the student. In this study, forty seven evaluation forms were collected and analyzed through inductive content analysis in order to discern the attributes that are used to rate students. Attributes were compared to the ALA Core Competences of Librarianship and grouped into related subject-categories. Findings show that form content varied widely and few forms captured all tenets of the Core Competences. Recommendations include a new all-encompassing evaluation form that can be tailored to many different field-work experiences, and suggestions for future study on fieldwork.