Measuring Foundational Inquiry Skills in First-Year College Composition Courses

• In Event: Exploring First-Year Experiences

Abstract

Foundational inquiry skills (FIS) are a critical component of the first-year composition course. Understanding how to navigate resource repositories, assess the quality of information, synthesize source material, and communicate information with stakeholders are critical FIS that ensure future academic success regardless of discipline. Furthermore, these FIS are increasingly critical to students’ ability to engage as responsible social citizens both inside and outside the classroom space. Despite the importance of these skills, current tools to measure students’ FIS are primarily disciplinary focused and/or lack validation. Utilizing multiple years of pre, post, and retrospective-pre data, this paper uses Rasch measurement theory to construct and validate a FIS scale that can be leveraged in inquiry-based first-year college classrooms across the disciplines.

Authors

• Josh R. M. Parsons, University of Kentucky
  Presenting Author

• Jannell C. McConnell Parsons, University of Kentucky
  Presenting Author

• kathryn Kohls, University of Kentucky
  Presenting Author

• Shannon O. Sampson, University of Kentucky
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jim Ridolfo, University of Kentucky
  Non-Presenting Author