Thanks to all who responded to my call out concerning TRAILS. Here they
are:
I used TRAILS for my 6th graders this years and it yielded very useful
information. I was amazed by how much they DID NOT know. I am sure you
will find the same thing with High School students. This is a very
valuable tool-it has a pre and post test.
>>>
I use the General Assessment test with 9th graders as part of
orientation. Once we have the results, we target their weaknesses for
teaching basic skills. This year I was surprised when most students can
recognized a citation but they don't know if it is a book, magazine or
newspaper being cited. As part of the research paper process, we're
planning extra practice on identifying different sources.
It is excellent. I use it with my sixth graders, ninth graders and
twelth graders. I actually used it as a before and after assessment to
show that info literacy instruction really does impact student learning.
>>>
I have been using it for the last two years with juniors last year and
freshman through juniors this year. The students uniformly do the worst
in the area of evaluating sources. I think it is a great tool to
evaluate the students skills.
Now I am working on creating lessons that can be used to teach all these
skills. I would love to have some online tutorials to use. My skills
are not up to creating them yet. We also use www.easybib.com to have
them do their works cited pages. I think it is also important that we
are able to get the teachers past their dislike of technology as a
substitute for books.
>>>
We have been using parts of it for our freshmen for two years. The
concept is great and it is very user-friendly.
some of the questions are a bit vague or tricky but it gives a good
overall view for testing general knowledge in many areas. I like
it--the kids seem to enjoy it as we let them know it is an assessment
tool, not a test for a grade. We use it to see where their weaknesses
are and then we go from there. I highly recommend it.
>>>
I just found this a couple of weeks ago. I work at a Middle School 6-8.
I like it. It's quick, 25 questions, easy to manage and returns data
that can be used with specific kids or in a general more global
perspective. Kent State used Information Power in helping to develop the
survey/assessment.
>>>
I have used trails and it is quite helpful. The reports show what the
students are not aware of. For example, even though they use it all the
time, they didn't know what Boolean searching was. That appears on our
Ohio Graduation Test, so it's a necessary skill. If you get on the
website, the instructions and help information is very useful. I would
try it out. Even though it's designed for freshman, we used it with
sophomores. Seniors would be able to complete the tests faster, one
would hope. I think when the classes did it, 20 minutes was plenty of
time. I would definitely recommend trying it out.
Thanks again.
Jan Klompmaker
Librarian
Illiana Christian High School
2261 Indiana Ave
Lansing, IL 60438
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