The critical-thinking engineering information literacy test (CELT): a validation study for fair use among diverse students

Information literacy and lifelong learning are essential for engineers as they constantly renew and expand their knowledgeand skills to keep abreast with the development of new technologies. However, the lack of validated information literacyassessments relevant for engineering students makes it difficult to determine how well those students are acquiring neededinformation literacy skills. We describe validity evidence for the Critical-Thinking Engineering Information Literacy Test(CELT), an instrument designed to assess students’ information literacy associated with critical thinking in an engineeringcontext. By examining psychometric properties of CELT through Rasch modeling applications, we present evidence ofappropriate and fair use of CELT among first-year engineering student populations. From our analysis, we find that CELTis appropriate for use in the classroom to assess information skills associated with critical thinking among first-yearengineering students, when students’ experience with English language is part of their score interpretation. We discussspecific recommendations for use with students who have little experience learning in an English language environment.