scholarly journals Graduate Students May Need Information Literacy Instruction as Much as Undergraduates

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Elizabeth Miller
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Basic Information ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

A Review of: Conway, Kate. (2011). How prepared are students for postgraduate study? A comparison of the information literacy skills of commencing undergraduate and postgraduate studies students at Curtin University. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 42(2), 121-135. Abstract Objective – To determine whether there is a difference in the information literacy skills of postgraduate and undergraduate students beginning an information studies program, and to examine the influence of demographic characteristics on information literacy skills. Design – Online, multiple choice questionnaire to test basic information literacy skills. Setting – Information studies program at a large university in Western Australia. Subjects – 64 information studies students who responded to an email invitation to participate in an online questionnaire, a 44% response rate. Of those responding, 23 were undergraduates and 41 were postgraduates. Methods – Over the course of two semesters, an online survey was administered. In order to measure student performance against established standards, 25 test questions were aligned with the Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy Framework (ANZIIL) (Bundy, 2004), an adapted version of the ACRL Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2000). In the first semester that the survey was administered, 9 demographic questions were asked and 11 in the second semester. Participants were invited to respond voluntarily to the questionnaire via email. Results were presented as descriptive statistics, comparing undergraduate and postgraduate student performance. The results were not tested for statistical significance and the author did not control for confounding variables. Main Results – Postgraduate respondents scored an average of 77% on the test questionnaire, while undergraduates scored an average of 69%. The 25% of respondents who had previous work experience in a library achieved average scores of 79%, in contrast to 69% among those who had not worked in a library. Average scores for undergraduates in the 20-30 age group were 81%, while those in the 30-40 age group averaged 65%. Among both undergraduate and postgraduate students, scores may indicate deficiencies in information literacy skills in several areas, including parsing citations, strategies for locating specific content, and defining an information need. Conclusion – The study concludes that postgraduate students’ information literacy skills may be marginally better than the skills of undergraduates. Age was found to be associated with higher performance among undergraduate students, and a variety of “basic” information literacy skills may elude many respondents. These findings might prompt librarians and instructors to look closely at gaps in information literacy knowledge among students at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level.

An assessment of information literacy skills among first-year postgraduate students at Sokoine University of Agriculture Tanzania

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mugyabuso J. F. Lwehabura
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Concept Maps ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Independent Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Literacy Knowledge ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

This study was set to examine and identify some aspects of information literacy skills among postgraduate students at Sokoine University of Agriculture and determine challenges and problems facing them in terms of searching and use of various information resources. Systematic probability sampling and questionnaires were used to collect data from175 students out of 314 first-year postgraduate students registered. The findings showed that although information literacy exists among students, a good number of students demonstrated significant deficiency in their information literacy knowledge and skills in key aspects including searching for information from electronic sources, application of various information search techniques such as Boolean operators, use of truncation, synonyms and concept maps. Based on the findings, the paper recommends addressing the shortcomings found by introducing a mandatory information literacy course for both postgraduate and undergraduate students to ensure effective independent learning among students.

scholarly journals Teaching Foundational Data Skills in the Library

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Beauchamp ◽  
Christine Murray
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Data Literacy ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Reference Services ◽  
Effective Teaching Strategies

In Databrarianship: The Academic Data Librarian in Theory and Practice, edited by Linda Kellam and Kristi Thompson. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2015.Undergraduate students often struggle when asked to locate, evaluate, and use data in their research, and librarians have an opportunity to support them as they learn data literacy skills. Much of the literature on data librarianship in this area focuses on data reference services, but there is a lack of scholarship and guidance on how to translate data reference expertise into effective teaching strategies. In this chapter, the authors will bridge that gap between data reference and information literacy instruction.

Information Literacy among Undergraduate Students in Nigeria

2016 ◽  
pp. 1314-1327
Author(s):  
Stella E. Igun ◽  
Jessa Precious Odafe
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
State University ◽  
Statistical Tool ◽  
Needed Information ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

This paper examined information literacy skills among undergraduate students in Nigeria. The scope of the study covered two departments in Delta State University, Abraka namely: Library and Information Science and Guidance and Counselling. The study was limited to final year students of the two departments. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study and the population was 517. 103 or 20% of the population of 517 were sampled for the study. 97 questionnaires were retrieved and used for the study. Simple percentage and frequency count statistical tool was used to analyze the data. The study found out that ability to use information effectively to accomplish a task, ability to recognize the needed information, ability to access the needed information effectively and efficiently and ability to evaluate information critically are the information literacy skills possessed by some of the undergraduate students in Nigeria. The study recommended that information literacy education and electronic/digital information skills should be included in the curriculum of the undergraduate students in the universities.

Information Literacy

2011 ◽  
pp. 1178-1182
Author(s):  
Elaine Fabbro
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Lifelong Learners ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Need For Information

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education defines information literacy as the ability to recognize the need for information, and be able to locate, evaluate, and use the information effectively (2000, p.2). Information literacy is essential in the creation of lifelong learners (Wallis, 2005, p. 221). Educators struggle continually to ensure that students are not only able to successfully navigate through the plethora of information available, but that they are able to think critically about information, and put it to use in all aspects of their lives. Information literacy skills instruction can serve as a method to help meet this goal. However, in order to provide information literacy instruction it is necessary to fully understand the concept and all it entails, including how it can be implemented and the benefits it offers to students, educators, and higher education institutions as a whole.

scholarly journals What Five Minutes in the Classroom Can Do to Uncover the Basic Information Literacy Skills of Your College Students: A Multiyear Assessment Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ma Lei Hsieh ◽  
Patricia H. Dawson ◽  
Michael T. Carlin
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Access ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Honors Students ◽  
Basic Information ◽  
Research Writing ◽  
Start Time ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
Improve Instruction ◽  
The Impact

Objective – Librarians at Rider University attempted to discern the basic information literacy (IL) skills of students over a two year period (2009-2011). This study aims to explore the impact of one-session information literacy instruction on student acquisition of the information literacy skills of identifying information and accessing information using a pretest/posttest design at a single institution. The research questions include: Do different student populations (in different class years, Honors students, etc.) possess different levels of IL? Does the frequency of prior IL Instruction (ILI) make a difference? Do students improve their IL skills after the ILI? Methods – The librarians at Rider University developed the test instruments over two years and administered them to students attending the ILI sessions each semester. The test was given to students as they entered the classroom before the official start-time of the class, and the test was stopped five minutes into the class. A pretest with five questions was developed from the 1st ACRL IL Standards. A few demographic questions were added. This pretest was used in fall 2009. In spring 2010, a second pretest was developed with five questions on the 2nd ACRL IL Standards. Students of all class years who attended ILI sessions took the pretests. In 2010-2011, the pretest combining the 10 questions used in the previous year was administered to classes taking the required CMP-125 Research Writing and the BHP-150 Honors Seminar courses. An identical posttest was given to those classes that returned for a follow-up session. Only the scores from students taking both pretests and posttests were used to compare learning outcomes. Results – Participants’ basic levels of IL skills were relatively low. Their skills in identifying needed resources (ACRL IL Standards 1) were higher than those related to information access (ACRL IL Standards 2). Freshmen in the Honors Seminar outperformed all other Rider students. No differences were found in different class years or with varying frequencies of prior IL training. In 2010-2011, students improved significantly in a few IL concepts after the ILI, but overall gains were limited. Limitations – Many limitations are present in this study, including the challenge of developing ideal test questions and that the pretest was administered to a wide variety of classes. Also not all the IL concepts in the test were adequately addressed in these sessions. These factors would have affected the results. Conclusions – The results defy a common assumption that students’ levels of IL proficiency correlate with their class years and the frequency of prior ILI in college. These findings fill a gap in the literature by supporting the anecdote that students do not retain or transfer their IL skills in the long term. The results raise an important question as to what can be done to help students more effectively learn and retain IL in college. The authors offer strategies to improve instruction and assessment, including experimenting with different pedagogies and creating different posttests for spring 2012.

scholarly journals A Report on Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Information Literacy Competencies in Journalism and Mass Communication Programs: The ACEJMC Survey

2005 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 294-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annmarie B. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
Mass Communications ◽  
Perceptions Of Students ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

This article presents the results of a survey done of the faculty of programs fully accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) in 2002–2003. The purpose of the survey was to assess the faculties’ perceptions of their students’ information literacy skills as defined by the ACRL standards adopted in 2000. Faculty reported that most of their graduate students met the ACRL criteria for information literacy, but only some of their undergraduate students could be considered information literate by these standards. Faculty also reported consistent improvement in their students’ research process after receiving library instruction.

scholarly journals AN EXAMINATION OF INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS ON THE USE OF LIBRARY INFORMATION RESOURCES AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY IN ADAMAWA STATE

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Quantitative Method ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
Literacy Skill ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Level Of Use ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
High Level

This study investigates the information literacy skill on the use of library information resources among undergraduate students in Adamawa State. The objectives of the study are to find out the level of information literacy skill of undergraduate student in Adamawa state, to determine the level of use of the information resources and to determine the challenges faced in the use of these information resources. Quantitative method of data collection was used using survey research design. The study revealed that most of the student has high level of information literary skill and they use information resource for academic purposes to a high extent, it was revealed from the findings that inadequate current reading and research materials are the major problem facing the use of information resources in University libraries in Adamawa.

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