Students university experience and information literacy

1
Students university experience and information
literacy

• Clive Cochrane
• Associate Director of Education
• School of Management Economics
• Queens University Belfast

2
Introduction

• Superficial level as far as the lecturer is
  concerned the students in a class appear to be
  similar same module and level of study
• In reality student diversity is now the norm
• Students taking a particular module present a
  diverse range of characteristics
• Different schools / faculties, degree pathways,
  periods of study, cultures etc.

3
Introduction

• Recent years initiatives to promote information
  literacy
• Ideally there should be evidence of progression
  as students move from their first to their final
  year
• Often there is a gap between rhetoric and
  reality
• Although a group of students in a class may study
  the same module this may be one of the few things
  they have in common.

4
How does a students experience of university
influence competence in and attitudes to
information literacy?
5
Approach adopted

• Case study small class of 13 students taking a
  semester 1 level 3 module
• Information collected in two ways
• Details of all students obtained from their
  online transcripts
• Personalised questionnaires distributed at the
  end of the teaching period
• Each questionnaire listed all modules the student
  enrolled for during the degree.

6
Approach adopted

• For each module a student indicated whether they
  agreed with the following statements
• During the module
• Library staff delivered a session on IL
• Lecturer delivered a session on IL
• Lecturer provided IL resources on QOL
• Student developed IL by undertaking activities
• Assignments formally assessed IL
• Covered - explicit learner support, opportunity
  to practise, assessment
• Five open-ended questions.

7
Findings
8
Diversity in the cohort

• 12 local, 1 international student
• 8 female, 5 male
• 1 registered with disability service
• Enrolled on 5 different degree programmes
• Business Economics, Management French,
  Management Spanish, Management Information
  Systems, Business Information Technology

• Studies embraced 5 academic years Sept 2002 to
  June 2007
• 1 began in 2002, 5 began in 2003 and 7 began in
  20004
• At time of survey 51 different modules studied by
  the students
• By end of 2006-07 64 different modules studied by
  the students

9
Diversity of the cohort
10
Students experience of information literacy

• Interpreting the map (see handout)
• 22 modules - none of the five elements of learner
  support included
• 21 modules 2 or more of the five elements of
  learner support included
• 8 modules 1 element of learner support included
• Some evidence to suggest that learner support
  changed from one year to the next
• Students taking Computer Science and Economics
  modules less likely to be exposed to IL than
  Management modules

11
Students experience of information literacy

• Remember students memories are fallible,
  consequently the map created by their responses
  provides a general impression than an accurate
  picture
• Nevertheless as far as the case study group is
  concerned only 21 out of 51 modules (41),
  completed at the time of the survey, embraced two
  or more of the five elements of information
  literacy support.

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Other issues emerging from the questionnaire

• Lack of explicit learner support from librarians
  embedded in modules perhaps lecturers did not
  ask for this
• Limited explicit learner support from lecturers
  perhaps they assume this is someone elses
  responsibility or students are competent
• Minority of lecturers use Queens Online to
  provide explicit learner support perhaps assume
  that students use library web site
• gt50 of students in the case study claim that
  about half of the modules required them to
  undertake information literacy tasks IL does
  not have to be a required element of every
  module
• Students completing certain degrees have greater
  exposure to information literacy than students
  taking other degrees.

13
Students views

• Statement 1
• As I developed information literacy at school /
  college I encountered no difficulties during my
  first year at university when undertaking
  information literacy tasks for seminars /
  tutorials and assignments.
• The majority did not agree with the statement.
  Some evidence that students developed information
  literacy at school responses indicate that they
  were not adequately prepared for university.

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Statement 1 students views

• I didnt know how to reference. Had never heard
  of journals before, never had used them and
  didnt know how to use databases.
• At school I studied A level IT. As a result I
  have some IT skills which assisted me when using
  online databases etc. However, things such as
  Harvard referencing and information quality were
  new to me

15
Students views

• Statement 2
• During my first year at university all lecturers
  stressed the importance of developing by
  information literacy.
• The majority of students disagreed with this
  statement. There was some evidence that
  lecturers in a few modules provided support for
  learners in a variety of ways.

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Statement 2 students views

• At level 1 only two lecturers really placed any
  emphasis on information literacyThe other
  modules, particularly statistics and economics,
  to my recollection did not make any reference to
  information literacy, perhaps because they were
  100 exam assessed.
• the other three modules required a lot of
  outside information so lecturers stressed that in
  order to get better marks sources other than the
  lecture notes were required.
• although journals might have been listed on
  reading lists I didnt know how to access.

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Students views

• Statement 3
• During my second year at university I was given
  the opportunity to develop my information
  literacy in a variety of ways.
• The responses show that the majority of students
  had the opportunity to develop their information
  literacy during level 2. This was largely due to
  the more challenging nature of assignments.

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Statement 3 students views

• Marketing offered the opportunity to practice
  information search and evaluation as did Business
  Strategy assignment topics required detailed
  research and stipulated a set number of
  references.
• I was required to write more researched essays
  and shown how to use the librarys electronic
  sources.
• However in one degree pathway
• Compared to first year my information literacy
  skills did not appear to develop in any new way.

19
Students views

• Statement 4
• As I am an information literate student
  completing course work and assignments during my
  final year poses no problems for me.
• Students responses indicate that although they
  may not regard themselves as information
  literate, they feel their skills have progressed
  and are improving.

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Statement 4 students views

• I feel that now I am in my final year I am well
  aware and capable of knowing when and why I need
  information and how to use and evaluate it.
  Also, after completing an assignment for
  Developing People for the Future I am more
  confident with doing this.
• Its easier looking up databases and referencing
  is not difficult any more.
• However
• I still find the Harvard system difficult to
  grasp.

21
Students views

• Statement 5
• By July 2007 I will be an information literate
  graduate, so it will not be necessary to develop
  these skills further in the workplace.
• All students in the case study disagree with this
  statement. Their comments indicate that they
  appreciate the skills they have developed, but
  recognize the importance of continuous learning.

22
Statement 5 students views

• I feel that by July 2007 I will certainly be a
  much more information literate person than I was
  when I began my university career. However, I
  still feel there are areas that I could improve
  upon such as using a wider range of sources.
• When I came to university three years ago I
  thought I was information literate. I discovered
  that I wasnt completely aware of some aspects.
  I feel it may be the same when I move to the
  workplace. Information literacy can be
  constantly developed throughout life.

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Away from the university

• Six students spent a period away from the
  university
• Study in another institution, period of placement
• Little evidence to suggest that these experiences
  contributed to the overall information literacy
  of the students
• One students comment
• My Business Law module, along with International
  Business, required me to carry out extensive
  research and use information literacy skills.
  The BEI project and presentation used these
  skills.

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Conclusions

• Although a small-scale study a number of
  tentative conclusions can be draw
• General
• There is great diversity in the student community
  and this impacts on students university
  experiences and their overall learning
• It is likely that learning support mechanisms
  will vary greatly between universities, degree
  pathways and modules.

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Conclusions

• Information literacy
• The attitudes of academics and librarians to
  information literacy have an impact on students
  attitudes
• Ensuring that all students become information
  literate is difficult to achieve
• Students attitudes to and competence in
  information literacy depend on a complex range of
  variables
• Case study highlights the difficulties of
  ensuring progression
• Evidence suggests that by the time many students
  graduate they are more information literate
  than they were on entering university.

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Thank you