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Institutionalizing Information Literacy in Tertiary Education: Lessons Learned from South African Programs
Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the development of current practice in information literacy education in tertiary institutions in South Africa. The policy framework affecting information literacy is examined from multiple perspectives. An examination of the literature identifies key concerns that are used in the compilation of a small survey instrument to establish current practice. The impact of institutional policies, finding educational strategies that meet the identified objectives of information literacy, diversity in students' backgrounds and abilities, and ultimately the assessment of performance all emerged as significant. The concept of multiliteracies is suggested as a useful approach to conceptualizing information literacy as central to student learning. Future directions are suggested.
... IL as explained by Rippey [7] is not just the process of acquiring knowledge and doing research in a particular field but more importantly, retrieving and evaluating information responsibly. The majority of students entering HE institutions have little or no exposure to libraries and information resources and lack skills to utilise the technology and resources that are available at HE institutions [8]. ...
This paper reports on a study done at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). The aim of the study was to identify innovative teaching and learning methods that would accommodate the diverse student population in the IL classroom and to recommend guidelines for teaching and learning of IL. The digital divide is defined as the gap or divide between those with access to and skills in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and those without such access or skills. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Self-administered questionnaires were administered to 227 students from the Faculty of Health who were engaged in the IL module, Subject Librarians (SL) teaching IL and the coordinator of the IL module from the Centre of Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the Durban University of Technology were interviewed. The findings of this study could be applied globally.
... Incorporating ICT into pedagogy has been part of education reform since 1994. A Technology Enhanced Learning Initiative (TELI) was introduced in 1995 ( De Jager & Nassimbeni, 2002). The initiative was followed by a draft policy paper in 1997, which aligned itself with the TELI strategic plan (Boekhorst & Britz, 2004). ...
South Africa participated in the electronic version of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (ePIRLS) in 2016 but faced many challenges during implementation. Accurate databases on information and communication technologies (ICT) capacity of schools were not available for sampling in Gauteng, many schools had old and/or non-functional hardware and half of the schools had not used their computer laboratories in the last 3 years. Consequently, South Africa was excluded from the international report as the study requirements could not be met. In this paper we examine the implications of the problems experienced in the ePIRLS multiple case study, conducted in 9 schools (n = 277) in Gauteng. Multilevel models were built using data from the nationally representative Grade 4 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) data from 2011 (n = 15,744) and 2016 (n = 12,810). In the 2016 national study, principals and teachers reported fewer computers and libraries being available for learners than were reported in 2011. Computers and paper-based libraries being available were not significant predictors of reading literacy. Instead, the medium of instruction in the Foundation Phase, school location, gender, and socioeconomic composition of the school predicted reading literacy achievement. The ePIRLS results show no significant difference between paper-based and online reading. While issues of poverty, gender inequality, and historical disadvantage persist, Grade 4 learners may lack adequate opportunities to acquire paper and digital reading skills. We conclude that the most disadvantaged learners have increasingly insufficient opportunities and resources available to attain basic reading skills and this will have negative long-term consequences for South Africa's educational sector and economy.
... Outcomes from such studies have also influenced policy decisions with respect to the integration of IL to course curricula, assessment of performance and measurement of specific student learning outcomes and the adoption of IL as an institutional policy framework. Through these frameworks also, academic libraries in HEIs have been able to develop learning outcomes, tools, and resources which have been deployed to infuse IL concepts and skills into their course curricula (Underwood, 2002;De Jager & Nassimbeni, 2002;Koltay, Krakowska, Landova, & Prokai, 2010;Lockhart, 2013;Simon, 2013;Agbo & Igwebuike, 2014;Anyaoku, Ezeani & Osuigwe, 2015). ...
This paper highlights current developments in digital information resources at the University of Jos Library. It examines some of the new opportunities and challenges in digital information services presented by the changing context with respect to Information Literacy and the need for digital information literacy skills training. A case study method was employed for the study; data was collected through the administration of structured questionnaires to the study population. Findings from the study provide relevant policy considerations in digital Information Literacy practices for academic libraries in Nigeria who are going digital in their services.
... Findings from the large scale INFOLIT project in South Africa (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000) were published, and there was increased awareness of the inappropriateness of depending on Anglo-American models of IL (e.g. de Jager & Nassimbeni, 2002). ...
In this article the authors argue that progress in the development of information literacy (IL) has been hindered by tendencies such as: denying that information literacy is even a subject, paying exclusive attention to forces outside the discipline and forming information literacy silos. The authors start by reflecting on formative developments in information literacy outside North America in the late 1990s-early 2000s, and noting that IL has not evolved from that period as much as one might expect. They identify hindrances to information literacy’s formation as a discipline, and relate their discussion to changing notions of disciplinarity. The authors present ‘Information Literacy in the lifecourse’ as an example focus which could stimulate engagement from researchers and practitioners who are currently situated in different information literacy silos. They conclude that taking a disciplinary and lifecourse approach to information literacy would open up opportunities for working in a collegiate way, both within the information literacy community and with those outside it, and provide a more robust foundation for influencing policy.
... Littlejohn, Beetham and McGill (2012) reported that even the "exemplary" SCONUL framework 2 has not been effectively integrated into curricular programmes. Reports from South African surveys indicate that many of the library-initiated information literacy programmes are generic or stand alone, and that meaningful partnership is difficult to attain (De Jager & Nassimbeni 2002, Jiyane & Onyancha 2010). ...
The Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education presents scope for deepening the conversations and achieving more productive collaborations between lecturers and librarians. These transactions are significant for the ongoing efforts to create and maintain a sustainable programme for information literacy within higher learning. It is suggested that librarians and lecturers might use the Framework as a kind of heuristic resource to bring to the surface or make visible the processes and practices in knowledge making that may be tacit or unintelligible for students. Based on a series of interviews with lecturers across different disciplines, this paper explores the synergy between the conceptual frames of the Framework and the lecturers’ strategies to bring about the kinds of literacies that are valued as generic graduate attributes needed in the twenty-first century.
... Another problem is that students do not actually go to the library and examine the resources that we cover in the course, such as indexes. For many students even classification is a mystery…" (De Jager and Nassimbeni 2002). In another international study, Licea de Arenas et al. (2004) mention: "The most direct precedent to this investigation at the University of Murcia is the study undertaken by Gomez Hernandez in early 1994, on a sample of 2,400 university students across all courses and careers. ...
Academic librarians often tend to direct information literacy initiatives for under-graduate students while overlooking researchers on post-graduate level. The paper reports on a survey case study conducted in 2015 at a leading South African university’s engineering faculty. The mixed methods study involved participants from seven departments and collected quantitative and qualitative data. Participants included masters, doctoral and post-doctoral students, and established researchers (students and staff). A self-administered electronic questionnaire, focus groups and individual interviews were used for data collection. The study explored the needs of engineering post-graduate researchers for advanced research information literacy skills. Findings led to the proposal of a framework for advanced research information literacy (ARIL). This paper extends the research to map ARIL to opportunities that can be embraced …
The Studentische Poliklinik is Germany's first student-run free clinic. Prior to fulfilling clinical obligations there, students must complete an extensive peer-assisted learning program (PAL). Due to capacity constraints, a web-based learning program involving virtual patients has been launched. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of Virtual Patient Learning (VPL) vs. PAL in the acquisition of basic medical knowledge and skills. Forty undergraduate medical students (m=9; f=31) in their third year were randomly assigned to either the PAL (n=20), or VPL (n=20). Short-term (after each seminar) and long-term learning retention (after completion of the electives) was measured using a validated theoretical test. Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) were used to assess practical knowledge. Additionally, the course itself was evaluated. Differences in theoretical knowledge between students in the PAL and VPL existed over the short term (VPL median = 100%; PAL median = 80; p = 0.006), but not over the long term (VPL = 94.17; PAL = 95.62 %; p = 0.617). An assessment of practical skills showed no differences in OSCE scores between the two different groups (VPL = 79.30 %; PAL = 80.26 %; p = 0.141). Students assessed their learning experience and the comprehensibility of seminars as either "very good" or "good". Basic medical knowledge and skills can be taught as effectively using VPL as PAL. Given the cost-effectiveness, high reproducibility and freedom of time and place, VPL should be performed more often when teaching family medicine in student-run free clinics. Ultimately, this may result in enhanced treatment quality and patient satisfaction.
This study embarked on an in-depth content analysis of the information literacy environment in the South African education sector. The review of literature encompasses a comprehensive critical analysis of available appropriate and contemporary literature, which further expounds the research problem. This research adopted the qualitative method of data collection; hence, policy documents, conference proceedings and journal articles about the subject matter were analytically evaluated to identify whether there is a research gap that may have remained unanswered in previous studies. The study emphasises various ICT tools and techniques that will promote e-learning in South African educational sector; this was done in recognition of its essential role. South Africa struggles with challenges associated with the digital divide, a result of the inability of many to access ICT tools capable of enhancing their performance, particularly in a racially divided country such as South Africa, where a separate educational development policy was pursued during the apartheid era, in favour of the white minority. The trends in information literacy and essential issues regarding information literacy skills in South Africa are highlighted. The challenges associated with information literacy in South Africa are presented, and different opportunities in information literacy are also discussed. The paper concludes with the gaps and options in information literacy in South Africa. Finally, this paper offers a comprehensive review of the information literacy development in the South African education sector, which constitutes an essential perspective in the understanding of the global information literacy development.
Information literacy is a concept without geographic boundaries in librarianship. Across the
world, academic librarians work toward developing students’ abilities to effectively find,
evaluate, use, and create information. The approach to teaching these lifelong, cumulative skills
can be designed in myriad ways throughout our global environment. This work seeks to share
individual international perspectives that, through a unique voice, provide clarity toward how
information literacy is viewed, taught, conceptualized, and, in general, approached
internationally. The individual voices of our authors provide perspective on the unique
challenges and opportunities presented in each region.
In 1998 the Department of Information Science in collaboration with the Library Services of the University of South Africa (Unisa) - a distance education institution - introduced a module in Research Information Skills. The Bureau for University Teaching assisted with the assessment strategy for the module. Portfolio assessment was considered as a more authentic assessment method which involves the student and emphasises the learning and growth processes. It also complies with the requirements for research information skills. The latter require personal growth in the search process and the formulation of search strategies and critical reflection on search results, search strategies and effectiveness of personal databases. The approach followed in this module, the guidelines given to students, the criteria used and the students' experiences are shared. The benefits and disadvantages of portfolio assessment for research information skills are considered. Portfolios are mostly enjoyed by students and offer valuable insights into students' growth processes.
Since 1998 the Department of Information Science in collaboration with the Library Services of the University of South Africa (Unisa) has used portfolio assessment for a module in Research Information Skills (RIS). The Bureau for University Teaching assisted with the assessment strategy for the module. The theoretical basis of portfolio assessment and an analysis of what is required to master research information skills were initially used to formulate the assessment criteria. Portfolio assessment emphasises continuous, critical reflection. In line with this, the latest information on assessment is considered for new insights and guidelines. These cover the evolution and complexities of self-assessment. Informal observations based on the assignments submitted by students, their questions and comments, and feedback obtained during two focus group interviews are also used to analyse the value of portfolio assessment. Portfolio assessment has an impact on the students, the lectures, the development of course material and the mastery of required skills. Recommendations are made for the use of portfolio assessment.
Although national standards for information literacy have been developed and approved by the Association of College and Research Libraries, little is known about the extent to which undergraduates meet these or earlier sets of standards. Since 1994, the Teaching Library at the University of California-Berkeley has conducted an ongoing Survey of Information Literacy Competencies in selected academic departments to measure the "lower-order" information literacy skills of graduating seniors. The most fundamental conclusion that can be drawn from this survey is that students think they know more about accessing information and conducting library research than they are able to demonstrate when put to the test. The University of California-Berkeley library experience is consistent with earlier study findings that students continue to be confused by the elementary conventions for organizing and accessing information.
In the Information Age, people become information processors, as they read, listen to news, talk to each other, and watch television or computer screens. Yet many have not developed the appropriate skills to process information effectively. In itself, more information is not necessarily better or helpful; still it requires that information users become adept in dealing with it. Currently, more new information is being produced than ever before (e.g., more new information has been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5,000). Approximately 1,000 books are published internationally every day; 9,600 periodical titles are published in the United States each year; and the volume of all printed knowledge doubles every eight years. Add to that the enormous amount of electronic information now available on CD-ROMs, tapes, discs, and online through the Internet and the concept of information overload and information anxiety gains new meaning.
Students from historically disadvantaged educational systems have not been exposed to information technologies and information sources. The School of Librarianship at the University of Cape Town has recognised the need for information literacy training that would be appropriate for students from the developing world. It is therefore offering a single semester course to undergraduates in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, with the specific aim of providing students with transferable learning and information skills. This paper presents an overview and an evaluation of the course.
A conceptual analysis is undertaken of information literacy by investigating some leading definitions and delineations of the concept. These are analyzed with the intention of exploring chronological extensions in the meaning of the concept. The range of skills and knowledge required for information literacy has expanded over the last two decades in order to accommodate the continually developing requirements for effective information handling, and the article notes how the library and information science (LIS) profession is responding to these requirements. The review concludes by identifying three main trends in information literacy which are evident from the literature of the early 1990s.