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Institution
Author 1
V Damons
University of Johannesburg
Author 2
E Pretorius
University of Johannesburg
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Title of the presentation (not
more than 15 words)
venessad@uj.ac.za
ericap@uj.ac.za
011 559 4033 / 011 559 3513 / 083 357 7861
The value of information literacy skills in support of student success, satisfaction and
throughput rates
A considerable amount of literature has been published on the poor retention rate of first-year students
(Van Zyl, Gravett & De Bruin 2012) at higher education institutions(Steenkamp, Baard & Frick 2012). One
of the main reasons for this is that students lack the skills to find, evaluate and adapt relevant information
for their academic tasks and assignments. This is generally referred to as information literacy skills (ILS)
required to cope with the academic demand of higher education. The inadequate level of first-year
students’ ILS contributes to the poor first-year retention rate, since academic writing and research is a core
component of all programmes at university level. This paper aims to illuminate an integrated approach
implemented at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in an attempt to enhance the ILS of first-year students
in support of their academic success. The Centre for Academic Development (ADC) and the Centre for
Academic Technologies (CAT) initiated this integrated approach in 2012 in an attempt to assist first-year
students in acquiring information literacy skills as part of a three-year design-based programme.
Information literacy as basic skill set of the 21st century
Eisenberg (2010) argues that information and technology literacy is the “basic skills set of the 21st
century”, as these skills are crucial to the future success and employability of all graduates. However,
Peter Drucker, a well-known management guru, argues in the same article that both these skills are
essential in the world of work within the current information and knowledge society (Eisenberg 2010). The
main purpose of higher education institutions is to prepare students for the world of work and to fulfil their
role as global citizens in the knowledge society. For this reason, it is essential for higher education
institutions to include these skills at first-year level and onwards in the curriculum in an attempt to entrench
information management skills and to promote lifelong learning. This will ensure that first-year students are
appropriately prepared for the world of work.
The intervention at the University of Johannesburg
In an attempt to address concerns about the inadequate first-year information literacy skills in an already
overloaded curriculum, the Academic Development and Support (ADS) department at UJ has devised an
integrated approach as part of a longitudinal intervention. This intervention aims to integrate information
literacy into an existing module of an existing first-year programme. Given that information management
skills are transdisciplinary and need to be transferrable to various disciplines in the world of work (Shenton
& Hay-Gibson 2011) it has been decided to integrate these skills into an existing generic skills
development module known as Mastering Academic and Professional Skills (MAPS). Both information and
technology skills are included in this intervention. These skills focus on using technology to identify and
locate information in order to solve real-world problems in subject-related disciplines (Arp, Woodard,
Lindstrom & Shonrock 2006).
For this reason this paper will argue that an integrated process, such as blending an existing academic
module and information management skills, will contribute towards enhancing academic writing skills in
support of first-year students’ throughput. Thus, the research question addresses how additional
integrated transdisciplinary information management skills will scaffold academic writing in a first-year
skills development module. This multiyear design-based research methodology is intended as one of
many continuous cycles of improvement. The attempt was initiated in 2012 and the paper reports on the
results of the first year of this research initiative. 191 first-year extended-degree students participated in
the 2012 cycle.
This intervention offered guidance in a systemic and structured manner. Students were required to retrieve
information resources over a period of seven weeks. The subject of plagiarism was included in this
programme, as it was essential to create awareness of the consequences of plagiarism before the
students started their research project. Following this session, the resources were introduced step by step,
starting with the internet, the library website, books, Google Scholar, databases, journal articles and
referencing, and it concluded with a session on plagiarism software.
ADC provided the requirements and guidelines of the research project, while CAT offered skills
development in the use of computers, the internet, Blackboard software and the use of Turnitin to detect
plagiarism. For one hour of the MAPS timetable per week, library staff taught students how to find books
and articles, and how to use correct referencing techniques. The students were required to complete their
research project after the ILS intervention.
The evaluation consisted of continuous weekly formative online assessments and concluded with a final
summative assessment on information management. Multiple-choice questions were used to assess the
students’ ability to use technology to find information and to use accepted referencing techniques. The
outcome of this assessment was used to deduce the information behaviour and computer and referencing
skills of the students. The qualitative feedback from the students was used to determine whether they
perceived this intervention as adding value and supporting them in their academic writing ability. The
benefit of using this methodology lies in the fact that we could redesign and improve this intervention
during 2013.
Results
This article describes the first year of a multiyear design-based project, showing not only positive feedback
from students, but also that information literacy as a transdisciplinary skill could be integrated into any
discipline with wide-ranging positive outcomes. The results of the summative assessment, completed by
142 of the 191 participants, produced an average achievement of 84%. This result shows that most
students were able to identify, locate and reference the required information. The assumption from these
results is that students have achieved the outcome of basic literacy and computer skills in support of their
academic writing. Their ability to access, identify, evaluate and reference the relevant information
effectively was sufficient to produce high-quality assignments and research reports after the intervention.
This intervention also extended the technical and computer skills of students in the use of the Blackboard
learning management system and their ability to source information electronically. Students also
familiarised themselves with the actual processes and procedures required by the library, including the
online activation of student users in order to access electronic resources. The intervention strengthened
the ILS of the first-year students, and supported and increased student success and throughput rates in
higher education.
In addition to the specific comments from the survey, the general consensus from students was that this
intervention would definitely benefit their future academic endeavours. Another finding evolving from the
feedback survey indicated that information management and research skills had not featured at all in any
of their other prescribed modules. We deduce from this that lecturers assume that students entering higher
education have already mastered these skills. We believe that the lack of information management skills in
academic programmes is directly linked to the withdrawal and declining throughput of first-year students as
proposed by Thomas, Jones and May (sa).
It is evident from students’ comments that they benefited tremendously from this intervention − 87%
agreed that this intervention was essential for their academic success and that they gained new skills,
while 95% also indicated that this should be a compulsory component for all first-year students in support
of their academic success and their academic career. Findings to date, as part of the longitudinal study,
have provided very positive outcomes.
The recommendation is that this stand-alone information management unit be integrated throughout the
14-week research project. This implies that the project must also be adapted to include the notion of justin-time skills for a specific research project.
Limitations
The study presents certain limitations regarding the contributions of the role-players from the different
departments. Working collaboratively included the scheduling of meetings between the three departments.
Given their workload and their busy schedules, it would be advisable to approach management to create
awareness of the extent of the project in order to redistribute workload. Time constraints influenced the
development and the quality of this first intervention and the integration of different modes of delivery.
One of the data collection methods, namely the multiple-choice assessments, was not fully integrated into
the research project. Although it was part of the MAPS module, it could still be seen as a stand-alone unit.
This is one area which needs to be revisited in our improved intervention for 2013.
Conclusion
Information and technology literacy is the “basic skills set of the 21st century” and is pivotal to the future
success and employability of all graduates. The main purpose of this design-based multiyear intervention
is to develop the information literacy skills of first-year students, not only in support of their academic
writing, but to assist them in acquiring the basic skills set required in the knowledge society. For this
reason, it is essential for higher education institutions to include these skills at first-year level and onwards
to promote lifelong learning. This intervention could contribute towards enhancing the retention and
throughput rates at higher education institutions, and is a step towards preparing first-year students for the
world of work as global citizens within the information and knowledge society.
References:
Arp, L, Woodard, BS, Lindstrom, J & Shonrock, DD. 2006. Faculty-librarian collaboration to achieve
integration of information literacy. Reference & User Services Quarterly 46(1):18-23.
Eisenberg, MB. 2010. Information literacy: essential skills for the information age. DESIDOC Journal of
Library & Information Technology 28(2):39-47.
Shenton, AK & Hay-Gibson, NV. 2011. Information behaviour and information literacy: the ultimate in
transdisciplinary phenomena. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 43(3):166-175.
Steenkamp, LP, Baard, RS & Frick, BL. 2012. A holistic investigation into a tutor programme in first-year
financial accounting. Meditari Accountancy Research 20(1):68-87.
Van Zyl, A, Gravett, S & De Bruin, GP. 2012. To what extent do pre-entry attributes predict first-year
student academic performance in the South African context? South African Journal of Higher Education
26(5):1095-1111.