The Attaining Information Literacy Project has focused on identifying first-year college students with below-proficient information literacy skills, gaining an understanding of those students' self-views and perceptions of information literacy, gaining an understanding of their instructional experiences and preferences, and developing an intervention that will address their instructional needs. Focus groups were conducted with students with below-proficient skills to determine their instructional preferences.
The findings from the focus groups indicate that students place a high value on personal relevance in the knowledge and skills they are learning, and they prefer a combination of demonstration and hands-on activities, interaction with the instructor and other students, and the availability of supplemental instructional materials in the form of handouts. In addition, they feel that incentives to participate in instruction are crucial and that a number of communication strategies are needed to advertise effectively the availability of instructional sessions.
"Objective: This study sought to better understand the research expectations of
first-year students upon beginning university study, and how these expectations
differed from those of their professors. Most academic librarians observe that
the research expectations of these two groups differ considerably and being able
to articulate where these differences are greatest may help us provided more
focused instruction, and allow us to work more effectively with professors and
student support services."
This research was designed to address a gap in our understanding of information literacy education by adding student perceptions to the question of how to ensure that all students develop the information literacy skills they need as part of their educational experience.
The findings from this study provide important input for the design, development, and implementation of information resources and services, particularly those aimed at reaching students with non-proficient information literacy skills.
All AIL workshop materials from this study are freely available for educational use from the Information Skills Workshop Materials section of this site. Proper attributions should be given to the researchers (Melissa Gross and Don Latham) and to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for their support in developing these materials. Commercial use of these materials is not permitted.