What today’s university students have taught us

Alison J. Head, Ph.D., Director, Project Information Literacy

University of Washington Information School | USA

5 June 2016 | Creating Knowledge Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland

Instruct

Advise

Train

Develop

Promote

Discuss

Practice

Advance

Study

Information Literacy

Articles and books published

ALONE since 2015

Search of all databases at University of Washington Libraries, “information literacy,” 18 May 2016

Source: Top 50 most relevant books and peer-reviewed articles from search, 18 May 2016

What can

we learn

from students?

2008

n = 86

2009

n = 2,318

2010

n = 8,353

n = 191

Focus

groupsOnline survey/ Library

content analysis interviews

2011

n = 560

Eight studies

15,000 students, 63 US campuses

Passage studies

2012 2013 2016

n = 23 n = 35 n = 126

n = 33 n = 1,941 n = 1,651

Online

survey Workplace Freshmen Lifelong

Overview of findings? http://tinyurl.com/lg7fryh

Finding Evaluating/using Multitasking Transitioning

5 Takeaways

About

Information

Literacy that Inform

Assessment and

Evaluation

#1Students say

research

is more difficult

than ever before.

Adjectives that

describe how

you feel when

you get a

research

assignment . . .

fear,

angst,

tired,

dread,

excited,

anxious,

annoyed,

stressed,

disgusted,

intrigued,

confused, and

overwhelmed.

2009, n = 86 | 7 campuses

#2 Getting started

is the hardest part

of course

research.

Task

DefinitionSearch Using

information

Task

definitionSearch Self

assessment

69% 41% 30% 25%

Defining and choosing topics is most difficult

2010 Survey, n = 8353 | 25 campuses

Defining a topic

Narrowing a topic

#3 Frustrations

begin

with finding

context.

Information

need

Course

research

Everyday life

Research

1. Big PictureSummary,

background

Almost

alwaysOften

2. Information

Gathering

Locating relevant

sourcesOften Sometimes

Modeling the search for context

PIL’s Context Typology

Information

need

Course

research

Everyday life

Research

3. LanguageMeaning of

words, termsSometimes Sometimes

4. Situational

How far to go,

surrounding

circumstances

Sometimes Sometimes

PIL’s Context Typology

Modeling the search for context

#4 Search –

strategy of

predictability,

familiarity, and

efficiency.

Meet Jon

• Risk-averse, plays it safe

• In search of “the answer”

• Needs to appear self-sufficient

• Waits until the last minute

Instructor’s handout

Course readings

Google and

Wikipedia

JSTOR

ABI Inform

Instructors

Satisficing

Treads a well-worn path

Situational/

information

gathering

contexts

Big picture/

language

contexts

1. Majority recommend a “place-based source” (60%)

2. Few recommended consulting librarians (13%)

3. Few defined what “research” is or means (16%)

2010 Handout Study, n = 191 handouts | 28 campuses

“Instructors are my research coaches”

But assignment handouts . . .

2016 Staying Smart, n = 1,651 recent graduates from 10 US

campuses

After graduation: “Google is the Internet to me”

79%

51%

21%

18%

14%

12%

10%

9%

7%

5%

3%

3%

2%

1%

1%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

YouTube

Pinterest

Duolingo

Khan Academy

Coursera

Stack Overflow

Codecademy

Google Helpouts

lynda

edX

Udemy

CrashCourse

Udacity

Academic Earth

ALISON

#5Evaluation is

the one

information

literacy skill

students learn

to use.

77%

73%

71%

71%

66%

62%

62%

61%

59%

59%

54%

25%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Currency (e.g., publication date)

Author’s credentials

URL (e.g., Web domain)

Interface design

External linkage (if links exist)

Familiarity from previous use

Heard about site before

Chart quality (if they exist)

Author credits others for ideas

Different viewpoints…

Bibliography included

Mentioned by librarian

Evaluation criteria: Coursework

2010 Truth Be Told survey, n = 8353 | 25 campuses

Evaluation criteria: After graduation

2015 Staying Smart survey, n = 1651 | 10 US campuses

97%

94%

92%

89%

88%

86%

84%

75%

72%

58%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

How up-to-date the information is

What the author's credentials are

Site is familiar from previous use

Site design conveys legitimacy

URL is from a legitimate source, e.g.,gov or edu

Site links to other resources

Someone has recommended usingthe site

Charts add important information (ifthey exist)

Gut feeling says site is legitimate

Site is familiar from college

PIL Finding Solutions

Defining a topic is harder than

finding sources.

• Fewer lessons on “search,” more on

formulating students’ own questions

• Embed librarians within courses

Using same sources, many come

from secondary school assignments.

• Teach abstracts, teach synthesis

• Learning how to “tie it all together” as

essential university skills

Evaluating online sources using a

variety of different criteria.

• Work closely with educators K-12

• Next step: Teaching students how to

ask their own questions

How can PIL’s research inform solutions?

What today’s university students have taught us

Alison J. Head, Ph.D., Director, Project Information Literacy |University of

Washington Information School

alison@projectinfolit.org | http://projectinfolit.org

5 June 2016 | Creating Knowledge Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland