Methodological Point of View: Information Literacy Skills - Assignment Example

Methodological Point of View: Information Literacy Skills Information literacy is essential in the contemporary era, vital in the aim of optimally managing the huge volumes of information that presently flows through the varying avenues of communication. From decades past, both academic and expert opinion have been of the view that Information Literacy (IL hereafter), has been essential in dealing with the dynamic and exponential increase of information. Importantly, was the need to equip both the present and future student populations, with the requisite IL skills; hence the developmental role of both school libraries and educational reforms. In practice, IL continues being taught either independently, as a course unto itself, or in an integrated form, within a given curricula. Some studies are of the opinion that it is better to utilize the latter avenue, as it provides greater chances of real-life application of skills acquired, and subsequently developed (Feather 24). According to the article – Information Literacy Skills [Of Humanities, Arts, and Social Science Tertiary Students in Singapore] (2013) – by Foo, Schubert et al., both the measurement and assessment of IL competencies, provides critical understanding of overall education impacts and effects. This is in addition to the provision of further avenues of improvement with the article basing its study on the skills/ capacity of Singapore tertiary students. The IL education sector of Singapore is indeed robust, dating back to the late 1990s. This follows the implementation of various supplementary materials, as well as a series of guidelines; aimed at assisting IL instruction through the various stages of study/ schooling. Towards this, has been the inclusion of Information and Communication Skills, as critical competencies to a student in the 21st century (Foo et al. 40). In the measurement and subsequent assessment of IL competencies, it was found essential, to not only understand the resulting educational impact, but also to further explore these pedagogies, with the aim of improving them. With few reported studies having been conducted, concerning Singapore secondary and tertiary education effects, it was necessary for caution to be taken; in turn reducing the occurrence of errors and/ or omissions. Being the first study in acquiring data, pertaining to Singapore’s tertiary education IL competencies, there was need for development of a comprehensive instrument, augmented by a novel dimension in the ethical utility of information (Foo et al. 41). This was through collaborative information seeking, essential in the overall collection and usage in data collection processes. Regarding the methodological point of view, in terms of assessing the IL skills imparted through Singapore’s higher education system, there was a need for scientists in general, to guard against overgeneralization. This was achievable by way of committing themselves (in advance), to a representative and sufficiently large sample of observations (Babbie 7). As ‘a holistic, and interactive learning process’, IL encompasses the skills requisite in the definition, location, selection and organizing, as well as the presentation and eventual evaluation of given information (Todd). Consecutively, Goad defines IL, briefly, as the capacity to search for, and find useful information, to be followed by its evaluation and subsequent selective utility (Goad 17) To find out if the IL competency rates present within Singapore’s middle and higher education sector are up to standard, there is need to be informed of the relevance, influences and impacts of both meta-competency and meta-literacy within the student populations present (193). The latter, pertains to the integration of pertinent emerging technologies, as well as unifying multiple literacy platforms present that are able to encompass both IL and other interrelated concepts. Under these is the presence of literacy levels in information fluency, as well as cyber, media, visual and digital literacy. This is informed by the dynamic nature of present-day information flow as well as avenues of communication (Elmborg 195). Standardization necessitates assessment, an avenue through which performance is measured; against the standards present. Objectives behind this assessment include provision of accountability, the strengthening of existing instructional programs, and to enhance student learning. Concerning the article under focus, the three main assessment approaches utilized were - performance assessment, rubrics and fixed-choice testing. The latter, it should be noted, is far easier in implementation, as well as being widely adopted in the assessment of IL skills (8). This is informed by the fact that it is less resource-extensive, in addition to the ability of the results being compared at various levels from individual, to institutional contexts. In this case, examples of standardized IL tests are inclusive of Research Readiness Self-Assessment (RRSA); Tool for Real-Time Assessment of Information Literacy (TRAILS), and (SAILS) – Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (Babbie 10). Through utility of scientific theory, the logical aspects of systematic observations and subsequent explanation, the researchers aimed at finding out the success rates of IL skills within this segment of Singapore’s student populations. Collier (1990) avers that such standardized tests are essential for efficient testing regimes, where large numbers of participants are present in addition to being easily adapted for utility in other institutions. On the other hand, the use of performance assessment aids in the testing of higher-level skills, abate the resource-intensive aspect. Here methods utilized include simulation and student behavior observation, as well as bibliographic assessment (Collier 21). Suitable for IL instruction, it is optimal for IL that is integrated into other curriculum, due to the flexibility present, which allows for easier transfer into any other learning environment/ discipline. However, from prevailing results accrued, IL assessments proved to be unsatisfactory in the global arena (175). This was because students appeared to have stronger reliance on internet research engines as their primary source of acquiring information. Such information, unlike that found in electronic journals and databases, is not always accurate, let alone reliable. It is such reliance on mere web resources, which may result in the spread of dis-/ misinformation (McCulley 177). In the article under focus, researchers primarily utilized – questionnaire surveying; with the questionnaire being developed by faculty members. Divided into two, the questionnaires had 44 questions with section 1 having 14 questions, while section 2 had 30 multiple-choice questions. Section 1 entailed the collection of demographic information of participants, while section 2 had questions covered by the Berkowitz and Eisenberg’s Big6 model. Included in this section, were aspects such as information use, task definition, location and access, in addition to information seeking strategies, information synthesis and evaluation. Included also, were recent advances in information ethics (censorship awareness), in addition to aspects of collaborative information seeking (Foo et al. 42). The questions, weighed individually, in accordance with their perceived levels of difficulty, enabled the researchers get clearer and more accurate results. All these questions aimed at getting the best possible answer, having been validated by various IL experts from Thailand, Kuwait and Hong Kong. This validation, had resulted in crucial improvements being made; based on the kind of feedback provided (42). Through removal and/ or modification of complex questions, in addition to the utility of simple language, the survey aimed at minimizing students’ comprehension and reading skill’ influence. Overall, data collection was through an online survey platform – SurveyMonkey – carried out in four weeks. The study employed a questionnaire survey that was developed by a team of Information Studies and Education faculty members of Nanyang Technological University and was divided into two sections. The study does not reveal the sampling method that was used despite the fact that the study population was IL experts from Hong Kong, Kuwait and Thailand and also students in Singapore. The method of observation in the study is survey research. The study employed a questionnaire and SurveyMonkey, an online survey platform that helped in data collection. The survey data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 16.0. The participants were presented with the questions. The first section was meant for demographic information while section two comprised of 30 multiple-choice questions to test IL skills (42). The response rate however was dismal, representing an overall rate of just 13.96% (534 undergraduate students), out of the total 3,826 individuals targeted. Subsequent analysis was carried out by way of the SPSS 16.0 platform (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). This was despite the presence of an email reminder, thereby highlighting an aspect of concern (Foo et al. 43). The success rate above, being dismal in nature, necessitates a rethink of the best avenue of carrying out such research. Accordingly, Goad (2002) is of the opinion that such dismal results are not optimal, for proper assessment of IL skills and capacity, not only within the institution – College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences: Nanyang Technological University of Singapore – but in other contexts as well (41). Accordingly, I am of the view that it would have been better to utilize other methods as well, especially the aforementioned rubrics and performance assessment. Being conducted in a learning environment, both the aforementioned would have been quite optimal especially in terms of the respondent ratio-factor. As seen, the 13.96% (roughly 14%), was not, and is indeed not possible to capture all the required data in quantities large enough for accredited research. A threshold of roughly 60% positive respondents would have made the research more tangible, decisive and above all, comprehensive in nature (Goad 43). The above is aimed at optimally testing, the IL skills/ competency of the students within the region. in addition to questions regarding demographic information i.e. age, gender, education background, frequency of library use and internet access rates, the Big6 model, when utilized in conjunction with the two aforementioned methods, would further enhanced overall research outcome. However, from the figures accrued, as McCulley (2009) eludes, concrete results were established. In terms of the model used and its findings, the researchers were be able to provide evidence that those who receive such competencies within Singapore are better off than those who receive the same from other institutions outside the state (172). Furthermore is that the education aspect present, is still more effective in terms of outreach and results, as opposed to other states that have had similar assessments. The missing points I envisage within this form of research include the lack of all inclusiveness, as would have been the case, through utility of both performance assessment and rubrics. In such a case, the two would have provided greater numbers of respondents, as they would have entailed the active participation of all students targeted in the research. This is informed by the fact that an institution’s overall assessment; in terms of IL skills utility and competency, would be best captured by a greater inclusion of participants (McCulley 175). Works Cited Babble, Earl. The Practice of Social Research. New York: Cengage Learning. 2010. Print. Breivik, Patricia S. and J. A. Senn. “Information Literacy: Partnerships for Power.” Emergency Librarian 21. 1 (1993): 25–27. Collier, Carol Kuhlthau. “Information Skills for an Information Society: A Review of Research.” Information Reports & Bibliographies 19. 3 (1990): 14–26. Elmborg, James. “Critical Information Literacy: Implications for Instructional Practice.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 32.2 (2006), 192–99. Feather, John and Paul Sturges. International Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science. London: Routledge. 2003. Print. Foo, Schubert, Xue Zhang, Yun-Ke Chang, Shaheen Majid, Intan Azura Mokhtar, Joanna Sin, and Yin-Leng Theng. “Information Literacy Skills of Humanities, Arts, and Social Science Tertiary Students in Singapore.” Reference & User Services Quarterly 53.1 (2013): 40-50. Goad, Tom W. Information Literacy and Workplace Performance. Westport, CT: Quorum. 2002. Print. McCulley, Carol. “Mixing and Matching: Assessing Information Literacy,” Communications in Information Literacy 3. 2 (2009): 171–80. Singapore Ministry of Education, Library@School Conference, 1999 (Web). Accessed February 20, 2012, www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/1999/pr990923.htm Todd, Ross J., L. Lamb, and C. McNicholas. “The Power of Information Literacy: Unity of education and Resources for the twenty-first century” (paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Association of School Librarianship), Belfast: Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, 1992: Print. Read More