Understanding the information literacy competencies of UK Higher Education students

2011 ◽  
pp. 253-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian R. Griffiths ◽  
Bob Glass
Author(s):  
Catherine Lantz ◽  
Paula R Dempsey

Results from focus groups with 23 second- and third-year biology students revealed gradual gains in information literacy (IL) abilities and dispositions needed for them to join the community of scientific practice as laid out in the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Students were consumers of information and not yet producers of information. They interacted often with primary research articles but struggled to use research tools effectively; remembered active learning vividly; and relied on video resources, Google, and discussions with peers and instructors to define terms and understand results. Findings support the value of collaboration between librarians and science faculty to incorporate IL skills in the process of scientific discovery.


Author(s):  
A. Alagu ◽  
S. Thanuskodi

All academic institutions find rapid growth in computer networks and the use of computerized databases to access information in their libraries. Most academic libraries include hybrid libraries, which have e-library features and traditional library services. It is difficult to use electronic information resources effectively without training. Students need to obtain the skills to get information quickly and efficiently from electronic sources and become what is often referred to as information literate. The human being is blessed with a unique ability to create something from nothing. He creates, originates, innovates, generates, accumulates knowledge, produces works of art, and discovers the truth about the world he lives in. What sets the information age apart from prior periods in history is the label we put on these intellectual creations. These days the economy of nations depends upon buying and selling facts, ideas, knowledge. This chapter explores information literacy skills amongst higher education students.


Author(s):  
Christian Beighton ◽  
Alison Blackman

TThis paper discusses barriers to the development of academic writing, in the area of teacher education in UK higher education . We first situate these issues in a higher education context increasingly defined by new technologies and diverse cohorts of higher education students. Drawing on empirical data obtained from interviews with both students and teachers (N=21), we then critically examine a range of perspectives on the definition, role and function of academic literacy in this contemporary context. Findings include useful insights into the development of writing skills and teacher identity, but they also reveal fundamental differences in the epistemological presuppositions of those teaching academic writing. These accounts are reflected in significant differences in pedagogy, and raise important questions for practice which, although potentially irresolvable, may help to explain some of the difficulties which emerge when trying to teach academic writing. Such fundamental issues, we argue, need to be at least recognized if  teachers hope to develop the writing capacity of trainee teachers in an academic context.


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