scholarly journals Students Think Science Literacy Is Important and Improves with Lifelong Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-152
Author(s):  
Heather MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Science Literacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Library Administration ◽  
Science Group

A Review of: Holden, I. I. (2010) Science literacy and lifelong learning in the classroom: A measure of attitudes among university students. Journal of Library Administration, 50:3, 265-282.  https://doi.org/10.1080/01930821003635002 Abstract Objective – Investigate student attitudes to science literacy and lifelong learning as outlined in Standard Five of the Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology (ILSTE): The information literate student understands that information literacy is an ongoing process and an important component of lifelong learning and recognizes the need to keep current regarding new developments in his or her field (2006). Design – Survey. Setting – A large public American R1 university. Subjects – Undergraduate students in two classes: Information Literacy in the Sciences (Science group) and Information Literacy (Non-Science group). Methods – A 13 question survey was administered to students by a colleague of the author.  Three categories of questions were asked: students' perceptions of the important of science literacy, students' assessment of their own science literacy skills and students' perceptions of lifelong learning in relation to Standard Five. Main Results – Survey participation included 13 students from the Science group and 18 students from the Non-Science group. Students agreed that science literacy is an important part of civic literacy and responsibility, and should be taught to undergraduates in the United States.  Students from the Science group frequently had more positive responses to statements than the students in the Non-Science group.  For example, 81% of Science students either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “Every responsible citizen should be aware of the latest scientific discoveries” compared to 61% of Non-science students.  Students felt that their science literacy skills had improved since high school.  Most students were confident in their research skills including using emerging communication technologies. Students believed that life-long learning and staying current contribute to good information literacy and science literacy. Conclusion – Students think science literacy is an important part of being a responsible citizen. They also believe being a lifelong learner improves science literacy.

Would You Share This Video? Factors Influencing Willingness to Share Online Health Misinformation. (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alla Keselman ◽  
Catherine Arnott Smith ◽  
Gondy Leroy ◽  
David R. Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Science Literacy ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Interpersonal Trust ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Information Competencies

BACKGROUND The rapidly evolving digital environment of the social media era increases the reach of both quality health information and misinformation. Platforms such as YouTube enable easy sharing of attractive, if not always evidence-based, videos with large personal networks as well as the general public. While much research has focused on characterizing health misinformation online, it has not sufficiently focused on describing and measuring individuals’ information competencies that build resilience. OBJECTIVE This study 1) assesses individuals’ willingness to share a non-evidence-based YouTube video about strengthening the immune system, 2) describes types of evidence that individuals view as supportive of the claim by the video, and 3) relates information-sharing behavior to several information competencies: information literacy, science literacy, knowledge of the immune system, interpersonal trust, and trust in health authority. METHODS The study employs an online survey methodology with 150 individuals across the United States. Participants were asked to watch a YouTube excerpt from a morning TV show featuring a wellness pharmacy representative promoting an immunity-boosting dietary supplement produced by his company; answer questions about the video and say whether they would share it with a cousin who was frequently sick; and complete instruments pertaining to the information competencies outlined in the objectives. RESULTS Most participants (105 out of 150) said that they would share the video with their cousin. Their confidence in the supplement would be further boosted by a friend’s recommendations, positive reviews on a crowdsourcing website, and statements of uncited effectiveness studies on the producer’s website. While all information literacy competencies analyzed in this study had a statistically significant relationship with the outcome, each was also highly correlated with each other. Information literacy and interpersonal trust independently predicted the largest amount of variance in the intent to share the video (17% and 16%). Interpersonal trust was negatively related to the willingness to share the video. Science literacy explained 7% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS People are vulnerable to online misinformation and are likely to propagate it online. Information literacy and science literacy are associated with lesser vulnerability to misinformation and lesser propensity to spread it. Of the two, information literacy holds the greater promise as an intervention target. Understanding the role of different kinds of trust on information sharing merits further research.

scholarly journals Teaching Foundational Data Skills in the Library

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Beauchamp ◽  
Christine Murray
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Data Literacy ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Reference Services ◽  
Effective Teaching Strategies

In Databrarianship: The Academic Data Librarian in Theory and Practice, edited by Linda Kellam and Kristi Thompson. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2015.Undergraduate students often struggle when asked to locate, evaluate, and use data in their research, and librarians have an opportunity to support them as they learn data literacy skills. Much of the literature on data librarianship in this area focuses on data reference services, but there is a lack of scholarship and guidance on how to translate data reference expertise into effective teaching strategies. In this chapter, the authors will bridge that gap between data reference and information literacy instruction.

An assessment of information literacy skills among first-year postgraduate students at Sokoine University of Agriculture Tanzania

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mugyabuso J. F. Lwehabura
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Concept Maps ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Independent Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Literacy Knowledge ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

This study was set to examine and identify some aspects of information literacy skills among postgraduate students at Sokoine University of Agriculture and determine challenges and problems facing them in terms of searching and use of various information resources. Systematic probability sampling and questionnaires were used to collect data from175 students out of 314 first-year postgraduate students registered. The findings showed that although information literacy exists among students, a good number of students demonstrated significant deficiency in their information literacy knowledge and skills in key aspects including searching for information from electronic sources, application of various information search techniques such as Boolean operators, use of truncation, synonyms and concept maps. Based on the findings, the paper recommends addressing the shortcomings found by introducing a mandatory information literacy course for both postgraduate and undergraduate students to ensure effective independent learning among students.

Information Literacy among Undergraduate Students in Nigeria

2016 ◽  
pp. 1314-1327
Author(s):  
Stella E. Igun ◽  
Jessa Precious Odafe
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
State University ◽  
Statistical Tool ◽  
Needed Information ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

This paper examined information literacy skills among undergraduate students in Nigeria. The scope of the study covered two departments in Delta State University, Abraka namely: Library and Information Science and Guidance and Counselling. The study was limited to final year students of the two departments. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study and the population was 517. 103 or 20% of the population of 517 were sampled for the study. 97 questionnaires were retrieved and used for the study. Simple percentage and frequency count statistical tool was used to analyze the data. The study found out that ability to use information effectively to accomplish a task, ability to recognize the needed information, ability to access the needed information effectively and efficiently and ability to evaluate information critically are the information literacy skills possessed by some of the undergraduate students in Nigeria. The study recommended that information literacy education and electronic/digital information skills should be included in the curriculum of the undergraduate students in the universities.

scholarly journals MOBILE-APPS questionnaire: Developing and validating a scale to measure the attitudes and perceptions of undergraduate students on mobile information literacy

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 1063-1072
Author(s):  
Maria Pinto ◽  
David Caballero ◽  
Dora Sales ◽  
Rosaura Fernández-Pascual
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Scale Validation ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Attitudes And Perceptions ◽  
Mobile Information ◽  
Teaching Learning

This paper aims at reflecting on the process of developing and validating a scale for measuring the students’ attitudes and perceptions regarding the use of mobile technologies in the teaching-learning of information competencies (MOBILE-APPS). Validation was carried out by administering the questionnaire to a pilot group of students, selected from Education degree, with a rubric to analyse the quality/coherence, clarity and usefulness of the content. The questionnaire was then piloted with a larger sample of students. To analyse the tool’s reliability and internal validity, scale validation techniques and exploratory factorial analysis were used. The resulting questionnaire, MOBILE-APPS, is a simple yet effective scale for collecting information. It can be applied in a number of university settings and degrees to ascertain student attitudes and perceptions of mobile information literacy.

scholarly journals A Report on Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Information Literacy Competencies in Journalism and Mass Communication Programs: The ACEJMC Survey

2005 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 294-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annmarie B. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
Mass Communications ◽  
Perceptions Of Students ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

This article presents the results of a survey done of the faculty of programs fully accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) in 2002–2003. The purpose of the survey was to assess the faculties’ perceptions of their students’ information literacy skills as defined by the ACRL standards adopted in 2000. Faculty reported that most of their graduate students met the ACRL criteria for information literacy, but only some of their undergraduate students could be considered information literate by these standards. Faculty also reported consistent improvement in their students’ research process after receiving library instruction.

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