Information Literacy Education: Perceptions, Proficiencies and Experiences of First-Entering Students at TUT

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Manamedi Molepo ◽  
Solomon Bopape
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Literacy Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Library Resources ◽  
Entering Students ◽  
Group Interviews

For students to master information literacy skills, they must attend Information Literacy Education (ILE) offered by academic libraries. This study adopted both quantitative and qualitative research approaches using a questionnaire and focus group interviews, respectively, to investigate the perceptions of the concept “information literacy”, “students’ skills to use library resources”, and “students’ familiarity with different library resources” of first-year students at the library of the Polokwane campus of the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), South Africa, all before and after attendance of the ILE session, as well as to analyse their experiences of the ILE programme which they had attended. The study found that most of the first-entering students had a different perception of the concept “information literacy” in relation to its usage in the academic Library and Information Science (LIS) environment. The questionnaire findings further showed that the students had no skills in using library resources and were not familiar with library resources before they attended the ILE programme. However, the findings from the focus group interviews showed that, after they had attended the ILE session, they became familiar with some of the library resources, and their abilities to use those resources positively improved from novice to advanced and proficient users of information. It is therefore recommended that ILE for students be continuous so that students do not forget or lose focus of what they have learned in the formal ILE programmes. To encourage students’ participation, the attendance of ILE should be compulsory for all first-year entering students across all faculties at the TUT.

scholarly journals The Role of Digital Technologies in Learning: Expectations of First Year University Students / Le rôle des technologies numériques dans l’apprentissage : les attentes des étudiants de première année universitaire

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Gabriel ◽  
Barbara Campbell ◽  
Sean Wiebe ◽  
Ronald J MacDonald ◽  
Alexander McAuley
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
First Year ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Student Body ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Premier Cycle ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
First Year University

A growing literature suggests that there is a disjuncture between the instructional practices of the education system and the student body it is expected to serve, particularly with respect to the roles of digital technologies. Based on surveys and focus group interviews of first-year students at a primarily undergraduate Canadian university and focus group interviews of professors at the same institution, this study explores the gaps and intersections between students’ uses and expectations for digital technologies while learning inside the classroom and socializing outside the classroom, and the instructional uses, expectations and concerns of their professors. It concludes with recommendations for uses of digital technologies that go beyond information transmission, the need for extended pedagogical discussions to harness the learning potentials of digital technologies, and for pedagogies that embrace the social construction of knowledge as well as individual acquisition. Des études de plus en plus nombreuses suggèrent qu’il existe un écart entre les pratiques d’enseignement dans le système de l’éducation et la population étudiante desservie, notamment en ce qui concerne le rôle des technologies numériques. La présente étude, fondée sur les résultats de sondages et d’entrevues de groupe auprès des étudiants de première année inscrits à une université canadienne principalement axée sur les études de premier cycle, ainsi que sur des entrevues de groupe auprès de professeurs du même établissement, explore les écarts et les concordances entre, d’une part, l’utilisation et les attentes des étudiants relativement aux technologies numériques dans l’apprentissage en classe et dans les relations sociales en dehors des classes, et, d’autre part, l’utilisation de ces technologies dans les pratiques d’enseignement, les préoccupation et les attentes des professeurs. L’étude se conclut par des recommandations concernant une utilisation des technologies numériques dépassant la transmission de l’information, et la nécessité de discussions pédagogiques poussées permettant d’exploiter le potentiel des technologies numériques dans le cadre de l’apprentissage ainsi que de méthodes pédagogiques adaptées à la construction sociale des connaissances et au mode individuel d’acquisition des connaissances.

scholarly journals Informationskompetence, en opgave for bibliotek og uddannelse i fællesskab

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mette Bønløkke ◽  
Else Kobow ◽  
Anne-Kirstine Kristensen
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Professional Support ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
University College ◽  
Frame Work ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Integrated Information

Erfaringer og undersøgelser om samarbejde mellem uddannelser og forskningsbiblioteker viser, at ikke alle har en curriculumintegreret indsats og et formaliseret samarbejde om undervisning og vejledning til støtte for udvikling af de studerendes informationskompetence. Et aktionsforskningsprojekt undersøgte, hvad der havde betydning i etablering af et formelt samarbejde mellem bibliotek og uddannelse. I projektet deltog tre bibliotekarer, seks undervisere og en biblioteksleder samt to uddannelsesledere og to projektledere fra VIA University College. Fokusgruppeinterviews, projektprotokoller, referater fra refleksions- og støttemøder samt mailkorrespondance udgjorde data, som blev kvalitativt analyseret. Resultaterne viste, at følgende områder er betydningsfulde: ledelsesstøtte, en anerkendende tilgang, oplevelse af nødvendighed og ejerskab til processen, fælles fokus og mål tilpasset den enkelte uddannelses behov, rammer og ressourcer, faglig støtte og erfaringsudveksling i processen. Research on and experiences from cooperation between faculty libraries and faculties indicate that not all programmes have integrated information literacy in curriculum or have a formalised cooperation between library and faculty on information literacy. Using action research we explored issues at stake when cooperation between library and faculty is initiated. Participants were 3 librarians, 6 educators, 1 library manager, 2 directors of programme and 2 project managers from VIA University College. Data derived from focus group interviews, process protocols, records of reflective sessions and support meetings and mail correspondence was qualitatively analysed. The results showed that the following areas seemed important: Support from the management, an appreciative approach, a need for change, ownership of the process, common focus and goals according to the need of the programme, a set frame work and resources, professional support and sharing of experiences in the process.

scholarly journals Twitter in a Bachelor of Education Course: Student Experiences

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane P. Preston ◽  
Brittany A. E. Jakubiec ◽  
Julie Jones ◽  
Rachel Earl
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
First Year ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Bachelor Of Education ◽  
Collaboration And Communication ◽  
Group Interviews

The purpose of this article is to describe student experiences when incorporating Twitter into a Bachelor of Education (BEd) course. Data for this participatory action research were gathered from eight first-year BEd students who provided written answers to 16 open-ended questions and participated in two focus group interviews. Findings indicated that, after participants completed a Twitter assignment, their views of Twitter and its applicability in educational realms changed. Analyzed through the emerging concept of new pedagogy, the Twitter experience enhanced collaboration and communication between student and the instructor. An implication is that if BEd students are to effectively incorporate technology into future kindergarten to grade 12 classrooms, they need to experience digital literacy during undergraduate courses.

scholarly journals Relevancy Trumps Format When Teaching Information Literacy

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Giovanna Badia
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Experimental Group

A Review of: Tewell, E. C. (2014). Tying television comedies to information literacy: A mixed-methods investigation. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 40(2), 134-141. doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2014.02.004 Abstract Objective – This study assessed the effects of showing television comedy clips to demonstrate information literacy concepts when teaching one-shot instruction sessions. More specifically, it examined whether the students’ retention and understanding increased when television comedy clips were used and whether students preferred instruction that included popular culture examples. Design – A mixed-methods investigation that employed multiple-choice questionnaires and focus group interviews. Setting – A small liberal arts college in the United States of America. Subjects – A total of 211 freshmen students enrolled in a First-Year Studies course. The students were divided into 16 class sections. The author collected a total of 193 valid responses to the pretests and posttests in his study. Methods – Half of the class sections (103 respondents) were taught selected information literacy concepts using television comedy clips and a group discussion led by the instructor. The other half (90 respondents) were taught using only an instructor-led discussion. The classes were randomly selected to belong to the experimental group (with TV comedy clips) or the control group (without TV comedy clips). An online pretest questionnaire, consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions, was administered at the beginning of the 90-minute library instruction session for both groups. An online posttest questionnaire, consisting of the same questions as the pretest but in a randomized order, was completed by the students at the end of the session. About a month later, one-hour focus group interviews were conducted with a small subset of the study’s subjects who volunteered to participate in the focus groups. The experimental focus group consisted of five study participants who had attended a library instruction session that involved showing the television comedy clips and the control focus group consisted of six study participants who had attended a library instruction session that did not include showing the television comedy clips. Main Results – The experimental group scored higher than the control group on the posttest with an average “increase of 1.07 points from pre- to posttest compared to a 0.13 mean increase in the control group” (p. 139), which means that the experimental group answered one more question correctly. Four out of the five participants in the experimental focus group also discussed the television comedy clips even though they were not asked about them. Conversely, when asked about what they enjoyed in the class, the majority of participants from both focus groups discussed the content covered in the session rather than any teaching methods employed. “The quantitative results suggest that student test results either increased, as in the experimental group, or remained relatively level, as in the control group, due to the type of instruction received” (p. 137). Conclusion – The author states that the results from the test questionnaires and answers from focus group sessions indicate that using television comedy clips may be a successful way of improving students’ retention of course content. However, the study’s results could not demonstrate that students liked classes with popular culture examples more than classes without them, since the majority of focus group participants found the course content more interesting than the manner in which the content was taught. The relevancy of the content presented in an information literacy session appears to make more of an impact on the students than the format in which it is presented.

scholarly journals First-Year Accounting Student Teachers’ Constructivist Learning Experiences, The Lecturer’s Role and Implications for Curriculum Implementation

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-119
Author(s):  
Medson Mapuya
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Curriculum Implementation ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Constructivist Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Accounting Student

The purpose of this study was to explore the constructivist learning experiences of first-year accounting student teachers and the implications these learning experiences have for curriculum implementation. The study employed a phenomenological research design and followed a qualitative research approach in which data were collected using focus group interviews. Content analysis and qualitative coding were used to analyse the qualitative data generated by the focus group interviews. Premised on the findings, the study recommends that as key stakeholders involved in curriculum implementation, lecturers should engage empathically with students on issues regarding pedagogy and subject didactics. Of central importance to the recommendations made in this study is that key questions regarding teaching and learning activities should be informed by the dynamic learning needs of students. It therefore follows that lecturers ought to adopt a more student-participative, collaborative and consultative approach towards curriculum implementation and obtain regular feedback from students about their learning experiences.

Management Strategy for Distributing Questionnaires and Interview Guidelines in the Research Data Collection Process

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-111
Author(s):  
Po. Abas Sunarya ◽  
George Iwan Marantika ◽  
Adam Faturahman
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Management Strategy ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Good Management ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Data Collection Process ◽  
Group Interviews

Writing can mean lowering or describing graphic symbols that describe a languageunderstood by someone. For a researcher, management of research preparation is a veryimportant step because this step greatly determines the success or failure of all researchactivities. Before a person starts with research activities, he must make a written plan commonlyreferred to as the management of research data collection. In the process of collecting researchdata, of course we can do the management of questionnaires as well as the preparation ofinterview guidelines to disseminate and obtain accurate information. With the arrangement ofplanning and conducting interviews: the ethics of conducting interviews, the advantages anddisadvantages of interviews, the formulation of interview questions, the schedule of interviews,group and focus group interviews, interviews using recording devices, and interview bias.making a questionnaire must be designed with very good management by giving to theinformation needed, in accordance with the problem and all that does not cause problems at thestage of analysis and interpretation.

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