The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of an Information
Literacy intervention administered to first year Faculty of Business students at
Rosebank College Cape Town. The exponential nature of information has led to
students having access to abundant information which often comes unfiltered. This
requires them to be in possession of life long competencies to find and apply this
information to solve problems. Recent shifts in pedagogy and curricula have also
precipitated the importance of independent learners who are capable of constructing
their own knowledge. Student centred methods of teaching employed in tertiary
institutions such as, problem based learning, evidence based learning and inquiry
learning have necessitated the importance of Information Literacy training towards
the development of independent learners. The study assesses the baseline incoming
skills of the Faculty of Business students. Two intervention workshops are conducted
for the experimental cohort and a post-test is administered. After the post-test the
results of the control and experimental group are compared. The study uses the
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy
Standards for higher education as a theoretical foundation. The standards are
applied as benchmarks when assessing the Information Literacy competencies. The
study explores the following research questions:
Are the Information Literacy interventions administered to the first year business
faculty students effective and do they meet the proposed outcomes?
What are the existing Information Literacy competencies of the incoming students
in the Faculty of Business?
How should Information Literacy programmes be delivered?
Are the ACRL standards a reliable tool to assess Information Literacy skills and
the effectiveness of the interventions administered?
The study found out that offering Information Literacy interventions would result in
students accumulating these skills. This is supported by the difference in scores
between the control group and the experimental cohort. However it must be noted
that Information Literacy training is not an event but rather an on-going process. / Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/3232 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Chisango, Russell |
| Contributors | King, Lizette |
| Publisher | UWC |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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