Information Literacy (IL) Intervention Workshop has Positive, but Limited, Effects on Undergraduate Students’ IL Skills

• Main Author: Lisa Shen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Alberta 2014-07-01
• Series: Evidence Based Library and Information Practice
• Subjects: University Students; Information Literacy; Review Article
• Online Access: http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/article/view/21584

Objective – To evaluate the impact of an educational intervention workshop on students’ information literacy (IL) skills and self-perception of their own IL knowledge. Design – Quasi-experimental design with control groups and semi-structured interviews. Setting – Two community colleges in the United States of America, one in a rural setting and one in an urban setting. Subjects – Ninety-two students enrolled in an entry-level English course, who scored below proficiency (65%) on the Information Literacy Test (ILT). Methods – One hundred students from each college took the pre-session ILT and an IL self assessment survey at the beginning of the Spring 2011 semester. The ILT used was developed and validated by James Madison University (Wise, Cameron, Yang, & Davis, n.d.) and measures understanding of all the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Competency Standards (ACRL, 2000, pp. 2-3) except Standard 4. For motivation, students each received $20 for their efforts and were told those who scored in the top 15% would enter a draw to win one of two additional prizes of $50. Those who scored below the ILT proficiency level of 65% were invited to participate in the quasi-experiment.