The attitudes and use of information literacy competencies by students in a selected programme at a University of Technology in South Africa

Abstract

The current information age is characterised by an overabundance of information. Information is generated and disseminated at an accelerated pace. Several developments in information and communication technologies have contributed to increased access to information. Adequate information literacy competencies and skills are required to survive and thrive in the information age. Information literacy is a fundamental requirement for success in a higher education environment. The purpose of information literacy, as offered by a University of Technology in South Africa, is to develop first year students’ basic level of competence and skills to locate, evaluate and use information in a variety of contexts. Weaknesses and limitations during the development of information literacy modules and a growing concern amongst students about the limited contribution of information literacy towards their academic success have prompted the need to conduct this study. The aim of the study is to explore students’ attitudes and perceived use of information literacy competencies and to determine if there is a correlation between students’ attitudes and perceived use of the information literacy competencies. The study follows a quantitative, non-experimental approach and is therefore deductive. It is a cross-sectional study. A survey method is applied and a census approach is followed. Data was collected from the target group in the form of an online closed-ended questionnaire that respondents had to complete. A hyperlink to the questionnaire was shared with all potential participants in an email. The questionnaire was structured in the form of statements to which respondents had to choose their level of agreement to the questions using a four-point Likert scale. SPSS was employed to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics, correlational analysis and analysis of variance were used to analyse the data and answer the four research questions. 92 respondents participated in the study. Insufficient responses were received. Responses are thus not representative of the entire cohort of students. The data analysis indicates that, overall, respondents have the knowledge, ability and skills to locate information sources, evaluate located sources to determine their credibility for use and use information in an ethical and legal manner. Overall, the respondents exhibit positive attitudes towards the information literacy competencies to locate, evaluate and use information in an ethical and legal manner. The results also indicate that there is a statistically significant correlation between the respondents’ use of information literacy competencies and their attitudes towards information literacy. The differences between the respondents’ use of information literacy competencies and their attitudes towards information literacy, based on their demographic groupings, are statistically insignificant except in one instance. Based on the findings, recommendations include: the need track students’ use of information literacy competencies and attitudes towards information literacy throughout their academic career, the need to implement an independent tool to assess students’ use of information literacy competencies and the need to revise the pedagogical methodologies, -processes and -practices that underpin the information literacy module. Recommendations for future research were also identified.