In my study, I asked students to rank the skills from one to four, one being the most important:
Ability to evaluate articles and journals/ magazines for credibility
Ability to Search for books and eBooks
Citing sources in a paper
Research strategies (techniques)
After the instruction, students ranked these skills from 1-4. Of those they ranked first, the skill with the highest number was “research strategies and techniques,” with nearly half the students agreeing, eclipsing the others by more than 15%. Citing sources finished second, followed by the ability to evaluate sources for credibility, and then search for books and eBooks.
Information Literacy Skill |
Students |
Percentage |
1. Ability to evaluate articles and journals/ magazines for credibility |
23 |
19.33% |
1. Ability to Search for books and eBooks |
19 |
15.97% |
1. Citing sources in a paper |
29 |
24.37% |
1. Research strategies (techniques) |
48 |
40.34% |
When asking the same question after the midterm submission, the results changed significantly. While remaining in the number one spot for importance, research strategies fell 12% and the other skills moved up significantly, creating a much more even distribution among students. As the charts shows, less than 6% separates the top skills from bottom.
Information Literacy Skill |
Students |
Percentage |
Ability to evaluate articles and journals/ magazines for credibility |
28 |
22.95% |
Ability to Search for books and eBooks |
29 |
23.77% |
Citing sources in a paper |
30 |
24.59% |
Research strategies (techniques) |
35 |
28.69% |