An evaluation of the effectiveness of information literacy training for undergraduate midwives to improve their ability to access evidence for practice

Abstract

CitationAn evaluation of the effectiveness of information literacy training for undergraduate midwives to improve their ability to access evidence for practice. 2012, 12 (5) Background: Several authors have suggested that computer skills should be taught within the undergraduate curriculum. In this paper, the focus is mainly on the results of an examination of midwifery students' search strategy in response to a specific question undertaken before and after training session in the first, second and third years of the undergraduate programme. Methods: The intervention allocated 16 h of library-based instruction over the first three years of the programme focussing specifically on the skills required to utilise electronic resources effectively. Following ethical approval by the university, 108 undergraduates took part from 2008 to 2011. Results: The data obtained from the search history files were categorised as either poor, fair or good. The primary analyses compared the pre and post-instruction categories in each year, within each student, with a comparison of each student's post-instruction category one year and the pre-instruction category the following year. The data indicated that the sessions in the first and second years of the programmes resulted in improvements in the ability to search, with less improvement in third year. Conclusions: As with any complex intervention, it is not possible to tease out which elements of the session were most beneficial. We will try to identify ways in which midwifery students' search skills could be strengthened further.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Course Integrated Library Instruction in an Undergraduate Nursing Program

“…They found that students who received only one IL session scored lower on their assessments over time than did their counterparts who continued to receive IL sessions through the course of their program. Lalor, Clarke, and Sheaf found that IL training in the first and second years of a midwifery undergraduate program improved post-test scores, but further training in the third year did not contribute to greater knowledge gain [7]. By contrast, Jacobs, Rosenfeld, and Haber, who assessed a program involving IL modules taken throughout the curriculum, found that test scores continually improved with the completion of each module [8].…”

“…The most common method of evaluation seems to be the use of pre-and posttests [7, 8, 13Á19]. Studies using pre-and post-tests found that there was overall improvement in IL knowledge after students received the training [7,8,13,14,17,19]. In some cases, however, the improvement was found to be marginal [13,19].…”

Using standardized patients to evaluate medical students’ evidence‐based medicine skills

“…Similarly, a three‐year longitudinal study by Lalor et al evaluated midwifery students’ ability to access evidence on a clinical topic after implementing a 16‐hour library‐based intervention. This study also demonstrated that students were successfully able to adopt Pubmed as the primary search tool after their intervention . Our EBM OSCE was unique because it also assessed students’ ability to analyze and communicate their evidence‐based results through the use the outcome measures RR and NNT.…”

A review of competencies needed for health librarians – a comparison of Irish and international practice

“…Parallels between the MLA areas of knowledge and those of the public health workforce were demonstrated by Banks and illustrate successful partnerships between health science librarians and public health communities. In Ireland, Lalor has shown how collaboration between faculty and the subject librarian in library based instruction improved undergraduate midwifery students' library research skills . Boyle showed how library collaboration with staff from the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems enabled the development of an Information Literacy skills programme for the school .…”

“…In Ireland, Lalor has shown how collaboration between faculty and the subject librarian in library based instruction improved undergraduate midwifery students' library research skills. 16 Boyle showed how library collaboration with staff from the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems enabled the development of an Information Literacy skills programme for the school. 17 Collaboration and networking are key to many roles that health librarians take on, and the use of interpersonal skills is essential for effective partnerships.…”