Exploring first-year engineering student perceptions of the engineering librarian as an IL instructor in multimodal teaching and learning environments

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to explore first-year engineering students’ perceptions of the engineering librarian as an instructor in multimodal environments related to Information Literacy (IL) topics, teaching strategy, content evaluation, organising, planning and support. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was used through a survey instrument based on an online questionnaire. Questions were adopted and modified from a lecturer evaluation survey. A simple random sampling technique was used to collect data from first-year cohorts of engineering students in 2020 and 2022. Findings Respondents perception of the engineering librarian as an instructor in multimodal learning environment was good. Findings revealed students’ learning experiences were aligned with IL instruction even though the environment changed from blended to online. However, an emerging theme that continuously appeared was a lack of access to technology. Practical implications These findings may help in developing and strengthening the teaching identity of academic librarians as instructors in multimodal learning environments. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is novel in that it evaluates the teaching abilities of an academic librarian in multimodal environments through the lens of students.