Information literacy proficiency: Assessing the gap in high school students' readiness for undergraduate academic work

Smith, Jorden; Given, Lisa M.; Julien, Heidi; Ouellette, Dana; DeLong, Kathleen

doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2012.12.001

Cited by 75 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Additionally, Generation Z is confident, perhaps overly so, in both the literature and this study, in their technological abilities in the use of basic computer applications, social media, email, smart phones, and searching the Web Lenhart, 2015;Smith et al, 2013). And where staffing studies and reports continue to show the ever-increasing value of technology skills for new hires and recent college graduates (Hart Research Associates, 2013;Society for Human Resource Management, 2016;Swartz, 2017), the students in this study also report that technology will play a major role in their future career and exhibit an interest in enhancing their technological skills and overall readiness similarly to what has been reported by such studies as Dahlstrom et al (2014.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

An Examination of Gen Z Learners Attending a Minority University

2018

Proceedings of the 2018 InSITE Conference

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Aim/Purpose: [This Proceedings paper was revised and published in the 2018 issue of the Interdisciplinary Journal of e-Skills and Lifelong Learning, Volume 14] This presentation presents the preliminary findings of a survey that sought to examine the technology uses, needs, interests, career goals, and professional expectations of Generation Z college students Background: Students entering college today are part of Generation Z born in the late 90’s through 2016 making the oldest among them 20 or so years old. They already outnumber millennials and are the first true digital natives being born during the age of smart phone. They are the first generation that used a tablet before they could ride a bike, the first to have childhood friends that they engaged with electronically, and the first to have their baby photos and youthful milestones shared on social media. Their minds, relationships, learning preferences, emotional health, sense of self, have all been inexplicably shaped by constant exposure to screens and networked digital technologies, which the research shows in high doses changes the neural circuitry of developing brains, leading to shorter attention spans, stunted social skills and a heightened ability to multitask Methodology: In the fall of 2017 an online student perception survey was administered to students enrolled at a mid-Atlantic minority serving institution. The survey included a combination of dichotomous, Likert-scaled, and ranking questions. The survey was administered to students following completion of core computer concepts courses and explored their technology backgrounds, skills, perceived computing self-efficacy, and the role they predict technology will play in their future career Contribution: As Generation Z descends on college campuses, with their technology dominated backgrounds and different communications, learning, and social preferences, it is important to better understand this generation whose needs and expectations will help shape the future of higher education. Additionally, this study also provides research on a population (first-generation minority college students) that is expanding in numbers in higher education and that the literature, reports is impacted negatively by the digital divide and educational inequalities. This paper is timely and relevant and helps to extend our understanding of Generation Z. Findings: The findings show that Generation Z learners enjoy computer classes, feel that using computers comes easy to them; are experts in the use of social media, mobile operating systems, using a smart phone, searching the Web, and email. They reported that they want to be more technologically literate, want to be more skilled in computer software applications, and are interested in learning about cyber security. In terms of the future, most also believe that their career will require them to analyze information to inform decision making. Additionally, most believe that information security will be important to their future career. Finally, results affirmed that college computing courses remain important and that college students recognize that technology will play an important role in their career and that employers want to see job applications with strong technology skills. Recommendations for Practitioners: Generation Z learners enrolled in higher education need, and want, a wide range of technology courses available to them in order to help them meet the rapidly evolving demands of tomorrow’s workplace. Students overwhelmingly see the value in enhancing their technology skills especially in such areas as computer software applications, information management, and cyber security. Recommendation for Researchers: Institutions of higher education should invest in thorough and ongoing examinations of the information and technology literacy skills, needs, and perceptions of students. Impact on Society: Understanding the interests and needs of Generation Z learners is imperative to the future of higher education. Future Research: This survey is a work in progress that is part of a pilot study that is being used to help guide a much more sizable examination of Generation Z learners.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

An Examination of Gen Z Learners Attending a Minority University

2018

Proceedings of the 2018 InSITE Conference

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“…Thus to succeed in college, students must transition from replication of data obtained in a highly structured laboratory experience to one where they are expected to be active participants in facilitating their own learning (Smith et al, 2013). They also need to understand the research process and, as stated in the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, realize that information creation is a process and that research is an open-ended exploration and engagement with information (ACRL 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of students entering college have little experience in finding, retrieving, understanding, evaluating, incorporating, and citing scholarly sources in their scientific research papers. One factor may be a lack of library instruction and research experience in high school (Head, 2013;Smith et al, 2013;Douglas & Rabinowitz, 2016). Even for those with prior instruction, transitioning from high school level assignments to college level research can be a formidable challenge (Bent, 2008;Warwick et al, 2009;Varlejs et al, 2014;Loesch, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Information Literacy Using Bernard Lonergan's Generalized Empirical Method: A Three-year Case Study in a First Year Biology Course

Rose-Wiles

Glenn

Stiskal

2017

The Journal of Academic Librarianship

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IntroductionThe purpose is to illustrate how a team of 3 faculty from different disciplines sought to increase select information literacy outcomes of first year biology students using Bernard J. Lonergan's cognitional theory, the Generalized Empirical Method (GEM). The majority of students entering college have little experience in finding, retrieving, understanding, evaluating, incorporating, and citing scholarly sources in their scientific research papers. One factor may be a lack of library instruction and research experience in high school (Head, 2013;Smith et al., 2013;Douglas & Rabinowitz, 2016). Even for those with prior instruction, transitioning from high school level assignments to college level research can be a formidable challenge (Bent, 2008;Warwick et al., 2009;Varlejs et al., 2014;Loesch, 2017). In addition, few students understand the system of scholarly publishing or the structure of scientific information (Badke, 2012). They do not grasp the relationship between articles, journals, and library databases or the difference between searching a scientific database and using search engines such as Google. In her seminal paper "Desperately Seeking Citations: Uncovering faculty assumptions about the undergraduate research", Leckie (1996) describes how undergraduates have only the vaguest ideas about the research and scholarly publication process; they conceptualize research as "a fuzzy, library-based activity that is required of them to complete their coursework" (p. 202-203). A follow-up report (Rose-Wiles & Hofmann, 2013) suggests that little has changed in almost three decades, and that dependence on databases and on-line articles, rather than searching in physical journals, makes the library-based research process even more confusing for naïve undergraduate students.Science is a research-driven discipline, and therefore students should possess the requisite search skills. They have heard of the scientific method, but seem to associate it solely with completing hands-on experiments or Eureka style discovery rather than with background reading, hypothesis formation and testing and finally communication of results. As Cervetti and Pearson (2012) note, students treat science texts as if they contained established truths, without understanding how facts are determined or thinking of science as way of answering questions. Furthermore, most first year science students do not know how 4 PREPRINT: Enhancing information literacy using Bernard Lonergan's Generalized Empirical Method to generate interesting research questions that would lead to the discovery of new information and contribute to their learning. Even within a science course, the students' laboratory experiences seldom go beyond replicating well-established observations, with minimal dialog when reporting the results.Students often lack an understanding of how a literature search contributes to an in-depth discussion of their laboratory results. Thus to succeed in college, students must transition from replication of data obtained in a highly ...

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“…The findings from the questionnaires show that this is effective for most students with 85% stating that the amount of information they received in their first week was "about right". However, the findings from the focus groups were more mixed with some feeling they could have had more information on certain areas, as one student commented "I think we could have got more information on like Blackboard and stuff like that…" (FG4), supporting Smith et al's (2013) findings that students may need more support to develop the required information literacy skills. Others felt they had received a lot of information, with comments such as "it was quite a lot of information to take in…" (FG1) and "… the amount of stuff they throw at us…" (FG3).…”

Section: Academic Integrationmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Comments included "…the worst to get your head round is like Blackboard, I still can't even work it now" (FG3). This may suggest that although the typical student generation are often considered digital natives (Helsper & Eynon, 2011), some students may not, as Smith et al (2013) argue, possess the necessary IT skills for university-level study.…”

Section: Academic Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An evaluation of initiatives implemented to support undergraduate students’ transition into Higher Education at one post-1992 university

2015

Fields: Journal of Huddersfield Student Research

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Supporting students in the transition to Higher Education is crucial to improving retention. Set in a post-1992 university, admitting a high proportion of students from a widening participation background, this paper analyses first year undergraduate students' experience of their transition and, in particular, the initiatives implemented to support them. Through questionnaires and focus groups with students and interviews with course leaders, the study identifies the importance of pre-entry and first year engagement in helping students make proactive decisions, develop realistic expectations and integrate both socially and academically. A number of initiatives were evaluated and these were largely positive with the majority successfully managing the transition. However, student transition and retention is multi-faceted and this paper demonstrates the challenges post-1992 universities face in supporting a diverse student body. Nevertheless, areas of good practice were identified, including opportunities for social integration during induction and the use of course social network sites.

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Information literacy proficiency: Assessing the gap in high school students' readiness for undergraduate academic work

Cited by 75 publications

References 21 publications

An Examination of Gen Z Learners Attending a Minority University

An Examination of Gen Z Learners Attending a Minority University

Enhancing Information Literacy Using Bernard Lonergan's Generalized Empirical Method: A Three-year Case Study in a First Year Biology Course

An evaluation of initiatives implemented to support undergraduate students’ transition into Higher Education at one post-1992 university

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