Nuances of individual lecturers and its impact on students’ information behaviour and creativity

Abstract

The paper reveals one of the themes that emerged from a research work at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. The research was on the information behavior of Nigerian undergraduates in the world of Web 2.0, using a specialized university as a case study. Of the themes that emerged, of interest in this paper are the nuances of individual lecturers and its impact on students" information behavior and creativity. The research work employed mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative research. However, the aspect of data gathering that revealed the essence of this article are dialogue journaling on WhatsApp Messenger with 77 third year students of petroleum engineering department on group assignments and large group discussions with 15 of the 77 students. Kuhlthau"s Information Search Process (ISP) Model was employed as a lens in studying the student"s information behavior in the process of writing assignment while Blooms Taxonomy was used to rank the assignment as either Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS) or Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). The assignment was ranked LOTS because students were requested to read and summarize certain chapters of a textbook. The time allotted for the group assignment was about a week which did not give room for students to collaborate effectively, thereby undermining the pedagogy of group assignment. Due to the poor conduct of the assignment, students did not seem to conform to the Kuhthau"s ISP model. Also, students expressed how some lecturers expect them to regurgitate what they have been thought without giving room for individual language, expression, and creativity, hence inhibiting their ISP process. Rather than employing Kuhlthau"s ISP model to explore students information seeking process, the research recommends Theory of Change by Quality Education in Developing Countries (QEDC) (2008) and the theory and practice of critical education by Shor (2012).