Hilary Bussell
Gender is a Variable of Interest for Information Literacy Instruction
State Library of Ohio|The Ohio State University
review pinto sales amp fernndezpascual r 2019 gender perspective information literacy interdisciplinary multidimensional analysis within higher education settings library amp information science research 414 100979 httpsdoiorg101016jlisr2019100979 abstract objective identify gender differences present 26 information literacy il learning competencies using multidimensional subjectiveobjective approach design two quantitative survey questionnaires administered online setting five spanish public universities 2014 subjects third fourthyear students eight social science degree programs including information science audiovisual communication journalism psychology primary education pedagogy social work tourism methods subjects recruited using stratified sampling approach two survey instruments distributed online ilhumass instrument uses likert scales measure students beliefinimportance bi various il competencies relating searching evaluation processing communicationdissemination well selfefficacy se regarding competencies evalcikn instrument measures students actual knowledge kn il competencies using closed answer options data analyzed using descriptive bivariate statistics confirmatory factor analyses main results total number valid surveys collected 1575 sampling ratio 1039 eligible students significant differences found female male students bi se kn categories searching evaluation statistically significant differences genders found relating se knowledge information processing men higher scores knowledge communicationdissemination women higher score overall students kn scores higher se scores statistically significant differences found among male students categories dimensions except se evaluation bi communicationdissemination among female students except bi processing information science pedagogy highest scoring degree programs different dimensions categories tourism social work lowest male students awareness importance using print sources assessing quality information could improved female students awareness importance knowing information source typologies academic codes ethics intellectual property laws could improved authors also state male students kn increased areas schematizing abstracting information handling statistical programs knowing laws information use intellectual property point need instructional support improve students se across il categories conclusion gender differences found various il competencies measured three scales bi se kn male students found believe assessment skills important believe prepared search skills however actual knowledge highest communication category comparison female students prioritized communication skills believed prepared search skills actual knowledge highest search communication categories among genders weaknesses found relating bi four competencies use informal electronic sources know information search strategies schematizeabstract information recognize text structure se six competencies use printed sources know information search strategies assess quality information schematizeabstract information recognize text structure write document kn five competencies use printed sources use electronic sources use informal electronic sources determine whether information updated know code ethics academic field students mean score higher kn se searching evaluation communicationdissemination authors recommend instruction awarenessraising sessions help students acquire il competencies well improve selfesteem areas design sessions incorporating findings gender differences also recommend review existing syllabi help incorporate gender perspective classroom p 8