Cari Merkley
First Year University Students Arrive with Some Search Skills, But Struggle with Scholarly Sources
Mount Royal University
review ofx0d salisbury f amp karasmanis 2011 ready exploring student information literacy skills transition secondary tertiary education australian academic amp research libraries 421 4358x0d x0d objective determine existing information literacy skills first year students possess upon entering universityx0d x0d design quantitative survey questionnairex0d x0d setting research university australiax0d x0d subjects 1029 first year students health sciencesx0d x0d methods first year students enrolled health sciences asked complete paper questionnaire first week classes 2009 20 question survey distributed student tutorial groups first 10 questions collected information student demographics expected library use existing information seeking behaviour remaining 10 questions tested students understanding information literacy concepts data collected survey analyzed using statistical software spssx0d x0d main results students responded questionnaire ages 16 21 843 22 age 40 approximately 15 respondents completed postsecondary university vocational education prior enrolling current programx0d x0d students ranked google friend book top three places would go find information something knew little google also popular choice finding scholarly article 35 respondents followed library catalogue 21 x0d x0d large proportion students correctly answered questions relating identifying appropriate search terms example one third students selected correct combination search concepts provided topic 77 identified choice search phrase could negatively impact search results students also demonstrated prior knowledge boolean operator 38 correctly identifying use related question students also able identify key markers websites credibilityx0d x0d questions relating ethical information use scholarly literature proved challenging almost half 45 students said know characteristics peer reviewed journal article twenty five percent respondents indicated citing information source necessary case direct quotes 28 correctly identifying need citing quotes paraphrasing 23 able select example journal citation list presentedx0d x0d conclusion students enter university existing strengths concept identification basic search formulation require assistance locating identifying scholarly literature cite appropriately work findings inform development online information literacy assessment tool assist incoming students identifying areas may require additional support transition university