An Evaluation of an Information Literacy Training Initiative at The University Of Dar Es Salaam
Loading...
Date
2007-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
to this literature, we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited." Chan, L. et al (2002) Budapest Open Access Initiative. New York: Open Society Institute. Abstract Purpose This paper reviews the implementation and impact of an Information Literacy Training course at the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. The purpose of the research which is described was to determine the effectiveness of different methods of assessment for teaching information literacy. Methodology The focus of the paper is an analysis of student learning through quizzes, exercises, reflective discussion and student presentations. The training lasted seven days and involved Masters Students from the Faculty of Education. Data was collected via quizzes, exercises and group reflection and presentations that related to each stage in the course. The data were used to see whether the overall method of training was effective and also to see whether these assessment tools were useful in themselves. The approach was primarily qualitative. Findings The course, judging from the various forms of feedback, was effective. Student feedback enabled us to learn about the ways in which each of our teaching methods contributed to the student learning experience. The integration of knowledge from information behaviour research, educational theory and current Library Science perspectives on information literacy also proved valuable in developing the curriculum. Practical implications The students themselves appear, from the data collected, to have learnt from the course. The librarians who taught the course were able to use the feedback and experience to run subsequent courses. Hence it proved successful in terms of knowledge transfer and enabling the development of information literacy trainers.
Description
Full text can be accessed at
http://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JIL/article/view/RA-V1-I1-2007-1/2
Keywords
Information Literacy, Information Behaviour, Tanzania, Higher Education, Taught postgraduate students, Teachers: librarians, Education faculty, Qualitative research, Teaching methods, Course evaluation
Citation
Wema, E. and Hepworth, M., 2007. An evaluation of an information literacy training initiative at the University of Dar es Salaam. Journal of information literacy, 1(1), pp.1-12.