Measuring the application of information literacy skills after completion of a Certificate in Information Literacy

Abstract

The current assessment method used by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology Libraries for the summative assessment of the short course, Certificate in Information Literacy (CIL), is by multiple-choice questions through the Learning Management System, Blackboard. Students also complete a pre-essay and pre-test before the training intervention and a post-essay and post-test thereafter. This research reports on how students applied their newly-taught Information Literacy (IL) skills when writing a subject-specific essay (post-essay) and how that related to their scores in the pre-essay/test and post-test. The sample of forty-two students consisted of two groups of first-year students from a single class. In this study it has been confirmed that offering a short course in IL, such as the CIL, improved the information literacy skills of students. It showed improvement in the knowledge gained by students in the multiple-choice assessment as well as the application of IL skills in their essay assignments.