How Do Faculty Members Rate Students’ Information Literacy Skills and Where Do Students Rank Themselves? A Pakistani Perspective

Authors

Muhammad Safdar, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, PakistanFollow
Haroon Idrees, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, PakistanFollow

Date of this Version

2021

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The study is intended to explore the opinion of the teaching faculty about students’ skills related to Information Literacy (IL). The other purpose was to seek the opinion of the faculty regarding the value of IL capabilities for their students and needs in this connections. Identification of the difference among various programs’ students’ IL skills was also among the objectives of this study. Data from students was collected using a questionnaire and an interview guide was utilized to conduct the interviews of the faculty for data collection purposes. Statistical Package for Social Sciences and Excel sheet were employed for analysis of the collected data. Findings confirmed that faculty considered IL skills important and much needed for their students. Results also proved that students differed significantly while responding to the statements “rephrase and improve the searching” and “know the reason of needed information” devised to measure their IL skills. This is the first study in terms of its nature which is conducted by collecting the data from both stakeholders: faculty and students. The study has multiple implications for the institutions, library professionals, faculty, researchers as well as students. It also shares recommendations and future research directions for researchers.