Motivating Factors Related to Information Literacy
Students were asked to rate the influence of nine motivating factors on their choice to use information literacy skills. They rated the skills on a four-point Likert-style scale. The order in which students identified motivating factors for use of information literacy skills was (from most to least popular):
- I believe in researching the reality behind what I see and hear.
- I believe in searching for reliable information sources to learn about important.
- I believe that strong IL skills will help me in my future career.
- I believe that strong IL skills will help me to succeed in a future degree program (for example, a master’s degree, law degree, medical degree, or Ph.D.).
- My instructors require IL as part of assignments and/or give points specifically for information literacy (such as finding articles in journals or going to the library).
- I have learned to appreciate IL through experiences that I have had outside of school (for example, in my social life, while writing or pursuing other creative hobbies, or while reading/watching media related to personal interests).
- It is easy and/or natural for me to use IL skills now.
- My classmates’ performance in class or study sessions inspires me to use my IL skills.
- Other students (classmates, friends, peer tutors, etc.) have recommended that I use IL skills on my assignments.
Motivating Factors Related to Information Literacy | ||
Motivating Factor | Mean Score | Standard Deviation of Scores |
I believe in researching the reality behind what I read and hear. | 3.79 | 0.08 |
I believe in searching for reliable information sources to learn about important topics. | 3.79 | 0.41 |
I believe that strong information literacy skills will help me in my future career. | 3.67 | 0.64 |
I believe that strong information literacy skills will help me to succeed in a future degree program (for example, a master’s degree, law degree, medical degree, or Ph.D.). | 3.63 | 0.56 |
My professors require information literacy as part of assignments and/or give points specifically for information literacy (such as finding articles in journals or going to the library). | 3.46 | 0.51 |
I have learned to appreciate I have learned to appreciate information literacy through experiences that I have outside of school (for example, in my social life, while writing or pursuing other creative hobbies, or while reading/watching media related to personal interests). | 3.42 | 0.65 |
It is easy and/or natural for me to use information literacy skills now. | 3.33 | 0.76 |
My classmates’ performance in class or study sessions inspires me to use my information literacy skills. | 2.79 | 0.72 |
Other students (classmates, friends, peer tutors, etc.) have recommended that I use information literacy skills on my assignments. | 2.29 | 0.86 |
Note. Scores were presented to students as follows: (a) “very true for me” = 4 points, (b) “somewhat true for me” = 3 points, (c) “somewhat untrue for me” = 2 points, and (d) “Not at all true for me” = 1 point.
Note. Mean scores and standard deviations have been rounded to two decimal points in order to make small differences in scores apparent. |