5.2 Background information
5.3.6 How do Grade 12 learners evaluate and use information found on the Web?
The above question will be discussed in two subsections, namely information evaluation and information use.
93 5.3.6.1 Information evaluation
The section concerning information evaluation will be considered in two subsections: accuracy and trustworthiness of information found on the Web, and information evaluation criteria and the frequency of steps used when evaluating information on the Web
1. Accuracy and trustworthiness of information found on the Web
Asked how much of the information they find on the Web through using search engines they think is accurate and trustworthy, less than half of respondents (47 or 46.0%) answered that they judged most of the information to be above board. One respondent stated that “All information on Internet and Google is trustworthy and accurate” and another: “I trust Google because when I apply information I get from there I pass with good marks”.
The respondents were asked in an open question to justify their trust in Web information. The majority at 53 (51.9 %) thought the information is accurate and trustworthy because Google is always right and 31 respondents (30.3 %) have full confidence in Web information because they get good marks applying it. However, other respondents were less or not at all convinced that information found on the Web was reliable. They mentioned the fact that anybody can enter whatever he wants on the Web (12 or 11.7%). However, the number of respondents who are uncritical of Web information obtained via Google is still high. Agee and Antrim (2003:474) report that: “Many students assume that the Internet satisfies all their information needs, as confirmed by The Pew Internet and American Life Study (2001)”. The over-reliance of students on Web information involving little or no critical evaluation has been highlighted in previous chapters of this study.
2. Information evaluation criteria
Learners were asked which characteristics of a website make them decide whether the information provided by the website is accurate and trustworthy or not. The majority at 55 (55.9%) compared the information obtained with information from other sources and with their own general knowledge to decide on the value of the information obtained. There were 19 (18.6%) respondents who based their judgment on the headline and 16 (15.6%) who looked for pictures related to the information they needed while 15 (14.7%) did not apply any criteria but simply copy what they wanted. Comparing information was also commonly used by learners as criteria for deciding on the reliability of the information. Adams (2009) notes that, although universities need to adapt to the high-tech needs of Generation Y students, these are not necessarily
94 information literate. Students showed high-tech skills but often did not know how to analyse information needs or, in terms of the present discussion, how to discriminate between information sources.
In this research the researcher has found that comparing information has become a trend of information evaluation among learners. These findings are supported by McFarlane and Roche (2003:22) who also found that students compare Web information to what they already know in order to see whether the new information matches what they know. They use this as an evaluation method. As one learner pointed out: “I compare the information with the other information from other sources and to what know already, than I know the information is trustworthy”.
A learner who examined headlines and pictures as a means of evaluating information said: “I check headlines on top of the pages as I search and as I go through the information provided at the time to see if it is relevant. Sometimes they provide photographs on what you are looking for and you will obviously tell it is what you are looking for”. Echoing the views of the group of learners who do not evaluate information at all, was the respondent who stated categorically: “I don’t evaluate information from the Internet. I copy whatever I information I get”.
It is evident that some of the criteria used by learners to evaluate information found on the Web leave a lot to be desired and one of the standard procedures for evaluation, namely checking author, publisher and date was only mentioned by 13 (12.7%) respondents. Arguably though, comparing information as reported by just over half the respondents is a valid approach in terms of ensuring accuracy/trustworthiness of the information. In his study Lorenzen (2001) found that high school students were using search engines to screen for quality: “The student mistakenly puts too much trust in the information found on an indexed webpage”.
Many students felt that, if a website was indexed by Yahoo!, its information was sure to be reliable. This, as Lorenzen (2001) emphasizes is not true because very few search engines screen for any level of quality at all. He adds that Yahoo! in particular was trusted by students despite the fact that it does not necessarily evaluate sites for quality (Lorenzen, 2001:161). It is evident from the findings of the present study that there are a number of learners who, like those surveyed in Purcell et al. (2012), have difficulty in judging the quality of online information. This difficulty is further elaborated on in the section which follows.
95 3. Frequency of steps used when evaluating information on the Web
Respondents were provided with a list of steps used in evaluating information on the Web and asked how often they use these steps when doing so (the underlying assumption that all learners do evaluate information turned out to be false). The results, interestingly, make clear that, with one exception, more than 50% of respondents either occasionally or else never use the steps listed.
For example, just on three quarters (75%) of respondents either never (51%), `or only occasionally (22.5%), take the trouble to find out why the information was written in the first place.
This creates the strong impression that grade 12 learners lack information evaluation skills. The findings are not exceptional. Authors, including Fidel et al. (1999) and Shenton and Dixon (2004), point out that most children lack adequate skills to process and critically evaluate information.
Lorenzen (2001) found, in his study on the use of the Web for assignments by high school students in the USA, that their ability to evaluate the information they find on the Web is weak.
Albion (2007, cited in Quintana, Pujol and Romaní 2012:513) points out that this reality poses important educational challenges, including the need for effective training in a proper use of Internet information searching systems for those who teach. In this complex scene, he states, ICT and digital literacy competences acquire special pedagogic relevance. Youngsters have to be prepared for the future world in which they will need skills for managing information as well as the capacity to assess the reliability and relevance of, for example, Web information.
5.3.6.2 Information use
The discussion related to this question is broken into two sections – one on plagiarism and the second on information use:
1. Plagiarism
To determine whether learners understood what plagiarism is, they were asked to define the term.
A high number of learners (50 or 49.0%) had no idea what plagiarism is. Of all those who answered the question, only one (0.8%) was close to understanding the meaning. Fifty-one (50.0%) respondents left the question unanswered which suggests that they did not know the answer. It was evident that many of the respondents heard the term for the first time. These findings do contrast with those of McGregor and Williamson (2005:512) who found in their study that “three of the four case-study students, including the student who plagiarized most, were able to provide appropriate definitions of plagiarism”.
96 2. References, acknowledgements, and how to acknowledge
The learners were asked whether they acknowledge sources or add references to their assignments and projects. More than half of the learners (56 or 55.8%) did not do so. Of all the learners who answered the question, only 21 (20.5%) indicated that they do acknowledge where they get their