The “discussion of findings” chapter in a doctoral thesis is aimed at explaining the meaning of the results of the study and includes the major findings, significance of the findings and how the findings relate to those of similar studies (Hess, 2004). The study addressed the following research questions: What information literacy learning experiences do the fourth-year psychology students possess? What are the goals of the information literacy programme at the Kenyan universities? What pedagogical approaches are used to deliver information literacy to psychology students? What is the role of ICT in promoting the learning of information literacy?
What are the perceptions of fourth-year psychology students towards information literacy?
What are the challenges experienced by fourth-year psychology students in learning information literacy?
The preceding chapter (data analysis and presentation of findings) presented and analysed the findings from the data collected through questionnaires, interviews and document analysis.
Chapter Six presents the discussion and interpretation of the findings. The structure of this chapter is constructed around the research questions and the theory that underpinned the study.
This chapter covers: 6.2.1 Students’ IL learning experiences, 6.2.2 Information literacy competencies acquired by graduating students, 6.3 Goals of the information literacy programmes offered, 6.4 Content and how information literacy was taught, 6.5 Role of ICT in information literacy teaching and learning, 6.6 Perceptions of students and staff towards information literacy, 6.7 Challenges in teaching and learning information literacy 6.8 Summary.
6.2.1 Students’ IL Learning Experiences
The first research question sought to investigate the type of IL learning experiences the fourth- year psychology students had acquired. This study established IL learning experiences to include finding IL learning as the development of skills for finding and using information (see Table 5.28); development of critical thinking skills (see Table 5.7); enhancement of problem- solving/decision-making skills (See Tables 5.7 and 5.9); learning a relational process; IL
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learning as stimulating (see Table 5.20); learning how to use ICT to access, retrieve and manipulate information; enjoyment; and improvement of communication and writing skills (see Tables 5.9 and 5.10).
The findings of this study established that students experienced IL learning as acquiring skills for finding and using information and resources they needed. As shown in Table 5.28, students found IL learning as the avenue that provided them with the skills and knowledge to search for more information to address their needs. The information-finding skills made the students able to effectively access the resources they needed and become effective communicators, as they used the information found. In this regard, students found that IL enabled them to access various sources of information effectively, as it exposed them to skills of searching different types of information sources. Use of the information accessed included research and writing of reports and term papers. The significance of knowing how to find and use information was highlighted by Limberg (2000), who investigated students doing a political studies course to establish the relationship of their information use and learning outcomes and found a direct relationship. Students who demonstrated knowledge of how to find and use information posted a better understanding of their topic, while those with limited skills in finding and using information had limited understanding of their topic.
Diehm and Lupton (2014) studied university students' experiences of learning information literacy at an Australian university. Their phenomenological study revealed that students experienced IL in diverse ways, including experiencing IL as learning to find information, learning a process to use information, to create a product, to build a personal knowledge base, to advance disciplinary knowledge and to learn how to use information to grow and contribute to others. The understanding of IL by the respondents in this study, that IL learning refers to imparting skills and knowledge for finding information and needed resources, seems to infer that IL learning is a continuous process for acquisition of information skills (Johnson, 2001) and information competency (Dangani, 2009). However, the Centre for Intellectual Property in the Digital Environment of the American Library Association observes that IL should be viewed as going beyond acquisition of skills, into being a way of creative and critical thinking that “enhances research and integration of knowledge from varied sources” (CIPDE, 2005:ix).
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This finding agrees with Bruce’s assertion that IL develops in learners the ability to acquire information (Bruce, 1997). Access to information starts with understanding available sources of information and how they are structured. The information sources are varied and may be human, bibliographic or organizational, and in different formats, including print, electronic, pictorial and images. Access could be direct, or indirect through an intermediary. The information sources and information process conceptions in Bruce’s (1997) IL model indicate that the two conceptions focus on knowing where information exists and how to find it. This fits in well when advancing the process of developing lifelong learners.
A descriptive analysis was done (see Section 5.4.2 and Table 5.11) to establish what students considered would be the most important experience with regard to using library resources. The requirement for student-librarian interaction was found to be the most important experience that students felt would result in enjoyable IL learning experience. The present study revealed the need for the provision of appropriate resources and assistance on how to use the library to find resources to write term papers. The factor analysis results revealed that the provision of resources and assistance in the exploitation of the library resources were valued by students (see Section 5.4.2 and Table 5.11). This finding corroborates a report to ACRL, which observed that increased student-librarian interaction increased usage of library resources (Kuh
& Gonyea, 2003:266). The subject matter of the report was based on the results of an exploratory study that sought to examine the nature and value of undergraduate students’
experiences with academic library in the USA.
Results of the present study revealed that students had experienced IL learning as acquiring analytical and critical thinking skills. Most students indicated that they had gained skills that greatly enhanced their research experience, by learning information literacy (see Section 5.4.2 and Table 5.10). Specifically, students found IL learning had impacted their research ability, by empowering them with critical thinking skills that enabled them to see through the various information sources they came across and sieve them to establish what was relevant to their need. An investigation of the relationship between critical thinking and library use anxiety by Kwon (2008) among undergraduate students in an American university revealed a negative relationship between the two variables. Kwon found that library anxiety negatively affected and consequently hampered utilization of critical thinking skills. By developing awareness of
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resources and how to access them, IL to a great extent reduces library anxiety and, in the process, enhances utilization of critical thinking skills.
Similarly, a study by Brown, Weingart, Johnson and Dance (2004), on student attitudes and library anxiety of the freshmen at the Utah State University in the USA, found that freshman orientation reduced library anxiety among students and this, in turn, positively affected their academic performance. Jiyen and Onyancha (2010) found that lack of experience in the use of libraries among first-year students intimidated most freshmen.
The likely development of critical thinking skills and the ability to apply them led students to describe their IL learning experience as enhancement of problem-solving/decision making skills (see Tables 5.7 and 5.9). Problem-solving/decision making skills are covered under the information process conception (see Section 2.3.3). This means that students used whatever information they had to effectively deal with a situation at hand. The skills can be applied to more than one task or problem. IL learning involves learning or developing the skills needed to address a problem and can be applied again, to a similar, or different problem. For instance, Maybee (2007) points out that students use information to do their assignments or solve life problems.
McCarthy (2003) identifies some constructs of the FLIP IT model that work well in developing collaborative activities that enhance information literacy and critical thinking skills acquisition by students. These constructs include: Focus – deals with establishing the exact need for information; Links - what you need to locate appropriate resources for the information you need, and Payoff – practical application of the information found. These ensure that a student is equipped with skills that can be applicable to any task or problem. Other IL models, designed to inculcate problem-solving and critical thinking as expected student learning outcomes, include the Big 6 Information Skill model (Eisenberg & Berkowitz, 2009; to Eisenberg, 2005d), Information Seeking Process (ISP) and the Sauce Model (Bond, 2001). Bruce (2003) observes that the end result of the information process conception is effective action, problem- solving or decision-making.