The study set out to investigate the impact of ICT on the psychology students’ IL learning experiences. On a scale of 5 to 1: strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree and strongly agree, respectively, respondents were required to indicate the influence computer and IT experiences had on the learning and content of information literacy. The study findings indicate that the most important influence was students’ ability to search the internet for course-related materials (mean 4.39), followed closely by the indication that computers had facilitated easier IL learning (mean 4.38). The students appreciated computer skills as they enabled them to prepare presentations and other reports (4.31). The findings are illustrated in Table 5.24.
Table 5.24: Computer and IT Experiences: Descriptive Statistics: (N=130)
Strongly Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree Mean S/D N
I use a computer to prepare reports and term papers 3 4 15 36 72 4.31 0.955 130
I use email or other online communication programs effectively 2 4 20 41 63 4.22 0.923 130
I search the internet for course-related materials 1 4 14 34 77 4.39 0.885 130
I use electronic databases with ease to get needed information 4 15 13 50 48 3.95 1.109 130 I understand how to evaluate information on the internet for validity 4 11 23 56 36 3.80 1.045 130 Computers have helped a great deal in learning information literacy 1 4 10 43 72 4.38 0.819 130 Online learning experiences were well integrated in the face-to-face
session
7 15 43 50 15 3.35 1.018 130
Electronic sources are my first priority when looking for information 3 14 20 34 59 4.02 1.141 130
The influence of computer and IT experiences on the information literacy programme was exemplified in the use of electronic sources as first priority when looking for information.
Students were equipped with these skills and therefore used electronic databases with ease to get needed information, used email or other online communication programs effectively and used a computer to prepare reports and term papers. Teaching computers and ICT were part of the content of information literacy taught in the universities. The results of descriptive analysis presented in Table 5.24 established that the most important computer and IT experience was
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the exposure of students to electronic sources. This way, the students were able to search the internet for course-related materials and use email and other online communication programmes effectively.
Concerning course work, computers helped learners to prepare reports and term papers. A factor analysis extracted three principle components. In component 1, the most important factor was that the electronic databases made access to information by the students easier, because students were able to integrate their online learning experiences with the face-to face situations, besides relying more on e-sources as a priority. Consequently, IL learning was experienced as learning how to use IT to access, retrieve and manipulate information. Maybee’s two studies (2006, 2007) on undergraduate perception and information use at Mill’s College in the USA, used a phenomenographic approach and found students experienced information literacy as finding information using IT. This study found that to effectively find information, students had to learn how to use various technology applications and tools.
This study sought to test the role of computers and ICT in information literacy learning by fourth-year psychology students. A factor analysis was carried out with the KMO test of specificity. The KMO test is a measure of validity which tests the relationship between items in a Likert scale. The result must produce an alpha of over 0.5 in order to be considered adequate for inference. The result of 0.866 was therefore adequate. Table 5.25 shows the findings.
Table 5.25: Computer and IT Experiences: KMO and Bartlett's Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. 0.712 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 274.051
df 28
Sig. 0.000
a. Based on correlations
The KMO test of measure of sampling accuracy value was 0.712. The KMO measure of validity tests the relationship between items in a Likert scale. The result must produce an alpha of over 0.5 in order to be considered adequate for inference. The result of 0.712 was therefore adequate.
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Table 5.26 shows that in component one the most important aspect of computer and IT experiences was that the students used electronic databases with ease to get needed information (0.363), meaning they searched the internet for course-related materials (0.263) and used email or other online communication programs effectively (0.290). In component two the students could do well if online learning experiences were well integrated in the face-to-face session (0.783). In component three, electronic sources are their first priority when looking for information.
Table 5.26: Computer and IT Experiences: Component Score Coefficient Matrix (N=130)
Component
1 2 3
I use a computer to prepare reports and term papers 0.261 -0.170 0.062 I use email or other online communication programs effectively 0.290 -0.126 -0.044
I search the internet for course-related materials 0.263 -0.136 0.006
I use electronic databases with ease to get needed information 0.363 0.173 -0.108 I understand how to evaluate free information on the internet for validity 0.174 0.396 -0.047 Computers have helped a great deal in learning information literacy 0.035 0.001 0.187 Online learning experiences were well integrated in the face-to-face session -0.220 0.783 -0.004 Electronic sources are my first priority when looking for information -0.167 -0.072 0.944
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
Component Scores.
a. Coefficients are standardized.
After factor analysis was carried out, and plotting was done on a Scree plot. Only values with integer one and above rose upwards. The value is regarded as a principal component if the value is an Eigen value and above 1. Results in Figure 5.8 revealed the presence of three principal components, with eigenvalues exceeding plot 1, explaining 33 percent of the variance, 2 explaining 13 percent of the variance and 3 explaining 11 percent of the variance.
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Figure 5.8: Computer and IT Experiences Scree Plot
In-depth interviews were conducted with the librarians in the study. The participants were asked to state the impact of ICT on IL teaching and learning from the library point of view.
Findings from the responses are illustrated in Table 5.27.
Table 5.27: Impact of ICT on Teaching and IL Learning (N=15)
Impact of ICT on Teaching and IL Learning Frequency Percentage Resources on IL available and accessible via internet
e.g. online tutorials and websites
8 66.7
Computers and LCDs added visual to process 5 41.7
Social Media and email made interaction possible 4 33.3 IL teaching relies on ICT since information is digital
“enhanced the work of a librarian”
3 25.0
Easy to teach due to automation e.g. OPAC 2 16.7
The findings reflected in Table 5.27 show, in decreasing order of importance, accessibility to resources on IL via the internet, indicating the high importance that was placed on electronic sources of information. In this regard, ICT had provided a channel and platform where needed information was found; the use of computers and LCDs for IL instruction, indicating a shift by teachers from the traditional teaching styles to adopting new technologies in their instruction;
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the use of social media and email and ICT had made teaching IL easy due to library system automation. The findings in Table 5.27 indicate that librarians identified the internet as a platform for teaching and learning IL. This finding corroborates an earlier one which revealed that students relied greatly on the internet for materials for their academic work (see results in Table 5.26).
Lecturers’ respondents were asked to state in which ways ICT had impacted on IL teaching and learning. The findings revealed that the use of Microsoft PowerPoint for class presentations with laptops and projectors were the notable ICT impacts. Use of this equipment included projection of teaching slides and teaching using video clips. Other ways that ICT had impacted IL delivery by psychology lecturers were the use of the internet and adopting e-learning programs, for example Blackboard. The implication here is that students were able to learn at their own convenience and pace.