“Most of the information we got was from each other.” A study of the information practice of a group of students at the Vehicle Mechanics programme

The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine the information needs in the character subjects of the students at a vocationally oriented program in the Swedish upper secondary school. I also examine from which sources the students get the information. I want to create a wider understanding of information seeking processes at a vocationally oriented programme. The main focus is the students’ own thoughts and opinions about their information needs and information seeking processes. The results are related to research on information literacy from a sociocultural perspective as represented by Roger Säljö. The literature that has been used consists of material from research concerning information literacy in a learning context. Two group interviews and eight individual qualitative interviews were conducted with students at the Vehicle Mechanics Programme at a Swedish upper secondary school. The results show that most of the students have a high awareness of their information needs and their information sources. It is distinct in my study that the interaction between teacher, students and context is decisive for what information needs they have and what information sources they have access to. Information needs depend on what school they are in and what tasks the students are getting and whether they are at school or are in a work experience period. The study shows that interaction between the vocationally oriented program and working life and also between teacher and students is missing concerning information practices.Program: Bibliotekari